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

[artfossil]

Could not live or work without my 12.9 iPadPro. It's two years and one month old now (Apple replaced it last month because the battery was reaching the end of its life) and it still feels new.

That doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to this year's model.

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

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...
   
2. It's much less of a fashion accessory compared to a phone...
3. Phablets became popular...

(LOL)^N on the iPhone being being a "fashion accessory".

Agree on (1) and (3), although I cannot fathom:

1. an iPad Pro 10.5"/64BG retails at MicroCenter (after discount) for $399.99, and with 7% discount on top of that if "open box".
2. an iPhone X is 2.5X (250%) more expensive!

Something is off-scale. Whatever the market of a "fashion accessory" will bear? /s

 

[Delgibbons]

I have an iPad Mini 2 and an Android tablet, and a couple Windows 10 laptops.

Wish they'd release a new iPad Mini so I can upgrade mine. Not gonna happen though I guess.

Couple things I like about Android Tablets are 1) bluetooth mouse capability with mouse cursor 2) Android has User account switching so, unlike my iPad, I don't have to constantly log out of iCloud into a different account for movies or whatever and wait for it to sort itself out, log out of Find my iPad etc. etc.. Pain in the ass that.

 

[Naraxus]

"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."

Playing this game as well MR? It's been well established by now that what Apple considers to be "sold" is in reality what others call "shipped".

 

[eltoslightfoot]

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.

Not sure if serious? (Typed from my iPad Pro 12.9” Gen 1 in full disclosure) Amazon makes horrible tablets FOR CONSUMPTION. I have stupidly tried them twice. Never again.

 

[639051]

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.

Check out Luma Fusion on iOS .. it is an amazing NLE and my mind is blown when I think about how full featured it is.

 

[Applebot1]

iPad is a great device and had one since the 2. My 7 year old dropped his iPad and smashed the screen. The cost to repair is nearly as much as a new one! He really misses it and no doubt will buy a new one this year at some point....with Apple Care
[doublepost=1517850698][/doublepost]

Not sure if serious? (Typed from my iPad Pro 12.9” Gen 1 in full disclosure) Amazon makes horrible tablets FOR CONSUMPTION. I have stupidly tried them twice. Never again.

I like Amazon and in particular the Alexa devices but the tablets are awful to use. Can’t beat an iPad.

 

[iMi]

Everyone is talking about total units sold last year, which shows the iPad clearly in the lead. But no one seems to be paying attention to the other set of numbers in that chart -- year over year growth. Considering Apple has released the new lower cost iPad, the high end 10.5 Pro and the revamped 12 inch Pro, the 3% annual growth is far less impressive.

What is even more of a concern for Apple is the fact that Huawei -- Apple's xeroxed twin -- has seen 28% growth and Amazon an even more impressive 38% growth. That's 10X the growth of the iPad and Amazon is a mature product line with pretty healthy sales figures, so it's not a large percentage growth against a brand new line of products that had a chance to ramp up to gain some market share.

If I were Apple, those numbers would be a major concern.

 

[69Mustang]

Looking in my "junk drawer" and sees:
Galaxy Tab 7. Still works fine. Minor stutter
Nexus 7. Still works fine. Little slow
OG iPad. Yup. Still works. Slow but still works
iPad 2. Aaaaaaand works. Not that slow
iPad Air. Main casting device for my chromecasts.

Outside of that, no on in the family uses tablets anymore. Kids use iPhones, wife an S8, and me an S7.
It's not surprising that the iPad is still leading the tablet market since it always has... probably always will. That Air is probably my last tablet. They have no real use case in my family.

 

[78Bandit]

The iPad is an almost perfect device for what it does. My wife uses her new 2017 iPad to browse the internet, post on Facebook, answer emails, and do online shopping. I've got an old iPad 3 that I use to store my reference book collection on as the 4:3 aspect ratio and screen size almost perfectly mirror what a printed page looks like. Because the iOS ecosystem is so tightly controlled it makes software problems almost nonexistent. Once you get the accounts set up there is just about no way to screw it up to the point where it won't work. It is the perfect device for the average user who just wants to use it without having to know anything about computer configuration outside of putting in a Wi-Fi password and some account credentials.

On the other hand, I have found the iPad difficult to use in a production environment. I will almost always break out my Surface Pro as soon as I need to do any amount of document editing or data input. The iPad works in an emergency but it is far from the best tool for the job, particularly since it lacks mouse inputs.

It isn't going to replace a full computer until Apple brings a lot of the functionality of MacOS, but as a consumption device it currently doesn't have any equals. I'm not surprised that it outsells all other tablets.

