Deepening Price Polarization
US-based research firm Strategy Analytics announced on March 20 that ultra-low-cost products made up 50.2 percent of the total Android tablets sold worldwide in 2013, while entry-level phones accounted for 23.9 percent. In other words, low-cost devices comprised 74.1 percent of the total. Mid-range devices constituted 23.2 percent. In total, they represented 97.3 percent.
Out of 141.59 million Android tablets sold last year, 137.73 million units were entry-level and mid-range devices. On the other hand, 3.77 million high-priced products constituted merely 2.7 percent, with 900,000 premium products at 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, Apple sold 37.83 million mid-range devices in 2013, which accounted for 51 percent. High-priced products made up 40 percent, or 29.68 million, whereas 6.3 million premium-priced products represented 8.5 percent. That is, the market share of middle-priced, high-priced, and premium-priced products was 99.5 percent, while the figure for tablet PCs in the ultra-low and lower-range price segment was only 0.5 percent.
The sales volume of the iPads was 74.21 million units last year, half the number for Android tablets. However, Apple sold more expensive products than any other Android device maker.
The problem is that this price polarization is likely to continue.
Strategy Analytics predicts that the weight of ultra-low-cost Android tablets will increase to reach 72.2 percent in 2018. To add 19.7 percent of low-end devices, ultra-low-cost or low-range products are forecast to comprise 91.9 percent of the total.
However, Apple’s combined market share of tablets in 2018 is expected to be similar to the 2013 figure, with mid-range devices at 51 percent, high-priced products 44.3 percent, and premium products at 4.7 percent.