
Android Grabs Top Spot From iPad With 62% Share of the Tablet Market - amitkumar01
http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/03/gartner-195m-tablets-sold-in-2013-android-grabs-top-spot-from-ipad-with-62-share/
======
leobelle
So where are all the tablet apps, because there are like zero tablet apps.

I am on my third Android tablet (a Kindle Fire HDX). My first Android tablet
was the first Samsung 7" tablet that came out with Gingerbread on it, back in
like 2010. I got a free iPad from my job a few years ago and gave that to my
daughter and have upgraded her iPad since. She has a ton of children apps for
her, that she has grown up with, and learned from. There are near no apps for
my Android tablet this many years in. Personally I never want an iOS device, I
just don't like the operating system, but I would really like at least some
apps for Android. These marketshare numbers don't seem to have helped at all.

~~~
brador
Money. Many Android tablets are full of pirate apps (you just need an APK
file). Plus, IOS users are, on average, more willing to pay. It's why some
apps are $0.99 on IOS and free with ads on Android.

~~~
josteink
Citation needed. If you are that kind of guy, you can easily pirate on any
platform, iOS included.

Personally, despite you just needing to install an APK, I don't know a single
Android-user running anything not installed from the Play store.

Obviously the XDA crowd is different, but they are a clear minority, and I
know almost nobody IRL who goes that route.

~~~
thenmar
ios users paying more: [http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/11/apple-users-
buying-61...](http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/11/apple-users-
buying-61-more-apps-paying-14-more-per-app/)

~~~
devcpp
The only occurrences of the the word "Android" are in that paragraph:

>More apps than Android: Apple's App Store has more than 425,000 apps. The
Android Market has 200,000. In May, Google (GOOG) announced its 4.5 billionth
app download, compared with Apple's 15 billion as of July 7.

Where do you read that iOS users were paying more than Android users in that
article?

------
k-mcgrady
Surprised this hadn't already happened as I'm sure Android tablets are much
more popular in a lot of markets where price is the most important
consideration. Apple really doesn't cater to that at all.

What's the usage numbers like though. That seems to be the one Apple always
bring out when discussing the iPhone (fewer sales but much more web browsing
than Android). I know a family member who had an iPad and used it all the
time. For his next tablet he got an Android tablet and he doesn't use it at
all. Why? No good apps. Android still lacks massively in quality tablet apps.

~~~
NicoJuicy
So they use Apple more for webbrowsing and they don't use Android because
their are no good apps on it?

Weird... The browsing experience is very good on Android.

But then again, my mom uses an Android tablet all the time and my aunt doesn't
use her iPad.

Whats your conclusion about that? :-)

~~~
k-mcgrady
The stats I'm referring to are ones the Apple always mention at events.
Although there are many more Android phones sold than iPhones when you look at
browser usage share iPhone is higher than Android. Their point seems to be
that a lot of Android phones are used solely as phones and not as smartphones.

~~~
NicoJuicy
Look, i'm really not going to argue with you.

But we have a saying in Dutch: "Wij van Wc-eend adviseren... Wc-eend"

Translation: "We from ToiletDuck advice... ToiletDuck" (it was a known
commercial for a toilet cleaning product)

~~~
NicoJuicy
[http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wij_van_Wc-
eend_adviseren..](http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wij_van_Wc-eend_adviseren..).

------
RyanZAG
So the Apple fans who were telling us how poor the Android tablet experience
is and that Android only beats iOS on phones because of carrier bundling
appear to have been incorrect yet again. Makes for very good proof that an
open ecosystem is always going to beat out a closed one in the long run.

~~~
lubos
So if open ecosystem is always going to beat a closed one, why didn't
Discourse beat Facebook? Why didn't App.net beat Twitter? Why didn't Linux
beat Windows on desktops?

I'm happy for Android but saying that Android is winning only because it's
"more" open is just non-sense.

~~~
quarterto
> why didn't Discourse beat Facebook?

a) they're aiming more for phpBB et al b) they launched a year ago

~~~
veeti
He probably meant Diaspora.

~~~
josteink
In that case they lost because their conceptual model was so complex that even
a reasonably technical user trying to sign up would give up trying to get an
account, trying to figure out what a "hub" was and how you would get one.

And I mean that on _top of_ network effect. And the fact that it was
mismanaged. And that it was mostly vapour-ware.

It hardly had a chance.

------
matthewmacleod
Cool. This was always going to happen. It's also unlikely to have a noticeable
effect on Apple, who are still selling loads of iPads.

Maybe it'll encourage better tablet apps for Android, which is still obviously
lagging in this area.

------
cclogg
Darn, the article didn't say anything about which countries caused the growth.
It makes it hard to read into what this actually means depending on where you
are. Eg [http://www.zdnet.com/windows-phone-makes-gains-in-europe-
but...](http://www.zdnet.com/windows-phone-makes-gains-in-europe-but-android-
dominates-7000026703/) shows that certain countries like China can skew total
market share towards Android vs Japan skewing towards iOS (and US about
50-50).

------
jebus989
This is kinda like comparing coke with "carbonated orange drinks". The fact
that the latter outsell the former seems obvious but unimpressive, as a fairer
comparison (Coke vs. Fanta / product line vs. product line rather than OS)
reveals its continued market dominance.

~~~
6thSigma
There isn't an iPad equivelant for Android though. All of the Android tablets
share an ecosystem and all of the iOS tablets share an ecosystem; that's where
the link is. Perhaps only counting tablets with Android 4.0 and above would be
a better comparison.

------
bane
Gentlemen, let the goalpost moving begin.

 _edit_ already two replies providing nice examples.

