iPad Remains World's Most Popular Tablet as Apple Outsold Samsung and Amazon Combined Last Year

[MacRumors]

iPad remains the world's most popular tablet by a significant margin, having outsold competing devices from rivals Samsung and Amazon combined last year, according to data shared by research firm IDC today.

Apple sold a total of 43.8 million iPad units in 2017, as confirmed by its quarterly earnings results, while IDC estimates that Samsung and Amazon shipped 24.9 million and 16.7 million tablets respectively on the year. The combined Samsung-Amazon total of 41.6 million tablets is 2.2 million lower than iPad sales.

Apple captured a 26.8 percent share of the tablet market in 2017, meaning that roughly one in every four tablets sold last year was an iPad. Apple's tablet market share rose 2.5 percentage points year-on-year.

Last week, Apple reported revenue of $5.8 billion from iPad sales in the fourth quarter of 2017, representing growth of six percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple's average selling price of an iPad was $445, up slightly from $423 in year-ago quarter, suggesting more higher-priced iPad Pro sales.

Apple's growth in iPad sales, albeit relatively flat, contrasted with the overall tablet market's 6.5 percent decline in shipments in 2017 compared to 2016. iPad has been the world's most popular tablet since shortly after it launched.

Shifting focus to this year, Apple is rumored to launch at least one new iPad Pro model with slimmer bezels, no home button, and Face ID. We haven't heard much about the lower-cost 9.7-inch iPad and iPad mini, but each could certainly receive a routine speed bump this year among other upgrades as well.

Article Link: iPad Remains World's Most Popular Tablet as Apple Outsold Samsung and Amazon Combined Last Year

 

[scottcampbell]

I've always wanted an iPad, but haven't been able to justify the cost. I have a MacBook Pro and I do livestreaming and video editing. But I'm really happy for the people who can get everything done on a tablet.

 

[pete2106]

I

I've always wanted an iPad, but haven't been able to justify the cost. I have a MacBook Pro and I do livestreaming and video editing. But I'm really happy for the people who can get everything done on a tablet.

You should have a look into the iPad Pro line, you'd be surprised by how much you can get done these days on an iPad.

 

[I7guy]

My iPad 2 is still humming along on 9.3.5. I’d like to get a new iPad, but as a consumption device it rocks. For me, it is not a laptop replacement.

 

[Baymowe335]

Just so tired of winning.

Market doesn't respect Apple's pure dominance.

 

[joeblow7777]

Sadly, there's pretty much zero tablet competition unless you count devices like the Surface Pro which is really a laptop in tablet form.

I wish that Google still made Nexus tablets. They were nice iPad alternatives. The 2nd generation Nexus 7 was my first tablet. It certainly had some advantages over an iPad, but the drawback was the lack of actual tablet apps. Everything was just a blown up phone app.

 

[deanthedev]

Of course it is.

It looks like the Android side has abandoned the tablet market. No high-end tablets to buy and no quality Apps to run on them.

 

[joonyaboy]

I’ve never used a Samsung, but the Amazon tablet is so frustrating to use.

iPad keeps it simple.

 

[santydolby]

The only tablet that seemed to threaten iPad's dominance (in my brief use before handing down to mother-in-law) was the Samsung Tab 8; small, handy, compact, stylish, although tad saturated on the color front, and with a great stylus implementation.

Now I am back to the trusted old iPad mini and every other tablet out there seems to be redundant.

 

[pete2106]

Sadly, there's pretty much zero tablet competition unless you count devices like the Surface Pro which is really a laptop in tablet form.

I wish that Google still made Nexus tablets. They were nice iPad alternatives. The 2nd generation Nexus 7 was my first tablet. It certainly had some advantages over an iPad, but the drawback was the lack of actual tablet apps. Everything was just a blown up phone app.

That's because there was never any consistency in Android tablets. There were so many tablets with different Android versions, screen sizes, resolutions, performance levels. Who would be able to make a tablet app that could run on all the possible devices.

 

[The Game 161]

And will always be that way. Android make terrible tablets in comparison

 

[Baymowe335]

That's because there was never any consistency in Android tablets. There were so many tablets with different Android versions, screen sizes, resolutions, performance levels. Who would be able to make a tablet app that could run on all the possible devices.

Kind of sounds like their phones.

 

[trekkie604]

As an Android phone user with an iPad Pro - you don't want an Android tablet.

