Amazon, Samsung in ‘Tight Race’ for Second in Tablet Derby, Parks Says

Among leading tablet suppliers, Amazon and Samsung are "locked in a tight race for second" behind Apple, "which overall shows signs of cooling even as adoption remains high," Parks Associates said Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1EYvYkC). It canvassed 10,000 U.S. broadband homes in Q1 and found that 16 percent owned an Amazon tablet and 14 percent a Samsung tablet, while Apple's share fell to 37 percent from 46 percent in Q1 two years earlier, it said. More than six in every 10 U.S. broadband homes now own a tablet, and slightly more than half own both a smartphone and a tablet, it said. "Tablet sales in recent quarters have been hampered by a longer replacement cycle compared to smartphones', a lack of new features, and the popularity of phablets, which negatively affects sales of smaller-sized tablets." The next iPad, Parks said, is widely expected to feature Apple Pay, the digital wallet service that Apple introduced when it debuted the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus last month. "Apple Pay on iPad can go a long way in helping Apple arrest its shrinking market share in the tablet marketplace," it said. "Apple already announced Apple Pay with its iPhone 6, and the company has the clout to secure the necessary support from major merchants. If Apple is able to deliver a seamless payment experience, with tight security and broad merchant support, the firm could turn the mobile wallet into a differentiator for the tablet market." Apple Pay will come to market without the support of Best Buy and Walmart, which each said last month they won’t support the service at launch for reasons that neither would disclose 1409150011.