Tablet Shipments Plagued By 10th-straight Quarterly Decline

Worldwide shipments of tablets fell 8.5% to 36.2 million in the first quarter, with every major brand except Huawei experiencing a decline, according to industry tracker IDC. The contraction marks the tenth-straight quarterly decline for the tablet market, though the previous five quarters fell at an even faster clip, with declines in the double-digit percentages. IDC, which counts both slate tablets and detachable tablets with keyboards among its analysis, attributed the decline over the past few years to bigger-screen smartphones. Apple Inc. , which reported earnings earlier this week, experienced its 13th-straight quarter of year-over-year shipments declines, down 13%, according to IDC. The iPad's share of the market declined marginally to 24.6% from 25.9% a year ago. Samsung Electronics recorded a 1% decline in shipments and its share increased to 16.5% from 15.2%. Huawei rounded out the top three and surpassed Amazon.com Inc. with a 31.7% increase in shipments. Shares of Apple fell 0.7% to $146.04 in morning trade. Its shares have gained 13% in the past three months and 55% in the past year, outperforming both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 . The Dow, a 30-member index that includes Apple, is up 4.3% and 19%, over the past three months and past year.