The epic Android story keeps getting better. Android OS has been dominating the smartphone scene in a spectacular fashion (almost 80-20 in favor of Android lately) for sometime now. Tablets market was not an easy one to crack either. Apple's domination of this segment was near perfect. But with the arrival of Nexus tablets, things started to change dramatically. According to ABI Research, critical shift in consumer behavior took place during the second quarter of 2013. Let's take a closer look at these latest developments.
Android vs iOS: The Tablets Scene
According to the reasearch, during the second quarter of 2013, the number of Android-powered tablets surpassed iOS-based ones for the first time, tablet-related hardware revenues reached parity, and perhaps most important, the average selling price of iPad is rapidly approaching the market average. And the majority of the shipments constitute smaller 7-inch tablets. But yes, the basic facts remain the same. Lets put some perspective into all this.
No single company comes even close to Apple's actual numbers, unlike in the smartphone scene where Samsung has been the dominant player for long. Android's share is split between a number of players such as Samsung, ASUS, Amazon, LG et al. But that doesn't change the fact that Android OS as a whole is the new market leader in the tablets segment. This is a big win as far an average Android consumer is concerned. What this means is more developer interest for Android powered tablets and better tablet specific apps for Android.
In my opinion, this is an eventuality with the Apple's model of doing business. They won't be able to dominate *any* market for long with a single product line running a closed OS. The arrival of Ubuntu Touch and Firefox OS and stiff competition from Windows 8 are only going to make matters worse for Apple and iOS. Stay tuned for updates and thanks for reading.
[Sources: NBC News, Image via ET]