By Prince Osuagwu

Despite losing a market unit share in the third quarter of 2013, Apple still shipped more products and remained the top company in the tablet business in the Quarter.

Apple shipped 14.25 million iPads during the quarter, including the mini and the larger 9.7-inch counterpart.

The shipments, according to industry data providers, HIS,  provided the company with a 29.7 percent share of unit shipments. However, the figure represented a decline from its second-quarter shipments of 14.62 million and its market share of 33.5 percent.

Apple’s weaker shipment performance was said to be due to a shift in its product release cycle, from a two-pronged launch approach in 2012, with tablet launches in the spring and fall, to a single fall release in 2013.

Apple has crossed the 170 million mark in terms of cumulative units sold since the launch of its first iPad, in the second quarter of 2010.

Meanwhile, second on the table, Samsung, finished the quarter with 10.7 million shipments and a 22.2 percent share. The South Korean electronics company improved on its tablet shipments during the year and increased its share position by 8.1 percent. Samsung, has shipped 54 million units since its arrival in the tablet market in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Asus in Taiwan, which recently launched the new version of its Nexus 7 tablet, seems to be the third on the table having substantial stronger quarter-on-quarter growth than either Apple or Samsung at an 87 percent expansion.

Lenovo also had strong outing with 94.6 percent quarter-over-quarter growth, which was attributed to its regional presence in China and its strength in Europe and in emerging markets such as Latin America.

While vendors such as Samsung, Asus and Lenovo have been part of the growth of the Android operating system in the tablet market, much of the growth is said to be attributable to regional vendors based in China. With the new Windows-based tablets entering the market at prices less than the base unit of the newly configured iPad mini with Retina display, it does not seem as if Apple may be displaced in the market leadership, not at least in the few years to come.