A new report from Strategy Analytics takes a look at the number of tablets shipped during the second quarter of 2013 and compares them with figures from the year-ago period. The firm found Microsoft shipped 2.3 million slates running Windows during the three month period.
That's an impressive figure but it falls well short of the two industry giants, Android and iOS. According to the report, iPad shipments were actually down 2.4 million this year compared to 2012, from 17 million to just 14.6 million. Slates running Google's Android operating system, however, shot up to 34.6 million, a full 16.1 million increase over last year's 18.5 million.
Looking at the overall tablet OS marketshare, we see Apple's share fell from 47.2 percent to 28.3 percent this past quarter. Apple's loss was Android's gain, however, as Google's mobile OS went from owning 51.4 percent of the market to an even 67 percent. In the same category, Windows accounted for 4.5 percent and BlackBerry held just 0.2 percent.
Looking forward, the firm believes there may be an uptick in Windows RT shipments during the third quarter after deep price cuts by all partners still involved with RT. If you recall, Microsoft slashed pricing by $150 on all Surface tablets running Windows RT with other vendors taking even more off. The problem, however, lies in the shortage of apps and it seems there is very little incentive for developers to work on the platform.