 

[44267547]

I still think it was a brilliant idea to introduce the 9.7 at $329 iPad last year. It opened up a new door for consumers who wanted an entry-level iPad those affordable and Didn't need or any the iPad Pro related features. Especially in a market where the iPad has declined somewhat because of iPhones growing in size, the iPad still has a decent lineup and a price point for everybody.

 

[macduke]

People only look at it as a failure now because it's down quite a bit from it's peak and it looks low compared to iPhone. But when compared to any other company's product line, it's extremely successful. Most companies would kill to have a product like this.

There are three reasons why iPad doesn't sell as many units as iPhone:

1. They last forever—people are less likely to break them because they don't carry them everywhere while walking around. They're also primarily used for consuming content when you just need a big screen, so most people don't need the latest, fastest version. An old iPad is useful longer than an old iPhone.
   
2. It's much less of a fashion accessory compared to a phone. Nobody cares if you have the latest iPad, and even though I think it's dumb, there is status associated with having a nice phone because—again—you have it out all the time so people see it.
3. Phablets became popular. Most people can get by with their huge phone nowadays. People who are thrifty would rather buy a phablet than a phone and a tablet separately—even though I personally think that having separate devices is ideal.

 

[djcerla]

Basically all the tablets I see around airports are iPads. In general, a lot less laptops than before, many more tablets.

And so many people use it for work.

 

[ersan191]

Figured the cheaper iPad would've resulted in more growth.

Still the only tablet worth buying, Apple Watch is probably going to end up as the only smartwatch worth buying in the end. AirPods are the only good true wireless earbuds.

All of these ancillary products being so much better than the competition are going to end up trapping people in the Apple ecosystem, which is exactly what they want.

Either way, Apple is killing it (though you wouldn't know it the way people on these forums talk).

 

[Avieshek]

Android Tablets went for being too cheap.

It went competing for price than performance. Hence, the category died itself for Android.

Only Google can revive i.e. build their own, like it’s Pixel Phones. Samsung and others would follow suit with the same approach.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Amazon has made some amazing growth since 2016. The article fails to point that out, instead touting Apple's measly 3% growth contrasted with an overall 6.5% decline? Amazon had 38% growth and Huawei had 28% growth. I'd say Apple's measly 3% didn't help that -6.5% much.

I'd never buy an expensive iPad for media consumption when for much less money an Amazon tablet allows you to read books, watch movies and basic tasks like email and browsing for significantly less than an iPad.

According to Apple ads I've seen, the iPad Pro is for those who don't know what a computer is.

 

[pnoyblazed]

love my 10.5 pro, I think that's the sweet spot between the 9.7 and 12.9

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[v0lume4]

As an Android user, I can say that if I were going to buy a tablet, it'd be an iPad.

There's just no comparison to be drawn between iPads and Android tablets.

 

[FrenchRoasted]

Sadly, there's pretty much zero tablet competition unless you count devices like the Surface Pro which is really a laptop in tablet form.

I wish that Google still made Nexus tablets. They were nice iPad alternatives. The 2nd generation Nexus 7 was my first tablet. It certainly had some advantages over an iPad, but the drawback was the lack of actual tablet apps. Everything was just a blown up phone app.

I had the original Nexus 7 and loved it. It even had a native calculator app Sadly the Android updates slowed it down so much it pretty much killed it.
I now own the latest inexpensive 9.7" iPad and it does 95% of what I need a computer for.

 

[62tele]

I've always wanted an iPad, but haven't been able to justify the cost. I have a MacBook Pro and I do livestreaming and video editing. But I'm really happy for the people who can get everything done on a tablet.

You can find the 2017 iPad for $300 which is surprisingly affordable. I have a late 2016 MacBook Pro and do the "heavy lifting" like Logic Pro X on it. However the iPad is convenient for consumption, travel and light work. I took my old iPad Air and placed it in the kitchen. It's used for recipes, shopping list and as an extension set to answer calls when my iPhone is not around.
I couldn't justify the cost of an iPad Pro but the basic iPad is great.

 

[Ambient80]

Kind of sounds like their phones.

Yeah, in a sense. But at least with phones the size differences could be negligible. A 6-7" tablet vs a 10-12" tablet was a huge difference, whereas a phone app on a 5" vs a 5.5" screen is hardly noticeable.

It also helps with phones that there's only one really huge vendor, and that's Samsung, so I imagine that most developers target their devices, which will work for a good majority of devices in the wild. As for tablet apps themselves, I think there are so few Android tablets out there that they just don't bother will proper support (usually, obviously there are some good ones out there).