iPad Momentum Falls Flat as Tablet Market Experiences First Year-Over-Year Decline

[the8thark]

Proof the Apple iPhablet 6 and 6+ cannibalised the iPad Mini.
Why cart around an iPhone and an iPad Mini when one phablet can do both devices work relatively well. And I know many people who sold their iPhone5's and iPad Mini's for one iPhablet 6 or 6+ and that's all they own.

 

[John.B]

It's the post-iPad era.

Smart consumers want value and versatility and Lenovo delivers.

$699 for an iPad Air 2 limited toy with 2GB DRAM and 128GB storage.

Or, $419 Thinkpad 10 with 4GB, 128GB storage and Wacom pen which is a full blown computer in tablet form factor.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/thinkpad/thinkpad-10/?menu-id=thinkpad_10

Running Windows on an Atom processor with 4GB RAM?

 

[tdale]

Proof the Apple iPhablet 6 and 6+ cannibalised the iPad Mini.
Why cart around an iPhone and an iPad Mini when one phablet can do both devices work relatively well. And I know many people who sold their iPhone5's and iPad Mini's for one iPhablet 6 or 6+ and that's all they own.

Disagree. The Plus helps but it doesnt replace for most, it will for a few.

A 5S is too small, but a 6 Plus is also too small to be a tablet but it does handle that task a LOT better than a 5S. But its nothing like a mini or iPad 9.7. Would you enjoy watching a movie on a 6 Plus?

 

[Michael Goff]

My bad: I really was certain but you're right. I've looked up the specs and the 11'' MacBook air is only lighter when you include the keyboard and pen with the Surface. Obviously no competition. Surface is lighter.

However, my general point about trade offs was right. 0.96 pounds for the iPad Air 2 vs 1.75 pounds for the Surface.

We'll also see if the new MacBook Airs don't slim down to past surface thinness.

Again, sorry for being wrong, thanks for the correction.

Nothing wrong with making a mistake, but this is hardly comparative to the 11". The screen shows the same amount of content as the 13".

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Running Windows on an Atom processor with 4GB RAM?

Atom isn't what it used to be, much better than you'd think.

 

[ChrisA]

The problem is that people don't have a real need and a tablet is just a toy for watching movies, games and maybe Youtube.

Really how many people use Garage Band to play and compose music or use Pages or Numbers to create documents? It's not the best device for most content creation, the Macbook Air is so much better at that.

One thing I like it for is presentations, connect it to an Apple TV and connect that to a projector and you can give a presentation while walking around the room. But how many people need to do that.

So for the 99% it's a $500 media viewing toy, no wonder it's not selling. After everyone who has $500 of disposable income has one why would they buy a second one? OK it's faster but it still can't play a 5 minute Youtube view in 4 minutes, faster is of little use in a media viewer.

They were smart to partner with IBM. A tablet's best use is when running special software that is speck to the job at hand.

 

[ToastyFlake]

IPhone is Still not a Replacment for iPad

Well duh, it's because the iPhones are about as big as the tablets now.

Using my new iPad Air 2 in bed. I'm glad that I'm not using my 6+. The iPad is just the right size for browsing in bed. Also, I can do some real photo editing with Pixelmator in the comfort of my bed. The iPad is still my favorite Apple product. I do wish they would give it some more OSX -like functionality, or at least give me good remote access to my Mac.

 

[dampfnudel]

Never going to happen.

1. IOS is ARM, OSX is Intel architecture
2. Apple's mantra is a better tablet and laptop, than a hybrid which will be a compromise
3. Cannibalism. usually buy two devices, now just buy one
4. Cost. It would cost as much as a MBA and a iPad Pro, less one screen
5. Heavy, as its two devices with a little weight saving

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No doubt the Surface is very very good, but the sales are still really really low. Why? Most everyone has a laptop and a tablet, so getting up there cost wise to buy a hybrid.

1. IOS is ARM, OSX is Intel architecture

Doesn't have to stay like that forever. Even Intel could expand their offerings.

2. Apple's mantra is a better tablet and laptop, than a hybrid which will be a compromise

At the moment, tablets don't seem to be pulling their weight, at least compared to their smaller counterparts (smartphones/mobility) and larger counterparts (laptops/greater utility). It doesn't make sense for a lot of people to have three devices when two would be more than enough. The iPad is now the in-between device that needs to grow up or disappear. Sure, the iPad in its current form is enough for some who just need the basics on a bigger screen, but that doesn't mean the iPad can't evolve into something better, more functional.

