14 DAY TRIAL // The latest research conducted by IHS iSuppli reveals that Apple is fighting itself, rather than competitors, in the tablet marketplace.
IHS reveals that Apple’s own iPhone 4S "proved to be the strongest competitor for the iPad during the final three months of 2011.”
According to the IHS iSuppli Display Materials & Systems Service at information and analysis provider IHS, Apple shipped 15.4 million iPads and iPad 2 tablet computers during the fourth quarter of 2011.
Shipments were up 39 percent, yet Apple’s share of the global media tablet market dropped to 57 percent in the fourth quarter. Previously, it had been at 64 percent.
Rhoda Alexander, senior manager, tablet and monitor research, IHS, acknowledged that iPad shipments "fell short of IHS estimates in the fourth quarter as many loyal Apple customers devoted their dollars to shiny new alternatives.”
“However, the primary alternative wasn’t the Kindle Fire—which debuted to solid sales in the fourth quarter—but Apple’s own iPhone 4S smartphone. The rollout of the iPhone 4S in October generated intense competition for Apple purchasers’ disposable income, doing more to limit iPad shipment growth than competition from the Kindle Fire and other media tablets,” said Alexander.
“Kindle Fire shipments in the fourth quarter came right in line with the IHS early December forecast of 3.9 million units, representing a respectable start for the Fire,” he continued. “However, the long-term viability of the product will hinge on the success of Amazon’s business gamble, which depends on tablet sales driving substantial new online merchandise sales at Amazon.com in order to attain profitability.”
He added that “the surge in non-iPad shipments in the fourth quarter was achieved at considerable financial cost, with sharp price reductions across most of the competing Android tablets and actual product giveaways from a number of vendors as part of promotional efforts for other electronic products.”