iPad Seen as 'Weakest Link' in Stagnating Tablet Market

[Shanghaichica]

I upgraded from Air to Air2 about a month ago. I've never heard a popping on mine. I've seen a video with the screen distortion issue. I keep mine in a hardshell case but I tried to duplicate the issue when I first got it and had no screen distortion.

I agree with Max(IT): the sound of the internal speakers resonates (more bass frequencies) but doesn't distort. I preferred the sound of the previous model, but it's not terrible by any means.

The battery life of the Air 2 is shorter than the Air 1, but it also has a significantly faster CPU and more RAM. The 64GB Air2 is also the same price as the 32GB Air1 I bought a year earlier. Double the processing power and double the storage space for the same price is a win for me.. so I'm glad I sold mine and upgraded.

I don't care what these figures say about the iPad being the weakest link in the tablet market, because I know it's one of the best tablets on the market and they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Sure sales are down for various reasons. However the iPad is the single best selling tablet on the market by a long way. I upgraded from the air 1 to 2 simply because I wanted more storage space. I bought the 32GB model last year. This time I bought the 128GB for only £80 more than I paid for 32GB last year. So for £80 more I got 90+ GB of storage, a faster CPU, more ram, a better camera, a better screen, a lighter device and a gold finish. Now that I have enough space I don't plan on upgrading any time soon.

 

[AleXXXa]

I don't see myself ever buying another ipad. I already have a large screen phone, i don't need to carry another device with a phone OS with me. So i bought a Surface Pro, it replaced my laptop, it's way more powerful than an ipad (4GB RAM, i5 cpu, proper OS with proper software, not $0.99 fart "apps" lol, i can run PS or LIghtroom, etc).

I'll consider another iPad when they release one with bigger screen and Mac OS.

 

[Narcaz]

Doesn't help that developers are lazy as hell when it comes to iPad. I know at least two people in fact who took theirs back the next day on that basis alone. From Apple themselves to Tapbots on down, the level of "meh, we don't want iPad users' money" is astonishing to me. The one thing that has made me decide to just stick to my iPhone 6 plus alone rather than upgrading my iPad next time is that I am so tired of my most used iOS apps being a year/two iOS versions + behind on my iPad with no update in near site. That and the general "**** you" attitude the devs give when you reach out to them.

Has also made me cautious about checking their update history out before they get any money. Or anything more than a 1 star review in the case of devs who dropped the ball after they had my money.

Sad but true. And the number of Apps without a proper iPad version is still surprisingly high. I guess iOS7/8 separated the good from the bad. We need more developers from beautiful and useful apps like PDF Expert 5, Pixelmator, Mr. Reader and Duet Display, who showed how to make use of the full potential of an iPad.

 

[Osamede]

Actually, I have to agree with ad1815 - I only see an Android tablet twice a year - from my father who has 8" Samsung tablet. From my experience, a person could have a Galaxy S5, a $600 PC laptop, but have an iPad. I literally haven't seen any other tablets based on Android. Yes, people could be using them strictly at home, but it makes no sense that I haven't seen an Android tablet in the wild anywhere. I'm a college student, so I see plenty of tablets everyday. I see a fairly wide range of smartphones and laptops, but I've only seen iPads tablet-wise.(Talking strictly Android here, I see plenty of Surface Pro 3's, but those more like laptops)

So in short you think Android tablets are the loch ness monster? The Yeti? A figment of the imagination? As opoossed to the majority of tablets in existence.

Am not sure how one proceeds in a discussion where people think personal and obviously biased anectdotes on a forum outweigh global market data. You think fanboys are more reliable than IDG?

I don’t know where we go in this world when facts are considered irrelevant. Exiting this madhouse.

 

[cdm283813]

Actually, I have to agree with ad1815 - I only see an Android tablet twice a year - from my father who has 8" Samsung tablet. From my experience, a person could have a Galaxy S5, a $600 PC laptop, but have an iPad. I literally haven't seen any other tablets based on Android. Yes, people could be using them strictly at home, but it makes no sense that I haven't seen an Android tablet in the wild anywhere. I'm a college student, so I see plenty of tablets everyday. I see a fairly wide range of smartphones and laptops, but I've only seen iPads tablet-wise.(Talking strictly Android here, I see plenty of Surface Pro 3's, but those more like laptops)

I have 4 Android tablets at home. The only one that leaves the house is my sons Note 10.1. All other tablets stay home. There is no reason for me to bring a Nexus 7" tablet when my 5.7" Note 4 is faster, better screen, swappable batteries and is more portable.
So just because you don't see Android tablets in the wild doesn't mean that their not selling. But realistically I don't need a tablet. Even if I switch to a smaller phone like the S6 I don't have the desire to lug around a tablet.
But if that new Nexus tablet hits the right price point (under $150) I may get it but it's not leaving the house. Sometimes these tablets become impulse buys hence the reason why I have 4 tablets. A iPad is no longer a impulse buy for most people because they still get updated.

