Apple shipped an estimated 68% of all tablets in Q1 2012

"A steep drop in shipments of Android-based tablets offset a strong quarter from Apple and caused the media tablet market to miss projections for the first quarter of 2012 (1Q12), according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker. Total worldwide media tablet shipments for the quarter reached 17.4 million units in 1Q12, 1.2 million units below IDC's projection for the quarter. While IDC predicted a sharp seasonal slowdown of -34% from the previous quarter’s record-breaking 28.2 million units, the actual decline was slightly steeper at -38.4%. The total still represents a robust year-over-year growth rate of 120%, up from 7.9 million units in the first quarter of 2011.
"Apple reasserted its dominance in the market this quarter, driving huge shipment totals at a time when all but a few Android vendors saw their numbers drop precipitously after posting big gains during the holiday buying season," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices at IDC. "Apple's move to position the iPad as an all-purpose tablet, instead of just a content consumption device, is resonating with consumers as well as educational and commercial buyers. And its decision to keep a lower-priced iPad 2 in the market after it launched the new iPad in March seems to be paying off as well."
Apple shipped 11.8 million iPads during the quarter, down from 15.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, and grew its worldwide share from 54.7% in 4Q11 to 68% in 1Q12. Amazon, which stormed into the market in 4Q11 to grab second place with 16.8% of the market on shipment of 4.8 million units, saw its share decline significantly in the first quarter to just over 4%, falling to third place as a result. Samsung took advantage of Amazon's weakness to regain the number two position while Lenovo vaulted into the number four spot, followed by Barnes & Noble at number five.
Although total Android shipments were down sharply in 1Q12, companies such as Samsung and Lenovo are beginning to gain traction in the market with their latest generation of Android products. IDC expects the segment to rebound quickly as other vendors introduce new products in the second quarter and beyond."

Source:  Data from IDC reported in a press release, 3rd May 2012

The Kindle Fire is the most popular Andoid tablet in the US

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Source:  Data from comScore MobiLens, reported in a press release, 26th April 2012

Stats on tablet users & usage

"Today's Tablet User
"Tapping Into Tabletomics" also offers a snapshot of today's tablet user:
62% use their tablets daily
Daily tablet users spend an average of 2.4 hours per day on their tablets
85% of tablet use is for personal reasons versus business
77% of tablet use is alone
74% of tablet usage is done at home
Most media activities on the tablet, such as playing games and watching TV shows, peak with the 18-24 demo
The research reveals emotional connections to this device unlike any other in the household. More than 50% of respondents said their tablet makes them feel happier and more relaxed, while 49% said tablets make them more effective at managing life. Forty percent agree that "my tablet brings out the best in me" and 39% said tablets boost creativity.
One participant succinctly summed up her close relationship with her tablet: "The iPad is my form of entertainment, relaxation, fun, and opportunity to get information. It's my personal space, in a sense." However, not all tablet users feel the same. "Tapping into Tabletomics" revealed varying degrees of tablet love across four distinct segments of tablet users.
Power Trippers (18%): younger users, often male, that love their tablets and use them for everything.
Cool & Efficient (23%): frequent users that rely on tablets to be useful above anything else.
Happy-go-lucky (28%): light users that view tablets as a friendly source of enjoyment and entertainment.
Proceeding with Caution (31%): the lightest and often less technologically-savvy users that stick to basic activities.
Rush continued, "We found that the tablet is a jack of many trades - it offers video and social experiences, it's a source of information and it's portable. But despite its versatility, other devices prove irreplaceable."
While tablets provide both emotional and functional benefits, most tablet owners are not ready to purge their smartphones, laptops or gaming consoles. A vast majority, 65%, would replace their laptop before their tablet because it lacks the work functionality, and 77% would replace their iPhone before their iPad."
Source:  Data from Viacom's "Tapping Into Tabletomics", reported in a press release, 17th April 2012
Methodology:  "Drawing on a national online survey of more than 2,500 people ages 8-54 as well as qualitative, in-depth interviews with dedicated tablet users in New York and Los Angeles, "Tapping into Tabletomics" found that, in just a few years, tablets have risen to second-screen prominence for full-length TV (FLTV) show viewing, ahead of computers. Out of total time spent watching FLTV shows, 15% of viewing occurs on tablets."

iPad users spend over $70,000 a day on newspaper & magazine content

"iPad users are willing to pay for premium content offered by newspapers and magazines in the Newsstand category. The category launched only six months ago, however more than 70k USD per day is already being made by the top 100 grossing Newsstand applications in the United States."