~~~
gress
No need. Android tablets are absolutely outselling iPads. However they are $99
devices sold in Asia as TV replacements, not for apps or web browsing.

Also, because android is open, the numbers are inflated:
[http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/11/18/android-based-
tv-s...](http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/11/18/android-based-tv-sticks-
activate-as-tablets-prove-popular-for-bootleg-videos-in-asia)

------
chrisBob
I think a more telling number is where the money is. How much does Apple make
from iPad sales vs all of the Android tablet profits. How much is spent in the
app stores?

As a developer I will stick with iOS until the profits flip.

I couldn't find updated numbers, but in 2012 Apple sold slightly fewer phones,
but people still spent 4x as much in the iOS app store.

[http://techland.time.com/2013/04/16/ios-vs-
android/](http://techland.time.com/2013/04/16/ios-vs-android/)

~~~
josteink
> How much does Apple make from iPad sales vs all of the Android tablet
> profits.

Why should anyone apart from Apple care about this?

Unless ofcourse you're merely interested in finding out if you're getting
ripped of and by how much?

~~~
chrisBob
Thats fair, it is the app store sales that is the important figure.

------
habosa
I'd like to know how many "good" Android tablets are selling, and how much of
this is the fact that Android has total dominance on the low end (< $99)
market. Specifically, I'd like to see market share for Android devices with
Android 4.0+, 1GB RAM, and a decent multicore processor. I'm a happy Nexus 7
owner myself, but there are a lot of people with Android tablets that are
total garbage.

------
ef47d35620c1
Watching Android versus iWhatever is like watching Windows versus Macintosh
all over again. How soon will they have 97% of the market is now the question.

~~~
simonh
That's all very well, except that Windows doesn't have 97% of the market. In
fact for consumer PCs over $1,000 the Mac actually dominates, as it does for
profits in the PC industry overall and has done for quite some time.

If iOS ever does end up in the same position against Android as the Mac does
against the PC, Apple will be doing very nicely thank you very much.

------
akulbe
Yes, this is subjective... I realize that, so here's my opinionated response.

More market share != winning.

Applications for Android tablets largely still suck. Applications for iPad,
are better quality in my experience - and that by a WIDE margin.

Now, here's the bias disclaimer. I have been an avid Mac user in the past, and
there are many things I prefer about that platform, in terms of development
and productivity (i.e. just getting stuff DONE)

HOWEVER - I am currently all-Linux, except for the iPad Air.

I use the following devices:

iPad Air Nexus 5 (this is my primary "phone" now, having switched from an
iPhone 5) Nexus 7 2013 wifi.

Yes, that's some extra info... I just wanted to convey the fact that I'm
giving Android a fair shake. If you want to ask me what I think of the N5, I'd
be happy to share, but that's off-topic here. :)

~~~
akulbe
And the "more market share != winning" comment...

let's add an example of that... Microsoft.

Yes, they rule in the desktop space. So what? They haven't done anything to
innovate in a LONG time.

They lost the mobile market.

They seem to be grasping for straws, and largely trying to gain revenue by
strong-arm bully tactics with patent licensing agreements that are likely
almost all FUD.

 _CAN_ they innovate? Perhaps. It's been a long time since they have.

For all you MS-lovers who will tout the dominant market share, and stock
market profits... let me ask you this.

If MS was doing SO good... why is Ballmer out? :)

</opinion>

------
gte910h
This does appear to count Samsung 5" "Tablets" but not the iPod Touch looking
at the numbers.

I'd love to see this confirmed or disproved.

~~~
higherpurpose
There's no way it includes 5" devices. Those are considered phones. Where are
you seeing that?

~~~
gte910h
The devices without cell equipment are certainly NOT included in the phones
comparisons. Aka, iPod Touches and Samsung 5" non-Phone tablets

Why would you assume they're also excluded by tablets?

None of the sites are showing any real breakdowns to verify this, but the
Apple tablet numbers are iPad numbers, not iPad + iPod Touch which it should
be if small form factor, non cell tablets are considered in this.

------
Cenk
For 2013 sales, not for the entire market.

------
BugBrother
I'm an iPad user in Romania, right now.

The salaries are really low here, most sales seem to be 100-200 Euro cheap
Androids.

The Androids are often used for specific applications/niches (e.g. in taxis
and by poor students). If buyers had money, they'd at least get Androids with
better screens.

I believe the market for paid Android apps here is more or less nil.

(I hope the cheap Androids aren't used for banking etc, considering the lack
of security updates.)

In short -- these cheap Androids aren't really competing with iPads. People
just can't afford better (or they are used for a specific application 20
minutes a day).

All that said, I still would consider to switch from iOS if I could get better
Emacs support with external keyboard than a terminal (which work on iOS now).

~~~
higherpurpose
That's like saying cheap Windows PC's didn't really compete with $2000 Macs.
Cheap PCs is what helped Microsoft gain its monopoly power, and what put Apple
in a niche position.

This is a strength of Android - that it _can_ be on inexpensive devices for
the billions of potential users out there.

~~~
interpol_p
I don't think Apple minds being in a niche position.

Remember their original goal for the iPhone? Capture one percent of the
market. Their products have always catered to a niche, only with the iPod did
they ever start seeing mainstream popularity.

I don't think it would hurt Apple to fall back to being a niche in the current
computing landscape — they are just amassing money otherwise — their company
does not seem designed to actually grow with the money they earn.

