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Research Firm Claims iPad Only Has 61% of Tablet Market

The numbers could be correct, I know lots of ANDROID users, but I rarely see them use them because they are not functional enough. Most of the users find them not so user friendly. I ask if they have an app and they say no, I show them how to get the app and they go WOW. At least everything is in the appstore for apple and easy to find. ANDROID market is not so great.

Most ANDROID tablets sit in peoples cupboards as they received them as a gift for a phone plan or for buying some furniture, they are not used. In airports, all I see are iPads. I take mine out to watch a movie and others do the same, at least 30% of people in international airports have iPads.
 
dejo said:
Looking at "tablets in use" (a very personal, subjective thing) is an even more-flawed approach (not that I really agree with Strategy Analytics' numbers).
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Are you sure? As far as I can tell their numbers are just made up. Their report at the end of last year had Apple with only a 75% share.. They would have to give a pretty compelling description of their methodology before I would believes there methods are any better then personal anecdotes.
 
Corban987 said:
The numbers could be correct, I know lots of ANDROID users, but I rarely see them use them because they are not functional enough. Most of the users find them not so user friendly. I ask if they have an app and they say no, I show them how to get the app and they go WOW. At least everything is in the appstore for apple and easy to find. ANDROID market is not so great.

Most ANDROID tablets sit in peoples cupboards as they received them as a gift for a phone plan or for buying some furniture, they are not used. In airports, all I see are iPads. I take mine out to watch a movie and others do the same, at least 30% of people in international airports have iPads.
Click to expand...

I am amazed by the number of iPads in airports. If you go into an airline lounge, they are everywhere. I have seen 1000s of iPads and even one or two bulky windows tablets over the past 16 months of traveling. I have seen 1 Xoom. I assume the gu worked for Motorola, but maybe they sold it.
 
Even if this is the truth, it's still on side of Apple a big time. I mean, iPad is 1 product (eventually 2 but from same company) and it has so large portion of the market while android tablets share the rest of the market with many other companies which equals much much less money for them.
 
dethmaShine said:
I call that ********.

I have yet to see an Android/Windows/Nokia/HP tablet in the market being actually used by some people. Maybe there are those people; but 40% tablets other than the iPad comes as a shock to me.

Who is buying those tablets? No one's buying PlayBook OR Motorola XOOM or ...

I really like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the ASUS Transfer. But they together couldn't take 20% of the market. :(
Click to expand...

Only a complete and utter FOOL makes a claim such as
"No one's buying PlayBook OR Motorola XOOM or ..."
If even ONE person buys them, you're wrong.
...and It just so happens that this iPhone user (myself) does not own an iPad (and would never waste money on one), but instead owns a Viewsonic gTablet (an Android tablet that would fall squarely in your '...' category), so there you go. Your statement that no one buys them is proven wrong by counter-example.
And also remember that the wildly popular "Nook" is ALSO an Android tablet.

Besides, (what so many people here seem to overlook is).... tablets are more likely used in the home rather than outside, so expecting to witness an accurate subset of those in use, while out and about, is a ridiculous borderline ludicrous expectation.

But even so, did you ever consider that you didn't see non-apple hardware because you weren't looking for non-Apple tablets?
People tend to focus on and remember items that stand-out to them, and ignore or forget the others.

Or perhaps it's just that by the nature of the beast, Apple users tend to flash their gadgets more than others. Amongst all my co-workers, family and friends, the balance of Android to WinPhone7 to iPhone is (oddly) in that same order in terms of popularity (greatest to least). (Yes, more people I know own Android devices than iPhones. I myself, a multi-generational iPhone owner.)
Yet it seems the opposite order in terms of how often the user shows-off their handset. (My friends who own Android phones could care less about flashing it around, while the iPhones/iPod touches are always being shown off... even if no one cares. WinPhone7, somewhere in the middle... but the interest seems to be more of an odd curiosity than ohhs and awws.)
Now this is just my personal experience, and I'm not deluded enough to believe that what I witness is true across the board, but it makes sense, knowing the style-stigma/stereotype for Apple products that they'd be flashed around much more.
So perceived usage, could be skewed by that human condition.

