Apple iPad Shipments: The Good and Bad of 4th Quarter 2012 Apple iPad Shipments

Apple iPad Shipments: Thanks to new data from research firm IDC, we have a better idea of which tablets achieved the most success during the fourth quarter of 2012. Although Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) received some good news from the report, there was some bad news for the Cupertino-based company as well.

Let’s get straight to the point: the Apple iPad led all companies with shipments of 22.9 million units during the quarter.

While this may not be a huge surprise, the iPad did lose overall marketshare thanks to a market shift to Samsung.

Here is a brief excerpt from the official IDC press release:

“Apple’s iPad once again led the market, and the firm’s shipment total of 22.9 million units was exactly in line with IDC’s forecast for the period. A strong iPad mini launch, plus availability of the fourth generation full-sized iPad, led to solid 48.1% shipment growth over the same quarter last year. However, strong competition in the market led to Apple’s market share declining for a second quarter in a row (down to 43.6% from 46.4% last quarter). Number two vendor Samsung experienced 263% year-on-year growth, shipping nearly 8 million combined Android and Windows 8 tablets during the quarter to grab 15.1% of the market, its same market share total from the previous quarter.”

On the surface, these numbers look great. However, you have to compare the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) tablet marketshare in 2011 to 2012. Its 2012 fourth quarter marketshare was 43.6 percent, down from 51.7 percent during the same quarter of 2011.

As noted above, this is due in large part to Samsung’s marketshare increase from 7.3 percent in 2011 to 15.1 percent in 2012.

Tom Mainelli, research director, Tablets, at IDC added the following: