IDC: 18 million Tablets and 12 million eReaders shipped in 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net - According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), which is the Worldwide Media Tablet and eReader Tracker, 10.1 million media tablets were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010 and more than double the 4.5 million shipped in the third quarter.

Apple's share came down from 93% in 3Q10 to 73% in 4Q10, but still reflected Apple's strong leadership position. Samsung's Galaxy Tab was the primary competitor in the holiday season, beating other players to market and capturing more than 17% share.

The Tracker showed that the eReader market also picked up in the fourth quarter. Strong sales of Amazon's Kindle, which was priced more aggressively, as well as significant gains from competitors such as Pandigital, Barnes & Noble, Hanvon, and Sony among others, contributed to market growth.

In 4Q10, the eReader market doubled volume from the previous quarter, with more than 6 million units shipped for the quarter, bringing the full-year total to 12.8 million units shipped. "Media Tablets are on pace to reach shipments of roughly 50 million units in 2011," said Loren Loverde, vice president, Consumer Device Trackers.

IDC expects Apple to maintain a 70-80% share of the market in 2011. The recently launched Motorola Xoom is a worthy competitor in function, but the relatively high price is expected to be a barrier.

Amazon continued to lead the eReader market holding just over 48% share in 4Q10 and 2010 overall. Barnes and Noble began shipping the NOOKcolor color LCD-based ereader in 4Q10 to support children's books, periodicals, and other graphically rich content.

Worldwide Sony Reader shipments grew 80.7% during 4Q10 and exceeded 800,000 units for 2010.