As for this report, I say their findings are totally plausible.
Apple has always tried to drive sales by exaggerating their perceived product image.
Hell, it was the whole POINT to their stupid Mac vs PC ad campaign, and even Mac fans and Apple store employees will admit how inaccurate the images of Mac users and PC users Apple portrayed were.
So it makes sense that they would report their gross product sales numbers as use numbers, instead of revealing the actual numbers they have for actively used devices.
Apple has no reason to not inflate their use numbers.
 
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2 Replies said:
So it makes sense that they would report their gross product sales numbers as use numbers, instead of revealing the actual numbers they have for actively used devices.
Apple has no reason to not inflate their use numbers.
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Every tablet usage study out there supports Apple's sale numbers. Also, every tablet usage study does NOT support the report in the article. Apple has a fiduciary responsibility for the tablet sales numbers they report. Google consequently, does not.

I think this guy has the right idea:
https://twitter.com/#!/rsynnott/status/94124787961569280

What is 1.35 mil vs. the total number of iPads sold so far, again? Seems like Android tablet sales are "quite smooth".
 
neko girl said:
Every tablet usage study out there supports Apple's sale numbers.
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(bolding emphasis mine)

Obviously not.
Again, if even a single usage study exists that does not support Apple's sales numbers, then your statement is false. And with the existence of the study featured by this very article; QED, by counter-example.


neko girl said:
Apple has a fiduciary responsibility for the tablet sales numbers they report. Google consequently, does not.
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Google doesn't sell tablets, they merely supply the OS that manufacturers install on their hardware.
Why would anyone even expect Google to report hardware sales numbers?
Like expecting cows to report milk or cereal box sales, or rice growers to report sake sales numbers, or expecting automotive sales numbers from brake-pad manufacturers.
Seems like a kinda stupid expectation. :rolleyes:

But okay, I'll digress and revise. Apple has little (not no) reason to not inflate their use numbers.
 
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The only way I see that number being accurate is if they are reporting units shipped rather than units sold. I just see no other way that I can believe that is true. Here the iPad 2 remains more or less sold out in every retailer, and other tablets don't gather any interest at all. Since this entire tablet craze started I can think of one non-iPad tablet I've seen out in the wild.

I wonder if Android will be able to maintain it's explosive growth in tablet industry. One thing I believe about Android's success in the mobile industry is that they essentially tied together a huge chunk of market share that already existed. HTC, Samsung, Motorolla, and so on were already successful players with market share, good distribution, and great subsidy deals in place. Android just unified them under one flag. It gave Android a great base to move forward from and then strong sales have done the rest.

Alternatively in the tablet field there is no existing marketshare to be had, it all needs to be built from the ground up. There is the distinct possibility that this plays out similarly to how the iPod race played out. Where despite analysts warnings Apple is able to maintain a large majority of the marketshare. A lot of the practices Apple used to maintain their iPod lead like buying out components are still in play, and Apple has only gotten better at it.

Time will tell I guess. I'm waiting to see how the Amazon tablet will do, which ironically enough is really bad for Google.
 
Based on the data we see from both Apple and Google (Apple's sales data and Google's activation data), it looks like the tablet market in no way resembles the smartphone market. At all. It looks like Apple has sold to customers over 21 times more iPads than all Honeycomb Android tablets combined.

The iPad didn't enter the tablet market. The tablet market that existed before was not actually a market - at least not a viable one. The iPad created the tablet market, and it resembles very closely the position the iPod had in the digital music player market a decade ago than it does the iPhone in 2008.

The funny thing is, is that the only viable and discernible tablet market remains the iPad market. And it's growing at quite a rate. Imagine if it really does turn out to be an iPod situation. But this time, it's not about a music player. It's about computing at large.

Consider this: Apple is to the post-PC era what Microsoft and Intel combined were for the PC era. They control the dominant software platform and reap the majority of the profits from hardware. Imagine how big a combined Microsoft and Intel would have been 20 years ago. Then consider that the Post-PC/mobile market is going to be bigger than the PC market.
 
I'm not defending apple, but yesterday I went to a big shopping surface, a guess what people were toying with ipads and macs. Now there's something called pc experience but *nobody* was there.
I never saw anybody with an android tablet so far, just ipads (but not much).

I've activated my android phone about 10 times now since it tends to need a hard reset once in a while.
 