3. Cannibalism. usually buy two devices, now just buy one

No, usually buy three devices, now just buy two, a smartphone for mobility and a laptop/tablet device for greater utility/productivity. That may not work for everyone, but I have a feeling it would work for a lot of people. I'm sure Apple would rather cannibalize itself than someone else.

4. Cost. It would cost as much as a MBA and a iPad Pro, less one screen

How do you know what Apple would charge for it and if that price would prohibitive?

5. Heavy, as its two devices with a little weight saving

How do you know that it would be heavy, at least heavy enough to be a deterrent to acceptance?

The Surface Pro 3 is good, but I know Apple can do better. They have to at some point.

 

[Mattsasa]

So, obviously there must be a lot of people being paid for gaming, out there.

You took what I said out of context, and I didnt say actually what I mean.

If you need to buy a device to use auto-cad, the iPad eoul be useless if it can't run the needed software.

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It doesn't. Furthermore, mobile Safari can't view a lot of sites such as twitch.tv without requiring an app, doesn't have Adblock Plus, suffers from reloads, lacks multiwindow multitasking, etc.

Prove it to me, that the iPad will prove webpages slower than that atom processor.
Obviously it doesn't have the features needed, it wouldnt be a suitable device.

 

[firewood]

Proof the Apple iPhablet 6 and 6+ cannibalised the iPad Mini...

Which is a tasty meal for Apple, given that the margins on the 6+ are estimated to be better than that of the iPad Mini.

Standard business rule: it's far better to cannibalize ones own products than let a competitor to do it.

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1. IOS is ARM, OSX is Intel architecture...

Actually NeXT OS and OS X were for the PowerPC RISC CPU architecture as well (which isn't vastly different from arm64). The OS kernel and frameworks are designed to be portable, especially the 64-bit version.

The UI layers (Cocoa and Cocoa Touch) are all high-level code than can likely run on any processor given some appropriate IO drivers.

And Apple is designing a 3rd or 4th generation of their own 64-bit processor chips. One would think they are competent enough to design their own 64-bit chips to be compatible with all of their own 64-bit OS's.

 

[silroc]

I use my iPad 2 every single day

I surf my normal sites, check email but rarely reply with it cuz typing sucks, shop on amazon, bring it on all my business trips, watch an occasional movie and that's about it.

It's jailbroken and absolutely perfect for me

I see no reason to upgrade, I have no desire to change the OS



Well if I could get a FREE iPad Air I guess I would , but that's not happening..

 

[dec.]

It's the post-iPad era.

With the iPad outselling each single other tablet by "quite a bit" (which is an understatement), I think that is a pretty funny thing to say. But then you tend to do that (say funny things) (see https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/20648626/) in general, so who really cares...

 

[the8thark]

Disagree. The Plus helps but it doesnt replace for most, it will for a few.

A 5S is too small, but a 6 Plus is also too small to be a tablet but it does handle that task a LOT better than a 5S. But its nothing like a mini or iPad 9.7. Would you enjoy watching a movie on a 6 Plus?

You make valid points but for everyone I know (small sample size I know) they like to watch movies on their TV and just do other things on their Mini/iP6. Quite a few I know use the iP6+ for pages, ibooks and other things. Sure they know the screen is smaller than a Mini but they rather not lug around a 2nd device everywhere. Movies are one point against this, but I would say a full sized iPad is better for movies.

The iP6+ to me is just a slightly smaller tablet that can make phone calls. And I think the sales also show this. More iPhone sales and less iPad sales. Also iPhones have larger profit margins on them.

Proof the Apple iPhablet 6 and 6+ cannibalised the iPad Mini.

Which is a tasty meal for Apple, given that the margins on the 6+ are estimated to be better than that of the iPad Mini.

Standard business rule: it's far better to cannibalize ones own products than let a competitor to do it.

I think that's about right. And it shows what the customers really want. One device and not two at this not really a phone and not really a tablet device size region.

 

[peterdevries]

It's the post-iPad era.

Smart consumers want value and versatility and Lenovo delivers.

Nonsense, both Asus and Lenovo that are in the top 5 include their convertible laptops in tablet sales. Especially Lenovo sells a lot of these to businesses, which is one of the main reasons why they are in position four (e.g. my consultancy of 2500 consultants is currently transitioning to them).

IDC is counting laptops as tablets and it is polluting their analysis.

 

[Michael Goff]

Nonsense, both Asus and Lenovo that are in the top 5 include their convertible laptops in tablet sales. Especially Lenovo sells a lot of these to businesses, which is one of the main reasons why they are in position four (e.g. my consultancy of 2500 consultants is currently transitioning to them).

