The global market share for iPad products is likely to drop from 26.9% (IDC figures) for the second quarter of 2014 to below 25% in the second half of the year due to increasing competition, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

Although Apple is said to be releasing a new 9.7-inch iPad in the third quarter, the sources believe the new model may only provide limited benefit to sales.

Apple recently announced revenues of US$37.5 billion for the second quarter, up from US$35.3 billion in the same quarter of 2013 and net profits of US$7.7 billion, up from US$6.9 billion. Apple expects its revenues to reach US$37-40 billion in the third quarter.

In the second quarter, Apple sold 35.2 million iPhones, up 13% on year thanks to increased demand from emerging markets such as China, Brazil and Russia, and 13.28 million iPads, down 9% on year.

As for Apple's competitors, Samsung Electronics shipped 8.5 million tablets in the second quarter, up slightly from the same quarter of 2013. Lenovo shipped 2.4 million units, up from 1.5 million units, and Asustek 2.3 million, up from two million, noted the sources citing figures from IDC.

The sources believe the iPads' high prices, slow upgrade rate and lack of a cheap counterpart, are main factors causing Apple to gradually lose its market share. Currently, the iPad mini is the main shipment contributor at 2-3 million units each month.

Digitimes Research's figures also show that upstream suppliers shipped a total of 14.1 million iPads to Apple in the second quarter, down 10% sequentially and Apple's market share was about 25% in the quarter.