Tablet Market: Can Microsoft Speed Up? - Analyst Blog
03 Mai 2013 - 3:34PM
Zacks
A new survey on tablets released by IDC this week shows that the
tablets market continues to expand at a healthy rate. Easily
exceeding numbers for the entire first half of 2012, tablet
shipments for the first quarter of 2013 came in at 49.2 million
units for the first quarter of 2013. The demand for devices with
smaller screens shows no sign of letting up, which means that
prospects for tablets remain bright.
Moving into the list of the top five tablet makers for the first
time is Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) at fifth
place. Sales of its Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets together
amounted to a total of around 900,000 units. A large number of
these were Surface Pro units which are being sold in the U.S. and
Canada since February.
The company has said that it is looking to increase the regional
distribution of both the Surface RT and the Surface Pro. Taking
into account figures across all vendors, Windows 8 and Windows RT
sales together amount to 1.8 million units.
Apple, Inc. (AAPL) continues to lead the tablet
pack. The iPad maker beat forecasts of 18.7 million units to end up
with a significantly higher 19.5 million units. Even so, the
company’s market share dropped below 40% in the first quarter of
2013. This is also significantly lower than the 58.1% market share
it held a year ago.
Meanwhile, in second place, Samsung grew year over year by a
whopping 282.6%. Its total worldwide market share has grown to
17.9% from 11.3% in the first quarter of 2012.
At the third spot, in place of last year’s occupant
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), we have Asustek Computer
Inc. This despite the fact that Amazon has experienced year over
year growth of 157% for its Kindle Fire devices. Asustek seems to
have surpassed other tech heavyweights like Hewlett-Packard
Company (HPQ) and Dell Inc. (DELL) at the
tablet game.
However, setting aside the Surface products, other Windows 8 and
Windows RT tablets are continuing to find the going rather tough. A
Program Manager at IDC has drawn attention to the fact that rumours
about Windows RT and Windows 8 tablets with smaller screens have
been doing the rounds for some time now. But this doesn’t look like
the panacea for Microsoft’s tablet worries. The bigger challenges
for the company are lower cost competition and consumer
messaging.
If Microsoft manages to solve these issues, simultaneously
providing devices with smaller screen sizes, it may emerge as a
winner in the days to come. This is particularly significant in a
market which seems to be favoring two avenues of growth. First up
are the 7 to 8 inch devices such as the iPad Mini and the Galaxy
Note. Then there are the lower-priced tablets such as the Kindle
Fire and the Nexus 7.
Currently, Microsoft’s two key offerings, the Surface RT and Pro
tablets are unable to fit into any one these two categories.
And Microsoft has still made little headway into a market which is
slowly outweighing the traditional PC segment. The Surface
Pro has sold only 700,000 units in its first quarter, belying the
huge publicity it received as support. This is a paltry amount when
compared to the iPad’s three million in the quarter when it was
first launched.
Going by IDC’s figures, the first quarter of 2013, two tablets were
sold for every three PCs sold. This means that if the tablet market
continues to grow at its current rate, tablets will overtake PCs by
the end of the year. What Microsoft needs urgently is a device at a
significantly lower price point, say $200.
However, with the lion’s share of Microsoft’s profits still
coming from Windows and Office licenses, a cheaper product seems
unlikely right now. But if it wants to move up the tablets charts,
this could be the only option the software giant has.
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