Worldwide media tablet shipments rose 88.9 percent on a sequential basis and 303.8 percent year over year in the second calendar quarter of 2011 (2Q11) to 13.6 million units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker. Based on this performance and an improved outlook for the second half of the year, IDC raised its shipment forecast for 2011 to 62.5 million units, up from a previous projection of 53.5 million units.
Worldwide media tablet shipments in the second quarter were driven by continued robust demand for Apple's iPad 2, which saw shipments reach 9.3 million units, representing a 68.3 percent share of the worldwide market (up from 65.7 percent the previous quarter). Research in Motion entered the media tablet market in 2Q11 with its PlayBook product, grabbing a 4.9 percent share of the market. Apple's strength and RIM's entrance are seen to mean bad news for Android-based media tablets, which saw its collective share slip to 26.8 percent, down from 34 percent the previous quarter.
Looking forward to the second half of 2011, IDC expects Android to cede additional market share in 3Q11 (dropping to 23 percent) before it starts growing its share again in 4Q11 (increasing to 25.9 percent) and beyond. In addition to continued demand for Apple iPads, IDC expects many consumers who were on the fence about buying a media tablet to scoop up $99 TouchPads as a result of HP's decision to end production of its tablet product. IDC expects close to a million TouchPads to ship into the channel before the end of the year. As a result, WebOS's worldwide market share is forecast to reach 4.7 percent in 3Q11. However, with no clear plan to license or sell the OS to other vendors, IDC expects the WebOS market share to shrink back to zero by 1Q12.
Turning to eReaders, the second quarter experienced a seasonal dip, down 9 percent sequentially to 5.4 million units, while year-over-year growth was 167 percent. Amazon led the market with a 51.7 percent share, followed by Barnes & Noble with 21.2 percent. With product refreshes and following strong 2Q11 sales, IDC expects eReader shipments to grow significantly through the holiday season, reaching a total of 27.0 million units for the year, up from a previous projection of 16.2 million units.
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