IDC reports global tablet shipments show the first Y-o-Y decline since the product category hit the market back in 2010-- Q4 2014 shipments are down by -3.2% Y-o-Y to 76.1 million units.
On the other hand full-year 2014 shipments total 229.6m units with "modest" 4.4% Y-o-Y growth.
"The tablet market is still very top heavy in the sense that it relies mostly on Apple and Samsung to carry the market forward each year," the analyst says. "Although Apple expanded its iPad lineup by keeping around older models and offering a lower entry price point of $249, it still wasn't enough to spur iPad sales given the excitement around the launch of the new iPhones. Meanwhile, Samsung's struggles continued as low-cost vendors are quickly proving that mid- to high-priced Android tablets simply aren't cut out for today's tablet market."
Apple remains the unrivaled tabled leader, retaining 28.1% Q4 2014 market share even as shipments drop by -17.8% Y-o-Y to 21.4m units. IDC attributes such decline to cannibalisation from the iPhone in the bottom and the Mac at the top, as well as the overall lack of upgrades seen in the latest-gen iPad Air and mini.
Samsung follows in the Q4 2014 tablet vendor rankings, with 14.5% market share and shipments reaching 11m units with -18.4% Y-o-Y decline, even if it sees an overall 2014 shipment improvement of 1.1%. Lenovo places 3rd thanks to a varied Android and Windows device portfolio, while in 4th and 5th places are Asus and Amazon respectively.