 

[MacBH928]

The question is why do people keep upgrading their iphones but not their ipads. The ipad has gained similar advantages as the iphone like better cameras, larger storage, thinner, lighter, retina...etc.

My only answer is that people use their phones a lot more than the iPads, so the incremental improvements makes a difference to them. Also its fashionable to walk around and have the new iphone. No one cares about what version iPad you have

iPad: The "magical" tablet crippled by iOS.

Apple was right in thinking a desktop operating system isn't right for a tablet, but iOS isn't the answer either. It need an OS all of its own, as powerful as OS X but with a touch-friendly interface.

Wow... please allow me to upvote your comment. This is one of the wisest criticism I have heard about Apple and I have been following Apple news on daily basis for about 15 years or so now.

 

[Trapezoid]

The question is why do people keep upgrading their iphones but not their ipads. The ipad has gained similar advantages as the iphone like better cameras, larger storage, thinner, lighter, retina...etc.

My only answer is that people use their phones a lot more than the iPads, so the incremental improvements makes a difference to them. Also its fashionable to walk around and have the new iphone. No one cares about what version iPad you have

Phones may also have subsidies so customers are not paying full price at the time of purchase. With the ipad you have to pay full price every time.

While subsidies don't exist in all countries it would be interesting to see how often people upgrade their phones in countries without subsidies.

 

[MacBH928]

Phones may also have subsidies so customers are not paying full price at the time of purchase. With the ipad you have to pay full price every time.

While subsidies don't exist in all countries it would be interesting to see how often people upgrade their phones in countries without subsidies.

You make an interesting observation. In my country you can subside an iPad, but I believe you also have to purchase the LTE model and subscribe for a data plan dedicate for your iPad which makes it too much of a burden to upgrade. There is no reason for your telecom company to offer a subside an iPad if you are not going to subscribe for an extra data plan.

 

[linkgx1]

The iPad is an incredibly well designed device. However, I think iOS is what holds it back...or a least iOS is too similar to the phone version. The 6 Plus, IMO has a better version of iOS tailored to it (compared to the iPhone 6) versus the iPad.


The fact is...I think Samsung and Microsoft have both done fairly decent jobs progressing what tablet's are supposed to do. I think a ''smart'' stylus is essential to expanding the tablet experience. If Apple could take the S-Pen and add split screen multitasking....it would be one incredible machine.

And with the release of the Macbook....people have less reason to buy an iPad.

 

[Max(IT)]

The iPad is an incredibly well designed device. However, I think iOS is what holds it back...or a least iOS is too similar to the phone version. The 6 Plus, IMO has a better version of iOS tailored to it (compared to the iPhone 6) versus the iPad.


The fact is...I think Samsung and Microsoft have both done fairly decent jobs progressing what tablet's are supposed to do. I think a ''smart'' stylus is essential to expanding the tablet experience. If Apple could take the S-Pen and add split screen multitasking....it would be one incredible machine.

And with the release of the Macbook....people have less reason to buy an iPad.

I agree with you: iOS should be more tailored to tablets.
But please don't speak about Samsung's tablets: they are a joke.
I like Microsoft's Surface Pro, but I don't think it's really a tablet. It is almost a different class of device.

 

[linkgx1]

I agree with you: iOS should be more tailored to tablets.
But please don't speak about Samsung's tablets: they are a joke.
I like Microsoft's Surface Pro, but I don't think it's really a tablet. It is almost a different class of device.

How are they a joke? Unless you are specifically talking about...Touchwiz. But the Galaxy Tab S has gotten awesome reviews across the board with an incredible Super AMOLED screen.

 

[Art0fLife]

Sad but true. And the number of Apps without a proper iPad version is still surprisingly high. I guess iOS7/8 separated the good from the bad. We need more developers from beautiful and useful apps like PDF Expert 5, Pixelmator, Mr. Reader and Duet Display, who showed how to make use of the full potential of an iPad.

Exactly. If Apple really wants to help the iPad improve it's usage and sales, one small way is that they should have a requirement in the app store for devs that claim to do both iPhone and iPad versions to keep the updates in line or at least within a certain time frame of each other or lose the ability to sell their stuff on there until they do. That would at the very least stop them from half-assing iPad apps just so they can claim they have one, and at best light a fire under them to get to work on things that shouldn't need a fire lit in the first place. I've got money waiting to be thrown at them.

