Apple’s iPad Dominates Chinese Tablet Market with 71% Share

Apple’s iPad dominates the small but growing Chinese tablet market, according to new data from Chinese research firm Analysys International and reported by DigiTimes. Of the 2.6 million tablets sold in China during the third quarter of 2012, Apple’s iPad secured 71.42 percent, placing the device in first place by a wide margin.

China's 3Q12 Tablet Market Share

The country’s home company Lenovo, which acquired IBM’s personal computing business in late 2004, came in a distant second place with 10.52 percent of the market for the quarter. Another Chinese company, Eben, took third with 3.61 percent, followed by Korean company Samsung and Taiwanese firms Acer and Asustek. A variety of other firms, including Google-owned Motorola Mobility, each secured less than 1 percent of the market.

Market share was significantly different for what Analysys calls “business use tablets,” a category which the iPad did not penetrate. Here, Eben took the top spot with 41.07 percent, followed by Samsung (19.66 percent), Asustek (9.17 percent), ViewSonic (4.37 percent), and Lenovo (3.89 percent).

Overall, 2.6 million tablets were sold in China during the third quarter, an increase of 11.1 percent for the quarter and 62.5 percent year-over-year. Apple will begin selling the iPhone 5 and new iPad mini in China starting Friday, December 7.

In contrast to China, recent reports prior to the launch of the iPad mini indicate that the iPad holds just over 50 percent of the U.S. tablet market, down from a peak of over 80 percent in the face of stiff competition from low cost Android-based options.