According to Canalys, a research firm, the shipments of tablets running Android operating system from Google exceeded the consignments of iPads from Apple during the second quarter. Android's success happened because of the popularity of small-screen tablets.
From April to June this year, more than 34 million tablets were sold worldwide, a 43% surge from last year. The information came from Canalys through a report published last August 1. Apple saw a decline in its market share by 43% last quarter. Its shipments dropped by 14% from 2012 to 14.6 million units. On the other hand, Android tablets made up 53% of the international market for tablets. Canalys said Amazon.com Inc, Lenovo group Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan's Acer Inc's shipments grew yearly by more than 200%. The growth transpired due to the rising demand for tablets with a small screen. Canalys projected that 68% of all the tablets that were shipped during the second quarter were designed with screens less than 9 inches in size.
"When Apple does decide to refresh its iPad range it will not experience the buzz of previous launches," James Wang, an analyst from Canalys said through the report. "Tablets are now mainstream products and hardware innovation is increasingly difficult. With branded Android tablets available for less than US$150, the PC market has never been so good for consumers, who are voting with their wallets."
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