 

[Max(IT)]

How are they a joke? Unless you are specifically talking about...Touchwiz. But the Galaxy Tab S has gotten awesome reviews across the board with an incredible Super AMOLED screen.

Sorry. Tried several (I had to, thanks to my job). Still think they are a joke.
Touchwiz is just one of the reasons.

 

[ptram]

I would replace my two iPads (2 and mini) only when a new model dramatically lighter and with a less reflective mirror – er, display, appears. I want a tablet weighting exactly as a traditional paperback or notepad. That one, I would call revolution.

 

[TechZeke]

So in short you think Android tablets are the loch ness monster? The Yeti? A figment of the imagination? As opoossed to the majority of tablets in existence.

Am not sure how one proceeds in a discussion where people think personal and obviously biased anectdotes on a forum outweigh global market data. You think fanboys are more reliable than IDG?

I don’t know where we go in this world when facts are considered irrelevant. Exiting this madhouse.

I wasn't claiming it as fact, I know it's anecdotal. I'm no fanboy, I'm just stating what I see. I even said in my post (If you actually bothered to read it besides trying to getting offended)that I see plenty of a wide range of PC laptops, surface Pro's and android smartphones, but never see andriod tablets. Sorry if I just don't see them. I was never claiming that they weren't selling, just stating what I see. Get over yourself, people jumping on here shouting "I have use 4 andriod tablets!" is no more valid than me saying my anecdote.

No doubt people are buying these tablets, but I personally don't think people are using them. It could be completely different in other parts of the country/world, I don't know.

 

[DevNull0]

I would replace my two iPads (2 and mini) only when a new model dramatically lighter and with a less reflective mirror – er, display, appears. I want a tablet weighting exactly as a traditional paperback or notepad. That one, I would call revolution.

And this is why it's so hard for companies like Apple. I have an iPad 4, and i have no interest in seeing it any lighter. I'd like a lot more functionality; a better way to type than the on-screen keyboard, more peripheral support (for example give me an easy way to copy pictures from my digital camera memory to a USB stick for back-up on the road). On the iPad you can't even copy a couple of email attachments and send them to someone else. It is just such a limited device.

And even if Apple did give me all the features I could want and made it lighter like you want I'd still say Apple should make it heavier and have a larger battery.

 

[xgman]

I would replace my two iPads (2 and mini) only when a new model dramatically lighter and with a less reflective mirror – er, display, appears. I want a tablet weighting exactly as a traditional paperback or notepad. That one, I would call revolution.

The latest ipad air already pretty light. Maybe you should head on over to the gym....

 

[gpat]

Seems to me this new MacBook could eat into iPad sales and I'm sure Apple doesn't care.

One product is cannibalized by another product which is double the price?
Oh, the tragedy!

 

[wikiverse]

And... So, what? Its the conclusion and tone that's a total absolute garbage.

Same argument as for the phone, from the same usual suspects.
Apple has a 18% worldwide market share of smart phones, lets see who is winning that battle... who has 93% of profits... with all but 2-3 other OEM losing big big money... This company starts with the letter A. Many of those OEM will go broke soon; guess winning has a cost...

So, how many of those tablets makers with an ASP of 1/3 the Ipad are making money? How much are they making? Does near zero ring a bell?

A real analyst, if such a thing exists, would actually care about profits?
You know PE ratio has earnings in there somewhere.

But, not those "analysts" like IDC whose shipment/sales numbers have been demonstrated as totally false (if not falsified) in Apple vs Samsung trials.
They've been on the Apple doom train for 5+ years BTW. Maybe once they'll be right by accident, a stopped clock is sometimes right.

You're conflating Apple's Worldwide market share, with Apple's US profits.

Analysts don't care about profits. Analysis is done for a range of reasons - for example, if I am making 3rd party accessories for tablets I don't care how much profit Apple makes from the AppStore or iTunes. Instead, I'm more likely to be interested in how many units each company is shipping and of which models.

If I'm an enterprise software developer, I'm not likely to care how much money Apple actually makes but rather what devices are being sold, and who is using them.

There is absolutely nothing in this analysis that talks about the 'Apple Doom Train'. MacRumors reporting of the analysis focuses on Apple's overall market share decreasing in the future - but the analysis itself doesn't claim that Apple is going anywhere. Those are conclusions that you've drawn.

