iPad Market Share Falls Below 25% as Tablet Market Continues to Decline

[oneMadRssn]

This article is a bit deceiving. It should say, market-share of new sales this quarter. I think only day-traders care about that statistic.

The thing develops care about, and hence I care about as a user since I want the good develops developing for the platform I use, is overall market-share of active users. Meaning, what percent of the today's total active tablet users, regardless of how long ago they bought it, use an iPad?

I don't know for sure, but I bet it's higher than 25%.

 

[blackcrayon]

iPads are just too expensive for what they do to upgrade frequently... I think most people would rather update their phones instead of their iPads given how much it would cost to upgrade both with the same frequency.

I know I run with the newest phone every year or two and put my iPad in an "upgrade only when absolutely needed" category.

I don't personally know a single person who thinks "man, I have to have the latest iPad every year". But even non-techie people I know always push their phone upgrades to the front of the line ASAP.

I upgrade every year, but then I'm a "weekend developer" (and I make enough to afford a new iPad from that There are always new features or APIs that require having the latest iPad to take advantage of. I realize that's an extremely small # of people though. Also, selling the previous year's iPad makes the upgrade not the worst thing in the world if you use the device heavily.

 

[Rogifan]

My iPad 2 will be my last iPad. I love the tablet form factor, but Apple is keeping the iPad crippled as to keep selling Macs. Force Touch and a larger screen will not get me to upgrade to a newer and rumored iPad Pro. It's all about the SOFTWARE and what I can and can't do using iOS.

Apple will follow tradition and milk everyone by releasing tiny incremental upgrades until sales are about to completely fall of a cliff. I'm done waiting on Apple, and I will be migrating back to Windows when the forthcoming Surface Pro 4 is released.

-ITG

Good for you. But Apple has been clear from day one that they don't subscribe to these all in one convergence type devices. They'd rather make the Mac thin and light and add functionality to the trackpad than shoehorn a desktop OS onto the iPad.

 

[Rogifan]

For only a bit more than a 64GB+ iPad (I wouldn't buy anything with less storage given the phat Apple apps) you can get a very nice touch laptop such as a HP Spectre. No contest in my book for productivity and flexibility -- the HP wins, even more so with Windows 10. iPads are overpriced and RAM starved.

Sure if you want to run Windows 10. I certainly don't.

 

[iBlazed]

I used to have an iPad 3 but it never quite found a place in my daily routine and it collected dust so I sold it. I use my MacBook Air at home and my iPhone 6 when I'm away from from.

I prefer to consume media on a laptop. Especially one as light, thin and fast as the MBA.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Functional if you're just listing "functions", but not nearly as well suited for any number of different functions tablets are great for. It's all functionality vs. practicality.

Tablets aren't really great anything though. I never bought into this gimmick device and the Apple watch is suffering the same fate, only much faster.

There is nothing a laptop (netbook or otherwise) can't do that a tablet can.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Sales declining?
Downgrading the iPad Mini to last years hardware should help.

...always a delight to see people who use computers for little more than a word processor proudly declare what works and doesn't work for everyone in every possible use case in every field.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Sure if you want to run Windows 10. I certainly don't.

Why?

 

[Tycho24]

i thought tablets were the future and would replace laptops?

lol....
I find it amusing that you found 5 ppl here that think this is NOT the case!!!

I don't know what it would possibly take to convince you people of reality.
People mostly just "Facebook" and casual game... they're not creating Hollywood films. A tablet is plenty. A laptop is overkill. These numbers are waning because an iPad 2 can casual game and "Facebook" just fine. A decent tablet can last 5 years, like the PCs of old.
*smh*

 

[oneMadRssn]

But Apple has been clear from day one that they don't subscribe to these all in one convergence type devices.

What? Apple invented the idea of a converged device - or if not, they certainly popularized the idea more than anyone. They took a cellphone, a pager/messenger, an iPod, a camera, a video player, a sat-nav, and an internet browser and converged it all into one device. They did this in 2007 with the original iPhone.

They even said they don't care if the iPhone and iPad products eat into their Mac line. I'm paraphrasing of course, but it was something like if we don't cannibalize our own business, someone else will.

Just because they keep OS X and iOS separate doesn't mean they don't believe in converged devices. I think it means Apple sees there is still a good market for standalone desktops and laptops, and there is also a market for converged devices. They're happy to sell your either.

 

[spatlese44]

I guess I could use a little help here. 45% other? Truth is I don't hang out at Best Buy much anymore and don't really pause to look at non Apple stuff, so I might be out of the loop, but that number seems a little high to me. If LG is in forth place at 3.6% market share, then there has to be at least 13 other producers and probably more to make the numbers work. Are there really that many? (3.6*13=46.8)

 

[Mackinjosh]

The iPad Mini 3 showed what utter contempt Apple has for its customers. Happy to see them losing more and more marketshare.

 

[Serban]

This is happening because EVERYBODY WAITS for the iPAD PRO to replace their laptops and pc !!

 

[manu chao]

Tablets aren't really great anything though. I never bought into this gimmick device and the Apple watch is suffering the same fate, only much faster.

There is nothing a laptop (netbook or otherwise) can't do that a tablet can.

How about using a laptop while standing vs using an iPad while standing?

 

[Substance90]

I don't think releasing an iPad-speed bump will increase marketshare a lot.
The iPad Air 2 is IMHO the best update to date, but that didn't really help improve marketshare.

