On an earnings call earlier this week, Apple revealed that iPad shipments for the most recent calendar quarter rose to 11.12 million units, compared to 9.2 million in the previous quarter.

That news, though, was offset Friday by a report from Strategy Analytics that the iPad's share of the global tablet market--previously a domineering 96 percent--had fallen to 67 percent. Meanwhile, Android tabs had grown their market share to 27 percent.

While iPad shipments have increased 164 percent during the first three months of this year, the numbers inside those numbers are revealing. From quarter one to quarter two, shipments climbed 96.4 percent. That contrasts starkly with the 20 percent increase from Q2 to Q3.

"It is clear that the iPad is experiencing slowing growth," observed IDC analyst Tom Mainelli in a research note today.

One reason for slowing shipments is that Apple has picked all the low hanging fruit in the tablet market, he asserted. "Many of the affluent consumers most likely to spend $500 or more on an iPad in markets such as the United States have already done so, and these buyers have now moved into a replacement buying cycle," he noted.