Source:  Distimo blog, 27th March 2012

The demographics of American iPad owners

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Source:  Data from comScore, reported in comScore Datamine, 7th March 2012

Tablet ads have twice the engagement of mobile ads

"The latest research from mobile video ad network Rhythm NewMedia provides  further evidence that tablet ads are more inviting than those on mobile phones. In its fourth-quarter report, the company said full-page display ads on tablets had a 21% engagement rate compared to 9.4% for the same ad units on smartphones.
Almost a quarter (24%) of tablet owners and 11% of smartphone owners have clicked an ad they were viewing on their respective devices to learn more about a product or promotion, according to data released last week by Nielsen. Doubling the screen size may not always double the interaction rate, but it seems to help.
Among other findings, the Rhythm report showed that combining video with full-page ads increased engagement on mobile devices from 9.4% to 11.5%. When it comes to in-stream video ads, it also indicated that adding custom buttons for social networks like Facebook or Twitter or specific brands pushed up engagement rates from .97% to 1.21%
Fifteen-second ads continued to have better completion rates than 30-second ads, but only slightly -- 89.2% compared to 88.3%. The shorter format still accounts for the vast majority of video ads, although 30-second spots grew slightly in 2011 in connection with people increasingly watching full episodes on mobile devices."

Source:  MediaPost, 1st March 2012

25bn apps have been downloaded from the Apple App Store

"Apple® today announced that more than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store™ by the users of the more than 315 million iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch® devices worldwide. The 25 billionth app downloaded, Where's My Water? Free, was downloaded by Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China. As the winner of the App Store Countdown to 25 Billion Apps, Chunli Fu will receive a $10,000 iTunes® Gift Card.
[...]
The revolutionary App Store offers more than 550,000 apps to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users in 123 countries around the world, with more than 170,000 native iPad apps available. App Store customers can choose from an incredible range of apps in 21 categories, including Newsstand, games, business, news, sports, health & fitness and travel. The App Store has paid out more than four billion dollars to developers."

Source:  Press release from Apple, 5th March 2012

Earlier - 10bn announced on 22nd January 2011

5bn announced on 7th June 2010

1bn announced on 24th April 2009

Nearly 260,000 iOS apps were launched in 2011

"A total 255,922 apps were launched on the UK App Store in 2011, a report from madvertise and AppZapp has revealed. December was the most popular month, with 28,992 apps launching, more than 7,000 over the monthly average.
Twice as many apps were launched for the iPhone as iPad, with the most popular app category on the iPhone being Lifestyle, with a 106 per cent growth rate, followed by Education in second place. On the iPad, it was the other way round, with Education taking first place and growing at a rate of 205 per cent."

Source:  Mobile Marketing, 16th February 2012

41% of ad-related searches during the Super Bowl came from mobile devices

"Multi-tasking while watching TV isn't new, but nowadays smartphones and tablets are also becoming popular couch companions. Mobile devices have driven increases in total searches because of their always on, always-with-you nature. During the Super Bowl, 41% of Google searches in the US related to Super Bowl TV ads came from mobile devices. By looking at a selection of specific Super Bowl related queries both during the game and one week before, we found that the number of searches on these terms increased at a significant rate across all devices and was particularly high for mobile. Super Bowl ad related searches in the US rose 200% on desktop, 970% on tablets and a whopping 2700% on smartphones."

Source:  Google Mobile Ads Blog, 7th February 2012

The iPad accounts for 88% of US tablet traffic

"Not all tablets generate the same click rate. Apple's iPad generates the majority of tablet traffic, with an 88% share, while Amazon's Fire managed to step in as a low-priced alternative, generating slightly more than 4% of tablet ad clicks in late December before dropping to 3.5% at the end of January.
The traffic from non-iPad tablets still comprises less than or around 1% of total traffic for most. In January, RKG estimates the traffic at 0.8%.
About 68.1 million tablet units shipped worldwide in 2011, up from about 19.6 million in 2010 worldwide, according to the IHS iSuppli Worldwide Tablet Market Tracker Q1 2012. The research firm estimates tablet manufacturers will ship an estimated 124 million units in 2012."

Source:  MediaPost, 8th February 2012