Last year wasn't exactly a banner year for tablet makers.
For the first time since the market took off with the 2010 launch of the iPad, worldwide tablet shipments suffered a year-over-year drop last quarter, according to new data from IDC. Total shipments of tablets and 2-in-1 devices fell 3.2 percent to 76.1 million units in the fourth quarter compared to the year before. On a more positive note, however, shipments for the full year increased 4.4 percent, totaling 229.6 million units.
"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," Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, said in a statement. "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."
Samsung, meanwhile, faced increasing competition from low-cost vendors, which are proving that mid- to high-priced Android tablets "simply aren't cut out for today's tablet market," Ubrani said.
Apple retained is position as the world's top tablet maker, shipping 21.4 million iPads in the fourth quarter to nab 28.1 percent of the market. Despite its woes, Samsung managed to hold onto its second-place spot with 11 million units shipped and 14.5 percent of the market. Lenovo came in third with 3.7 million units shipped while Asus and Amazon rounded out the top 5, shipping 3 million and 1.7 million units, respectively.
Lenovo was actually the only tablet maker in the top 5 to post growth during the fourth quarter. The company grew 9.1 percent year over year, thanks to its "tight grip" on the Asia/Pacific region and the success of its low-cost tablet offerings.
"Despite an apparent slow-down of the market, we maintain our forecast about tablet growth in 2015," Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC tablet research director, said in a statement. "Microsoft's new OS, a general shift towards larger screen form factor and productivity-focused solutions, and technology innovations such as gesture interface that could be introduced in tablets will help the market maintain positive growth in 2015."