iPad versus Android tablets: Surprising stats for SA
The market share of the Apple iPad in South Africa is closer to 50%, and not 60%, the MD of research firm World Wide Worx, Arthur Goldstuck, recently said when revealing updated statistics on the local tablet PC market.
Goldstuck had previously pegged the South African market at around 315,000 units sold of which around 60% were iPads, but taking into account updated figures from Samsung and Vodacom changes that picture dramatically.
Figures compiled from retailers show that 205,000 iPads have been sold in South Africa since the device was launched here in April 2010, Goldstuck said.
The breakdown is as follows:
- Grey/unofficial importers: 20,000
- Official distributors: 150,000
- First National Bank: 35,000
Samsung have revealed their sales figures since World Wide Worx last estimated the size of the market, Goldstuck said, quoting Samsung’s chief operating officer for Africa, George Ferreira, who revealed that they have moved 180,000 tablet PCs since the beginning of 2011.
Goldstuck said that HTC, Asus, and Acer have not revealed numbers, but they make “the modest assumption that other brands have accounted for only another 15,000 or so tablets”, bringing the total market size to around 400,000.
Apple therefore accounts for a little over 50% of the total SA market while Samsung has around 45% of the share.
“At current growth rates, the half-million figure of tablets sold in South Africa will be reached before June 2012,” Goldstuck said.
Related articles
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 devices unveiled