Local tablet sales for the first six months almost equaled last year’s total sales of the device, while the iPad looks set to be overtaken as the top tablet seller in Australia within 18 months.
According to research by analyst firm Telsyte, there was 2.3 million tablets sold in Australia in the first half of 2013, compared with the 2.4 million sold in 2012, taking the total users in this country to seven million, with annual device sales revenue estimated to exceed $2 billion this year.
Telsyte’s research predicts that sales of Android tablets will overtake Apple tablets by 2015. In the first half of this year iOS-based Apple account for 52% of sales, with 42% Android devices, and the remaining 5% Microsoft tablets.
Telsyte managing director, Foad Fadaghi, said the iPad mini helped Apple retain market leadership in the first half of 2013 but warned the tech giant the market has become increasingly competitive.
Samsung – already dominant in the smartphone market – leads the Android-based tablets market with almost 40% share.
Telsyte also said Windows-based tablet sales will spike to somewhere near 20% of the market in the next four years.
