As the tablet market has grown, Apple’s share of the pie had gotten progressively smaller. Though the manufacturer still enjoys a major chunk of the market, the combined force of all other tablets has now overtaken Apple.
DigiTimes Research today reported that worldwide tablet shipments of all other brands reached just over 20 million units during the third quarter of 2013. This was a 22.9% rise from the second quarter, and accounts for over 56% of total tablet shipments. Apple makes up the other 44%, shipping an estimated 15.6 million iPads during the third quarter.
Though this might seem to be good news for Android tablet manufacturers, these numbers could easily shift back in Apple’s favor during the fourth quarter. While manufacturers such as Asus and Samsung announced new tablets during the second and third quarters of 2013, Apple has only just announced its refreshed iPad lineup, including an iPad Mini with Retina display. DigiTimes estimates that iPad shipments grew by 6.8% during the third quarter, making up nearly 44% of worldwide tablet shipments.
During that same time, Samsung managed to increase its share of the tablet market to nearly 30%. Google’s Nexus 7 tablets represent the third-largest market share block, with Lenovo, Acer, Asus, and Amazon following behind. Collectively these companies are set to eclipse Apple within the next year with a flood of Android-powered tablets.