IDC is counting laptops as tablets and it is polluting their analysis.

Wasn't the complaint in the MacBook article that they're counting convertibles as laptops? Choose your complaint and stick with it.

 

[Narcaz]

Prove it to me, that the iPad will prove webpages slower than that atom processor.
Obviously it doesn't have the features needed, it wouldnt be a suitable device.

What are you trying to accomplish here? iPads have their strengths, but Webbrowsing isn't one of them. Safari is missing basic features like a download option. And there are still a lot of websites that are barely usable on an iPad. It's not Apples fault, but they don't offer any solution. If something doesn't work, you have to live with it, hope for an app or use another device. The lack of browser extensions like Adblock, Ghostery etc. makes it even worse. I love this fullscreen layer adds with a small x, which cannot be blocked.

Every iPad (except Air 2) has a problem with tab reloading. This problem is not existent with a Windows machine. Why do you want to compare the raw processor power with a synthetic benchmark? Atom Tablets and iPads don't play in the same price league. The A8X has certainly enough power and is maybe even faster. But this is irrelevant for the user experience, which suffers from artificial software limitations and bugs.

 

[tdale]

The problem is that people don't have a real need and a tablet is just a toy for watching movies, games and maybe Youtube.

Really how many people use Garage Band to play and compose music or use Pages or Numbers to create documents? It's not the best device for most content creation, the Macbook Air is so much better at that.

One thing I like it for is presentations, connect it to an Apple TV and connect that to a projector and you can give a presentation while walking around the room. But how many people need to do that.

So for the 99% it's a $500 media viewing toy, no wonder it's not selling. After everyone who has $500 of disposable income has one why would they buy a second one? OK it's faster but it still can't play a 5 minute Youtube view in 4 minutes, faster is of little use in a media viewer.

They were smart to partner with IBM. A tablet's best use is when running special software that is speck to the job at hand.

OMG
Toy? Movies, games, Youtube is entertainment. Do you consider your TV a toy? As everyone knows, well almost everyone, an iPad is s consumption device, to read, watch, play and listen. You can create, but not as well as a full computer, with keyboard and mouse. Thats the design. Do you want to take your laptop outside under the sun umbrella while you have a cold one? Do you want to take the laptop on holiday and cart it everywhere? Its portable, has a place between a phone and a laptop.

Its not selling? Well, if you are not aware why the tablet market is slowing, just read the threads, Im not repeating the obvious.

 

[tdale]

1. IOS is ARM, OSX is Intel architecture

Doesn't have to stay like that forever. Even Intel could expand their offerings.
They could, but Apple will need to re-do one OS in full, that would hurt I feel. A major change, discarding current users

2. Apple's mantra is a better tablet and laptop, than a hybrid which will be a compromise

At the moment, tablets don't seem to be pulling their weight, at least compared to their smaller counterparts (smartphones/mobility) and larger counterparts (laptops/greater utility). It doesn't make sense for a lot of people to have three devices when two would be more than enough. The iPad is now the in-between device that needs to grow up or disappear. Sure, the iPad in its current form is enough for some who just need the basics on a bigger screen, but that doesn't mean the iPad can't evolve into something better, more functional.

To evolve as you say, it needs to be a hybrid, a full computer, and a tablet, as the Surface is. Now, its light, cheaper, and portable, ideal for its prime purpose, consumption. Read, Play, Watch, Listen.

3. Cannibalism. usually buy two devices, now just buy one

No, usually buy three devices, now just buy two, a smartphone for mobility and a laptop/tablet device for greater utility/productivity. That may not work for everyone, but I have a feeling it would work for a lot of people. I'm sure Apple would rather cannibalize itself than someone else.

I agree, I excluded the phone as we all need the phone.

4. Cost. It would cost as much as a MBA and a iPad Pro, less one screen

How do you know what Apple would charge for it and if that price would prohibitive? I don't obviously. The assumed math is, a full iPad, plus a full say MBA, less one screen. The Surface is not cheap, as its basically a full laptop, with a removable screen.

5. Heavy, as its two devices with a little weight saving

How do you know that it would be heavy, at least heavy enough to be a deterrent to acceptance?

As above. Plus many posters welcome a lighter tablet

The Surface Pro 3 is good, but I know Apple can do better. They have to at some point.

.

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You make valid points but for everyone I know (small sample size I know) they like to watch movies on their TV and just do other things on their Mini/iP6. Quite a few I know use the iP6+ for pages, ibooks and other things. Sure they know the screen is smaller than a Mini but they rather not lug around a 2nd device everywhere. Movies are one point against this, but I would say a full sized iPad is better for movies.