I know twelve people with iPads and one with a Galaxy Tab (the original 7"). And even they also own an iPad.
My experience may not be representative by any means, but these figures are definitely wooly at best.
 
dejo said:
Looking at "tablets in use" (a very personal, subjective thing) is an even more-flawed approach (not that I really agree with Strategy Analytics' numbers).
Click to expand...

That I have not ever seen anyone using a non-iPad tablet is not subjective. Not in the slightest. It's not subject to my feelings, taste or opinions, which is what the word "subjective" actually means. It's simply a fact. Just as it is with anyone else. You either have or you have not. How many you remember is also not subjective; it's just data with varying degrees of accuracy.

What I think you mean to say is that the penetration will be different for different people, since it's not "6 out of every 10". However, when you total it against everybody on this board, everybody you know, etc, then it must statistically approach the numbers being claimed. The larger the sample, the more accurate the result. And since there are a number of "zeros" being claimed by people here, the non-iPads have a lot of ground to cover to approach 61%.
 
The insidious nature of this study is that it posits a trend that is in Android's favor. Look how an Android supporter will take this data:

"Wow, in Q4 '10 we were at 2.9%, and now just two quarters later we are up to 30%! At that rate we'll be over 50% by Q4 '11. We win!"

So look around you this Christmas season. If you don't see a 50-50 split of tablet usage, you'll know this trend does not exist.
 
Corban987 said:
The numbers could be correct, I know lots of ANDROID users, but I rarely see them use them because they are not functional enough.
Click to expand...
I would disagree with that. My father works for a certain UK bank which has just started trialing the use of Android tablets for his work. When I asked why not an iPad to him, he said it was because they were insecure and lacked certain resources needed for the job.

So if anything, it's the iPad that lacks functionality. Not that Apple should care, they're doing well in the consumer side of things.


*LTD* said:
The iPad didn't enter the tablet market. The tablet market that existed before was not actually a market - at least not a viable one. The iPad created the tablet market...
Click to expand...
That is just utter nonsense. Next you'll be trying to say Apple created the Phone market. And the PC market. :rolleyes:
 
It's not surprising if android tablets have increased their share, they only cost £50-£70 ($80-$100) for cheap resistive screen tablets. Completely different market, and most people I know that have bought the cheap droid tablets sell them on within the week.
 
roadbloc said:
I would disagree with that. My father works for a certain UK bank which has just started trialing the use of Android tablets for his work. When I asked why not an iPad to him, he said it was because they were insecure and lacked certain resources needed for the job.

So if anything, it's the iPad that lacks functionality. Not that Apple should care, they're doing well in the consumer side of things.
Click to expand...

Ah, your father has been misinformed. The U.S. investment banks are all over the iPad without any security issues or issues with resources. Sounds as if your dad has one of those IT shops that learned it's good for their job security to be anti-Apple. Or some other explanation for why he would mischaracterize the iPad. Businesses are flocking to the iPad, so clearly they are not the way your father described them.

That is just utter nonsense. Next you'll be trying to say Apple created the Phone market. And the PC market.
Click to expand...

Apple certainly did not create the tablet market, since Microsoft struggled for ten years to get people to buy theirs. Apple certainly did not create the phone market, but no one claimed that.

But Apple most certainly did create the PC market, unless you count the Altair.
 
I don't buy it. The 40% might make sense if they compared all shipped to channel tablets.... but bought by customers. No way. I've only seen a couple non-apple tablets in the wild and they were in airports.

In contrast, even here in NE PA, I seen iPads everywhere in the wild. I'd be shocked if non-Apple tablets have 10% share yet of actual sold units.
 
roadbloc said:
That is just utter nonsense. Next you'll be trying to say Apple created the Phone market. And the PC market. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Have to disagree with you and agree with the other poster. Tablets were not catching on until the iPad came out. Only used in very specific B2B applications if anything. Apple did create the tablet for the masses. Sorry... but the numbers support this.

Oh... Apple did more to create the PC market in the early days than MS. Apple was shipping PC's before MS even made it's first million. As for smart phones... yup... didn't create them, but they sure did change them.
 
roadbloc said:
That is just utter nonsense. Next you'll be trying to say Apple created the Phone market. And the PC market. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The tablet market was dead before Apple came along.