 

[iLLUMI]

This is directly related to people keeping their ipads longer. Tons of people are still using the ipad 2 with no desire to upgrade.

I'm one of these people. I was very much looking forward to upgrading to the Air 2 but due to vibrate-gate I opted to stick with iPad 2 for a while longer. Most of the apps I need still work.
However I'm getting an iPad Mini 2 next week which will have iOS 8 and will allow me to install the latest apps. Not sure if I'm going to want to update to iPad Air 3 or future iterations in a hurry after I buy the Mini. Depends on what Apple has to offer. I'd still like to upgrade, thus have a Mini and an Air, but we'll see.

 

[Gameboy70]

I disagree. In some ways it's a much more refined OS than OS X from a developer's standpoint and has nearly all of the capabilities of OS X. However it is sandboxed and the security makes some things more difficult. I've been creating professional and enterprise apps for iPad for some time now and can tell you that with the right apps, it can do a LOT of professional work.

Ironically, creating apps on the iPad isn't one of them. You can do web development by SSH'ing into a real computer, but why deal with that layer of friction when you could use a laptop with all the computational resources required natively?

No you're not going to be doing some heavy lifting with it and it does have trouble due to it's form factor, but in the right context it's a very valuable tool.

iOS is a much greater limitation than the form factor. It's easy enough to add a keyboard; the bottleneck is the inability to run Xcode. You said it yourself: the sandboxing and security profile of iOS prohibits robust app development. Look at how many workarounds code hobbyists have to endure to make professional looking apps with sandboxed environments like Codea or Pythonista.

 

[Gameboy70]

Exactly. If Apple really wants to help the iPad improve it's usage and sales, one small way is that they should have a requirement in the app store for devs that claim to do both iPhone and iPad versions to keep the updates in line or at least within a certain time frame of each other or lose the ability to sell their stuff on there until they do. That would at the very least stop them from half-assing iPad apps just so they can claim they have one, and at best light a fire under them to get to work on things that shouldn't need a fire lit in the first place. I've got money waiting to be thrown at them.

If Apple imposed that requirement I suspect most devs who weren't making money on their iPad versions would just pull them from the App Store rather than be forced to pour resources into them, especially at the expense of the apps that keep the lights on.

Since most iPad apps with a Wow factor were introduced years ago, and few of those have seen significant updates, it's reasonable to infer that the market for desktop-grade apps at sustainable prices was found to be nonexistent. This seems to be a problem for iOS in general (see Panic Software's 2014 Panic Report for a comparison for sales and profits on iOS and OS X), the situation seems even more acute on the iPad. Anecdotally, iPad usage appears to be less app-centric than the iPhone; it's mainly a content device, as much as some power users are irked by that characterization (MS only got 300K new subscribers in the first quarter after Office for iPad's release). When users want to do work that's generally associated with laptops, the still tend to use laptops.

 

[furi0usbee]

Absoluetly not.
I don’t have an iPad. I have neither Kindle nor Android tablet either but I do want a tablet.
The day Apple make a way for me to use the iPad as a remote terminal for my Mac, (Natively), is the day I buy one. The money is here waiting.

If you are holding off on buying an iPad for *that* then you are a rare exception. That's not the typical consumer.

 

[Osamede]

I wasn't claiming it as fact, I know it's anecdotal. I'm no fanboy, I'm just stating what I see. I even said in my post (If you actually bothered to read it besides trying to getting offended)that I see plenty of a wide range of PC laptops, surface Pro's and android smartphones, but never see andriod tablets. Sorry if I just don't see them. I was never claiming that they weren't selling, just stating what I see. Get over yourself, people jumping on here shouting "I have use 4 andriod tablets!" is no more valid than me saying my anecdote.

No doubt people are buying these tablets, but I personally don't think people are using them. It could be completely different in other parts of the country/world, I don't know.

Tablets are by and large a sofa replacement for a PC - that's what all the studies show. The data shows they are buying these devices. The web usage data shows they are using these tablets at home in browsing situations, not for any major work. Most retailers by now for example know this and that is why they have responsive or adaptive design on their websites.

But you know what these hundreds of millions of people are using in their own home? They bought the devices but you are certain they dont use them?

Again, this does not pass muster. Anectodes are utterly useless here - we have the hard data. And yes people use these things.

 

[uid15]

Let me know when ANYTHING NEAR iLife suite is available on Android tabs, and I'll give it a go. For intense, flawless creation tools, NOTHING comes close to iPad or iPhone, not least of all audio hardware wise.

Example: iPod Touch 5G: http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/ipod-touch-5g/audio-quality.htm