Apple owns the tablet market, but Amazon is the growth leader

According to new numbers from IDC, the global tablet market is contracting. The market declined 12.3 percent versus a year ago in terms of quarterly shipments. However, in its most recent earnings release, Apple beat iPad sales expectations.

The IDC data show that Apple remains the dominant tablet purveyor, with a 26-percent market share in the quarter. Samsung was second, followed by Chinese rivals, and then Amazon. Amazon Fire tablets (and Kindles) saw massive growth, in large part due to price reductions and relentless promotion by the online retailer.

Unlike many of its Android tablet rivals, Amazon offers a relatively good quality device at aggressive price points (many Android tables on the market are simply junk). For its part, Apple just reported sales of 9.95 million iPads worth $4.9 billion. During the earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “We had our best iPad [year over year] compare in 10 quarters.” This is due in part to the success of the smaller iPad Pro.

While replacement cycles for tablets are longer than for smartphones, and many analysts are bearish on tablets, the device has now penetrated a majority of US households according to Nielsen.