As to the latter, I certainly wouldn't say that, although it certainly feels like it.
 
When Apple says they sold all the iPads they had been able to manufacture this quarter, they meant to retailers.

No manufacturer reports the number of tablets (or phones) actually bought by an end consumer. That goes for Apple, Samsung or any other maker.

We have to resort to other means. One way of counting is to use the number of activations. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't report those for tablets, and Google doesn't count most of the cheap ones, nor do they break out tablets from phones (except for reported Honeycomb tablets, which are undoubtedly the minority of tablet sales).

--

Another way is to survey stores. Both IPads and Android tablets can be seen sitting on some store shelves. This tells us that retailers jumped on the tablet craze, but some stocked up too much.

IPads are very popular (I just gave one to a daughter yesterday, even though she has an Android phone), but not everyone can afford them. So a lot of people are buying under-$200 Android tablets (which are usually best used as kids' tablets, but are okay for browsing and a few games. These tablets are usually not reported in Google's activation numbers.)

--

Observation: tablets tend to be used mostly at home, so they're not seen that much. I've only seen iPads at airports, and they're only noticeable because they're so big. I probably wouldn't notice 7" Android tablets because I'd think they were e-readers instead.
 
2 Replies said:
Only a complete and utter FOOL makes a claim such as
"No one's buying PlayBook OR Motorola XOOM or ..."
If even ONE person buys them, you're wrong.
Click to expand...

In a soundbite-oriented casual conversational medium, such terms as "nobody does X" is shorthand/code for "well yeah a few people do X but the numbers are so small as to be overwhelmed by the huge percentage of those doing Y instead".

Of course people are buying PlayBooks and XOOMs.
People bought MS Kins too - but not enough worth noting save for sheer novelty of how few.

Amazing how many people take a soundbite medium and expect participants to write voluminous tomes of perfect accuracy in every tweet-sized quip.

The term you need to investigate is "sarcasm".

And also remember that the wildly popular "Nook" is ALSO an Android tablet.
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Which is part of the confusion about such statistics: yeah, it runs Android, but given the device is built & marketed as a reader with a few appish minor features, does it count? Does a battery & motor strapped to a bicycle count into electric-car usage statistics?

But even so, did you ever consider that you didn't see non-apple hardware because you weren't looking for non-Apple tablets?
People tend to focus on and remember items that stand-out to them, and ignore or forget the others.
Click to expand...

To the contrary: looking for tablets in the wild, methinks the rare non-iPad instances would stand out as memorable.

As for this report, I say their findings are totally plausible.
Click to expand...

Sure they're plausible, depending on how you squint at them. As another noted, this may be a good case study for How To Lie With Statistics: if you're including Nooks and other Android-running devices which are rarely used - by design! - for their full potential, and including "shipped but not sold", and "bought one and shelved it 'cuz it sucks", and "bought several (returning some) before settling on one to actually use - and it's an iPad"*, and ... then yeah, grasping at all statistics and ganging up hundreds of products to tout "hey, non-iPads make up half the market share of ONE PRODUCT FROM ONE COMPANY", then yeah it's plausible.


* - of tablet owners I know, 6 own iPads (just one tablet each), while the other 3 have purchased at least 6 non-iPad tablets between them. From one angle, that's 50-50 iPad vs non-iPad; from another angle, it's a 6-1 ratio 'cuz 5 of the non-iPads are shelved or returned; from a third angle it's a practical 100% iPads because the one in-use exception is used exclusively as an e-book reader.
 
ctdonath said:
To the contrary: looking for tablets in the wild, methinks the rare non-iPad instances would stand out as memorable.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I'm very interested in what tech other people are using, and I really notice it. That's how I saw the rise of iPods a decade ago, and the relative paucity of other MP3 players in comparison. It's also how I notice the many Android phones and Blackberries in use, and how the Blackberry suddenly became the teen girl phone of choice a couple of years ago. And it's also how I saw how popular the Kindle is.

And it's also how I know the iPad is kicking the butt of every other tablet out there. I routinely see iPads in use. I've yet to see any other tablet used by anyone, anywhere. Others have seen them? Cool. I haven't. And I look.
 
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