 

[Dave245]

The iPad Pro is a great device, if Apple release a new one with Face ID, less bezel and no home button I will buy one, I love Face ID on my iPhone X and definitely think they should bring it to the iPad and Mac!

 

[deanthedev]

What is even more of a concern for Apple is the fact that Huawei -- Apple's xeroxed twin -- has seen 28% growth and Amazon an even more impressive 38% growth. That's 10X the growth of the iPad and Amazon is a mature product line with pretty healthy sales figures, so it's not a large percentage growth against a brand new line of products that had a chance to ramp up to gain some market share.

Why should companies cranking out millions of cheap tablets concern Apple? They still run Android and are still stuck running inferior Apps.

 

[kdarling]

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.

An iPad mini is great for reading / browsing / apps in bed.

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.

It's not a problem. That's like saying a website cannot be made to work on different size monitors.

For developers, there has only ever been just a few main resolutions to handle. It's not much different than having to develop for all the different iOS displays.

Enterprises often use Android tablets for their field apps.

I think one thing that hurt Android tablets in the consumer market was all the el-cheapo ones that gave them all a bad name.

 

[CrystalQuest76]

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.

I have recently purchased (for 20 dollars) a video editing app that runs on iOS. When I bought it for my iPad Air 2 it automatically installed in my iPhone. It has three tracks of video editing and three separate tracks of audio. The latest version includes Chromokey. It even exports out 360 degree video. You can use keyframing for video and objects. I am really amazed by its capabilities. There is also a large number of transitions, filters, and special video effects. Its called LumaFusion. I am not doing much with it yet but i see its fantastic potential for mobile video journalists. For twenty bucks ,i thought playing with it is more entertaining and more useful than a game.

 

[notabadname]

When you have a simply better product. The consumer figures it out. I work for a major Air Line. We have used two versions of the Surface Pro over the last 3 years. Stability and performance problems abound. We have finally given up and are switching to all iPad Pros, the 10.5. 256GB versions with cellular. 15,000 iPads in one purchase. And we will also be buying the future versions, at least every 2 years. People who say they are only for media consumption are so ill informed. They are in professional use, everywhere you look. And for good reason.

 

[BuffaloTF]

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.

This is a funny post. I bought a Fire tablet because of the unbeatable price. What stands out to me is a mirror of your post, in a way. Having now used that thing, I can safely say that Fire Tablets are for those that don't know what a tablet is. They're that bad, worse than Android tablets.

 

[djlythium]

Just wait until the gorgeous no-notch all-screen Pro arrives this year. THAT thing will sell.

 

[Kermit262]

I remember so well when Steve Jobs introduced the iPad (wife and I were early adopters) and there were so many people saying Android, Samsung etc. were going to move in and take over that space. Of course it never happened and Apple has consistently dominated the tablet market, and for good reason. I love my iPad Pro.

 

[joeblow7777]

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.

Good point. But they do manage with just as much variation (if not more) in Android phones.

 

[TheGenerous]

All I want is more episodes of Carpool Karaoke

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Just confirming what others have said. I’ve tried lots of tablets over the years, but it wasn’t until I got an Air and used the apps that I saw actual value and had actual satisfaction in having/using a tablet. Android devices like Galaxy Note were great in specs and features, but the OS/app experience was often pretty bad. I don’t know if things have changed, but it sure seems like developers are only serious about iPad when it comes to tablet apps.

And that Air is still going strong after 3 years, even with two screen cracks. They last a long time, so no wonder sales have slowed. There’s only so many improvements that can be made now—the display and performance are already very good.

 

[mtneer]

Is any Android maker even competing in tablets in 2018? It's kind of easy to "win" a market which has no other players. For some reason most Android tablets I can find on Amazon are running Marshmallow or KitKat and not seem to have been updated from 2014 or so...

 

[maceric]

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.

I've an iMac and a MacBook Pro, and the iPad Pro 12.9 inch size is perfect for watching movies in bed, for quick demonstrations, surfing internet while traveling, reading comic books, YouTube videos… I use it now more than my MacBook Pro.

 

[macguru212]

The iPads are expensive, but they last for years and years... I also went through 3 Android tablets during this time, but the iPads are just as fresh today.

 

[manu chao]

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.

The question is whether people who bought the additional Amazon and Huawei tablets [that correspond to the sales increases] would have bought a tablet at all if the Amazon or Huawei products hadn't existed. If they wouldn't have bought a tablet, then Amazon and Huawei's innovation and pricing added numbers to the tablet market. If they would just have have bought another (Android) tablet then Amazon and Huawei just stole customers from other companies.