The iP6+ to me is just a slightly smaller tablet that can make phone calls. And I think the sales also show this. More iPhone sales and less iPad sales. Also iPhones have larger profit margins on them.




I think that's about right. And it shows what the customers really want. One device and not two at this not really a phone and not really a tablet device size region.

Your points do have merit, but I don't think you can compare flattening iPad sales with huge iPhone 6 sales.

Tablets in general have eased well before the 6 was released. Saturation, lack of subsidies, no real benefit from the annual or bi annual iPhone buyers, and competition from the cheap rubbish. The 6 broke ground, so thats in catchup mode, as in finally a proper screen size so its flying.

A tabet is a luxury, no one really needs one, but they can be cheapish, as in lesser storage or the mini, and are far better than a 6Plus, although the 6 Plus now makes many tasks do-able now. Movies, magazines, games are much nicer on a roomy screen. The Plus has 45% the Mini's screen real estate

 

[peterdevries]

Wasn't the complaint in the MacBook article that they're counting convertibles as laptops? Choose your complaint and stick with it.

That was not my complaint, so I don't need to stick to anything... You are surely aware that I do not write all articles and posts on this site.

 

[s2mikey]

Tablet users simply do not upgrade every three hours like phone people do. That's a huge reason why tablet sales are flat. I went from an iPad 2 to the Air which means I skipped two generations of product before updating. Probably wait that long or longer or longer next time. Why? Because I can. I'm not on sone obnoxious cell phone contract. Since the ipad is much less visible to others than a phone I have no need for always having the latest and greatest to show off. Ipads just keep working..... And that's that.

This proves that the iPad IS more like a real computer or laptop since updates are fewer and more far between. It's a consumption device mainly but I get quite a bit "done" on mine too.

Why does Apple care anyways? Didn't they just post earnings of like eleventy trillion billon or whatever?

 

[kds1]

Wrong, and please show me where to buy a 9.7" iPhone

Or a 7.9 inch...

 

[ptram]

Really how many people use Garage Band to play and compose music or use Pages or Numbers to create documents?

I don't know the numbers, but why should they be low? I use Pages on the iPad often to start a document that I later move to Nisus on the Mac, and it is a pleasant experience. Numbers is ok for quick data analysis while on the road. And GarageBand is an ordinary audio/midi recorder, just always with you.

One thing I like it for is presentations, connect it to an Apple TV and connect that to a projector

You can make it much simpler: connect the iPad to a projector with an adapter. No need for an Apple TV. I do this often.

no wonder it's not selling

It's selling less that a few months ago. It's selling a lot.

Paolo

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Safari is missing basic features like a download option

Safari is the worse among all the browsers for iPad. I use Mercury, that has a download option, and a lot other useful small little things.

 

[peterdevries]

The problem is that people don't have a real need and a tablet is just a toy for watching movies, games and maybe Youtube.

The company I work for makes millions implementing supply chain solutions for pharmaceutical companies using the iPad. I guess these companies are unaware that a $400 toy intended for Youtube applications is helping them to save millions on a yearly basis...

 

[Saturn1217]

The iPad just feels like so much missed potential. Apple has positioned the iPad as a fancy simple toy that will appeal to those already used to an iphone. I say this as the happy owner of an iPad but the base OS really is just an iPhone OS blown up despite the awesome apps that developers have made to take advantage of the bigger screen.

If Apple positioned their product like this they can't be surprised when their target market (the average consumer who doesn't really want to deal with a real computer) feels no need to upgrade and/or is satisfied with a cheaper product.

Large phones are good enough for people who want to do very basic consumption tasks. I'd love to see Apple reposition the iPad (and not just the Pro) into a more professional device that can basically replace paper, and work properly as a laptop replacement when needed (but still be a comfortable ergonomic tablet when a keyboard is not needed). This target audience may be smaller than the average consumer but they'll be better and more reliable customers.

 

[peterdevries]

I'd love to see Apple reposition the iPad (and not just the Pro) into a more professional device that can basically replace paper, and work properly as a laptop replacement when needed

What kind of functionality is currently missing that makes this not possible?

 

[newdeal]

I bought the iPad 1, upgraded to the iPad 2, upgraded to the iPad 3. To be honest I wasn't that impressed with the upgrade from 2 to 3. I mean retina is great and all but it didn't blow me away. I haven't upgraded since then, I got an iPad air for free and my kids use both of them and to be honest there is nothing I can do on the one that I can't do on the other. I have no compelling reason to upgrade, and personally I just use my macbook air now because its so good