Gartner just published its Worldwide Tablet Sales report and it tells an interesting story. The key points in the story include:

  • The market is in a healthy growth state, sales grew by 68% compared with 2012
  • Android is propelling into a strong lead capturing 62% of the market. iOS grabbed 36% and lost its lead from 2012, despite selling more iPads (i.e. market growth is faster than Apple’s).
  • Apple continues to be the single largest tablet maker (since Android tablets are made by several companies)
  • Microsoft continues to struggle and managed to capture only 2%

Gartner analyst Ms Cozza says: “To compete, Microsoft needs to create compelling ecosystem proposition for consumers and developers across all mobile devices, as tablets and smartphones become key devices for delivering applications and services to users beyond the PC”, and to that I fully agree.

However, the main message from 2013 sales is clearly that iPad is no longer the standard tablet. Android is the new mayor of Tablet Town.