Global tablet shipments reach 27 mn in Q4 2011

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Global tablet shipments reached nearly 27 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 with Android jumping to a record share of 39 per cent, said a new research released on Thursday.

According to the research by consulting firm Strategy Analytics, global tablet shipments reached a record high of 26.8 million units in the last quarter of 2011, surging 250 per cent from 10.7 million units in the same period a year earlier.

Android captured a record 39 per cent share of global tablet shipments, rising from 29 per cent in the year-ago quarter, reported Xinhua.

Global Android tablet shipments tripled annually to 10.5 million units in the last three months of 2011 and the platform so far is relatively popular with tablet manufacturers, said the research.

However, Apple shipped 15.4 million iPads worldwide and maintained its market leadership with 58 per cent share during the fourth quarter last year.

"Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat from entry-level Android models this quarter," Peter King, director at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement.

The research found Microsoft captured a mere 1.5 per cent global tablet share in the quarter, noting that "the upcoming release of Windows 8 this year cannot come quickly enough for Microsoft, so its hardware partners can start competing more effectively in the tablet space".

In the full year of 2011, global tablet shipments hit 66.9 million units, increasing by 260 per cent from 18.6 million units in 2010. Consumers are increasingly buying tablets in preference to netbooks and even entry-level notebooks or desktops, said the research.