The worldwide tablet market grew 11% YoY in the second quarter of 2014 with shipments reaching 49.3 million units, according to IDC.
Although shipments declined by -1.5% over the first quarter, IDC believes the market will experience positive but slower growth in 2014 compared to the previous year.
"The market is still being impacted by the rise of large-screen smartphones and longer-than-anticipated ownership cycles," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC research director for tablets.
“We can also attribute the market deceleration to slow commercial adoption of tablets,” said Bouchard. “[But] we believe that stronger commercial demand for tablets in the second half of 2014 will help the market grow and that we will see more enterprise-specific offerings come to market.”
Despite declining shipments of its iPad product line, Apple managed to maintain its lead in the worldwide tablet market, shipping 13.3 million units in the second quarter.
Following a strong first quarter, Samsung struggled to maintain its momentum and saw its market share slip to 17.2% in the second quarter.
By now most traditional PC and phone vendors have at least one tablet model in the market, and strategies to move bundled devices and promotional offerings have slowly gained momentum.
“Until recently, Apple, and to a lesser extent Samsung, have been sitting at the top of the market, minimally impacted by the progress from competitors,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research analyst at IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. “Now we are seeing growth amongst the smaller vendors and a levelling of shares across more vendors as the market enters a new phase.”