IPad losing tablet market share, survey shows

Apple may have sold 17 million iPads in the last quarter, but its share of the tablet market has slipped significantly in the last year, according to a new report from Frank N. Magid Associates, a research-based consulting firm in New York.

In a recent survey of 4,734 cellphone and smartphone owners, Magid found that 50% of people with a tablet have an iPad. That doesn’t sound so bad until you consider that previously that number had been more like 72%.

The slack was taken up by Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which has jumped from zero to a 22% share of the market since it launced in fall 2011, Tom Godfrey, executive director of mobile strategy for Magid, said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “That’s what made up the difference,” he said.

Keep in mind, the Amazon Kindle sells for $199, while the iPad 2 starts at $399 and the new iPad starts at $499.

Moving forward, Apple will likely see its share of the market continue to decrease against the recently released Nexus 7 tablet by Google ($199), and Microsoft’s Surface tablet (price TBD) which will reportedly start selling in September.

“We expect to see the iPad as the leader, but with the Surface, Kindle Fire, and Nexus as three solid competitors with significant market share,” Godfrey said.

The report also notes that overall, tablet usage among those surveyed has grown from zero to 34% in the two years since the iPad was released. And Magid expects that tablet audience will more than double in the coming year, from 51 million to 106 million users.

“What is interesting now is that many people, including a lot of publishers, think the tablet market is just the iPad,” said Godfrey, “but these figures show people need to consider other platforms as well.”

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