It's time for a "different" iPad... something more than just a blown-up iPod Touch.

That! No reason to upgrade an iPad Air to an Air 2. Give us an iPad Pro with a Wacom quality stylus and that'll be a different story!

 

[RickInHouston]

Web surfing is suffering on a tablet.

Part of the problem I see is, and yes this is my personal opinion and can't be backed up, mobile internet seems to be geared to small screens. Tablets are getting pushed into a middle ground. Some pages look awful because they are made for 5 - 6 inch devices and other pages are a mess because they are desktop friendly and too busy for a 7 - 10 inch device.

User experience on a tablet is suffering, at times.

 

[kaltsasa]

Sales declining is one thing, but a market share decline is somewhat concerning.

I don't know, I feel like the marketshare has dropped because the market expansion into everyone buying 60 dollar eBay tablets for their kids. I know so many people who buy tons of these things because they are cheap. Me, I like buying the one good thing and using it for a few years. I used my iPad 2 for a long time and only recently upgraded to a refurb 4th gen. iPad 2 works GR8 for the kids and 4th gen iPad still runs everything I need it to. Just like the PC market, I'm ok with Apple steering clear of the bottom of the barrel tablet market. I'd like to see what Apple's market share of say, tablets over $200 is.

The premium tablet market surely has hit saturation at this point, and the hardware/software is good enough that there is not really reason to upgrade every 2 years like people seem inclined to do with their phones (my iPhone 5 on Ting still does everything it needs to).

 

[Alenore]

Sure if you want to run Windows 10. I certainly don't.

Did you at least try it ?

 

[Dorje Sylas]

I think we're coming to see that tablets are a lot like PCs in regards to how often they will be upgraded by users. They had the large initial boom of sales to get them into the market, now people are just keeping what they have since it's good enough. The iPad 2 still gets the job done for most people and most businesses who purchase them in bulk are also still using iPad 2s. No reason to get a newer model.

In fact I think tablets will be upgraded even less often than PCs going forward as they are the least essential device between computers, smartphones, and tablets.

All of the yes! Anyone in the Apple Marketing department that doesn't understand this should be thrown out the door or manybe a window. However the issue isn't "essential", there are people who will disagree with you. It's about price. Without the subsidized "pay it off over 2 year contract" that iPhones have in the US, iPads are EXPENSIVE, 500 climbing toward 800+ dollars. At the upper end it's what you'd pay for a cheap Windows Laptop or a custom built PC tower (self-ordered/assembled).

Considering the core aspects of a Table (document/web reading, lite document creation) you don't really need a device more powerful than the A5 that lives in an iPad2. Lots of people still hanging on to the now 4 year old device. This matches the ~5 year update cycle you'd expect in the "classic" Apple Laptop line.

There also hasn't been any serious hardware improvements to the iPad (passed the Retina screen) that would justify the replacement cost at this point. Nothing important like... say full force feedback screens.

 

[nia820]

i thought tablets were the future and would replace laptops?

lol mo-rons

Well the fact that iPads are well made so there is no need to upgrade. I know a lot that still are on iPad 2 and 3. So I think that has contributed to the tablet decline.

But I agree. People were too ambitious about the future of tablets. Majority of tablets on the market (with exception surface pro 3) cannot replace a laptop. The fact the iPad still doesnt have something as simple as a file finder is ridiculous. Freakin android phone have a file explorer. But a 10 inch tablet doesn't.

Get it together Apple!

 

[Rogifan]

I'm curious to see what Apple can & will do to make upgrading iPads a more frequent occurrence. There's no current use case that makes upgrading every year or two necessary.

I don't think iPads need to be upgraded every year or two. it looks like the replacement cycle will be more like Mac than iPhones. So what. Why is there this need to have people buying iPads every year? Maybe iPad settles into 10 million a quarter or whatever. Not every Apple product is going to/has to be iPhone like in terms of sales.

 

[neverendingscot]

Used to have a nice Samsung tablet to go with my Android phone. Ended up being a waste of money as it only became useful for when I wanted to read a book or watch a movie on the go, which doesn't happen often. Otherwise everything else I'd use it for is just much more convenient to do on my phone. Ended up getting a big screen phone so I could just sell the tablet.

iPads and the quality Android tablets are nice, but they aren't differentiated enough from the iPod Touches of the world and not powerful enough or as easy to use with multiple apps at one time as laptops are.

 

[JerryGarciaBandFan]

Ah yes, the “Apple is DOOMED” hand wringing meme.

Thats not what he said.

 

[maflynn]

If they put a voice cellular chip in it, I'd upgrade e/o year. I've put a phone to my head exactly once in the last year.

Why would you upgrade the iPad every year if they put a voice cellular chip in it?

 

[Rogifan]

What? Apple invented the idea of a converged device - or if not, they certainly popularized the idea more than anyone. They took a cellphone, a pager/messenger, an iPod, a camera, a video player, a sat-nav, and an internet browser and converged it all into one device. They did this in 2007 with the original iPhone.

They even said they don't care if the iPhone and iPad products eat into their Mac line. I'm paraphrasing of course, but it was something like if we don't cannibalize our own business, someone else will.

Just because they keep OS X and iOS separate doesn't mean they don't believe in converged devices. I think it means Apple sees there is still a good market for standalone desktops and laptops, and there is also a market for converged devices. They're happy to sell your either.

What I mean by convergence is one device that acts like a laptop and a tablet and runs the same OS. I don't think we'll ever see that from Apple.