国内英语新闻:Android hits record share of global tablet shipments in Q4 2011

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Global tablet shipments reached nearly 27 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 with Android jumping to a record share of 39 percent, said a new research released on Thursday.

According to the research by consulting firm Strategy Analytics, global tablet shipments reached a record high of 26.8 million units in the last quarter of 2011, surging 250 percent from 10.7 million units in the same period a year earlier.

Android captured a record 39 percent share of global tablet shipments, rising from 29 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Global Android tablet shipments tripled annually to 10.5 million units in the last three months of 2011 and the platform so far is relatively popular with tablet manufacturers, said the research.

However, Apple shipped 15.4 million iPads worldwide and maintained its market leadership with 58 percent share during the fourth quarter last year.

"Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat from entry-level Android models this quarter," Peter King, director at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement.

The research found Microsoft captured a mere 1.5 percent global tablet share in the quarter, noting that "the upcoming release of Windows 8 this year cannot come quickly enough for Microsoft, so its hardware partners can start competing more effectively in the tablet space."

In the full year of 2011, global tablet shipments hit 66.9 million units, increasing by 260 percent from 18.6 million units in 2010, according to the research.

Consumers are increasingly buying tablets in preference to netbooks and even entry-level notebooks or desktops, said the research.