Tablet sales plunge across Australia and NZ. Huh?
An IDC survey runs counter to the iPad hype.
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Hawke’s Bay
A new survey runs counter to the usual Apple iPad hype.
The market for tablet computers, such as the iPad, actually shrank by 34% during the first quarter across Australia and New Zealand, IDC found.
Total tablet sales across the two countries fell to 200,000 – about 15% of which (or 30,000) were in New Zealand.
Rebound on the way
But don't panic, gadget freaks.
IDC remains bullish on tablets long term.
The company said the first quarter was only slow by comparison to booming tablet sales at Christmas.
It also reckons that consumers were holding off in anticipation of the iPad 2 (released just as the quarter closed).
Others were holding off for tablets from Samsung, Toshiba, LG and others based on Google’s Android 3.0 software, aka Honeycomb - which have yet to hit New Zealand in significant numbers (Motorola's Xoom seems to be about to join their ranks).
Sales to double
Over the course of this year, IDC thinks tablet sales will double over 2010. Sales of Android tablets will triple. And later this year, BlackBerry’s PlayBook tablet and new entrants running HP’s WebOS will add to the market as well, if gaining only a small percentage of share along the way.
IDC also expects prices to fall as Apple’s competition starts to get its act together.
NBR staff
Tue, 05 Jul 2011
Tue, 05 Jul 2011
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Tablet sales plunge across Australia and NZ. Huh?
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