Tablet Market Share Data is Mixed for Apple Inc. (AAPL): Report

Yesterday, we reported that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) dominated Black Friday on the Internet, at least in the tablet arena, as its iPad was responsible for nearly 90% of online shopping on this date. It truly was an ‘iFriday’ to remember, and news out of tech research firm Analysys International makes today a cheery one for tablet enthusiasts as well.

Originally reported by Reuters, Analysys International found that the iPad garnered “more than two-thirds of sales” in China’s tablet market in the third quarter, which has seen rather impressive growth itself. After 1.6 million tablets were sold in the country in Q3 of 2011, this number grew by more than 60% over the past year, resting at 2.6 million tablets sold in the latest quarter of activity.

Getting into the specific numbers, Analysys (via Reuters) determined that “Apple had 71.4 percent of the market, down a percentage point from the second quarter,” but was still far above the likes of Lenovo (10.5%), Ereneben (3.6%), and Samsung (3.5%).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s tablet positioning in the Far East trumps how it is doing from an overall standpoint, despite the fact that Internet traffic data tells us otherwise, per our discussion in this article’s opening paragraph. In a report from ABI Research (via Tech Crunch), Apple generated a 55% share of the entire tablet market last quarter, which “is the lowest share Apple has ever had since launching the iPad in 2010.”

It’s worth noting that this placement still puts AAPL in first place, ahead of Android, which according to ABI, “now powers more than 44% of tablet shipments.” Darrell Etherington of Tech Crunch does a rather nice job of pointing out that “even if Apple loses its majority share of the tablet market in 2013, that likely won’t have a negative impact on its financial performance,” as the iPhone hasn’t faltered even though its smartphone market share numbers have steadily declined in recent quarters, despite news today of a surprising boost.

Regarding tablets, there could be many reasons why Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) enjoys a larger market share in China when compared with the rest of the world, ranging from: (1) fewer domestic competitors, (2) less market saturation, (3) pent up demand, (4) and even cultural differences. It’s likely that each of these factors plays a role here, but what are your thoughts? Will Apple see ‘normalization’ of its market share in China as it has seen in other countries like the United States?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.