According to a recent report by Strategy Analytics, white box manufacturers account for 29.9 percent of the total global market for tablet unit shipments in Q3 2014, up from 26.7 percent in Q3 2013. This means that there is no specific brand leading the tablet space in the said quarter as the overall market grew by 6 percent year-over-year, and white box manufacturers outpaced the market with 19 percent growth. These manufacturers are overwhelmingly Android tablet makers, and the report notes that they have had success "by offering a wide range of tablets in a wide range of screen sizes, connectivity and price points, simultaneously improving quality and specifications.”

Apple remains the single best-selling brand by unit shipments, and likely by dollar value as well, despite losing almost 5 percent of global market share YoY with 12.3 million units shipped, or just over 22 percent of the market. The report does note that the recent refresh in the iPad line--whose introduction is not included in this year’s Q3 numbers--should push the product line in the next quarter.

The other big winner is Lenovo, which shipped 3 million units in Q3 2014, up from 2.3 million in Q3 2013. This does not include the company’s heavily promoted 2-in-1 laptops, and represents growth of 30 percent YoY, the best among the named companies.

The report’s author emphasizes that future growth of the overall tablet market depends on the growth of enterprise-class tablets over consumer-focused devices. Tablet Service Director Peter King said, “The momentum is building in the enterprise and vertical markets. Future tablet growth will depend on enterprise-class devices used for productivity rather than media consumption.” The author is also quite bullish on the ability of Microsoft to turn the upcoming Windows 10 tablets and Surface line into a significant enterprise-class tablet success story. Despite growing 9 percent YoY, Windows tablets currently only control 5.7 percent of the market, or 3.2 million tablets. Android remains the top OS, with a 72 percent market share and nearly 40 million units shipped in Q3.