iPad Sales May Decline to Lowest Quarterly Level Since 2011

[Chupa Chupa]

If it was iPad specific in regarding declining sales sure, but tablets all around seem to be down. Explain that?

You make it sound like a riddle. But it's the same reason iPads are declining... same old, same old. But there is a difference. Android tablets for the most part are predominantly sold as media consumption devices and marketed to price conscience consumers. Apple OTOH originally positioned the iPad as a post-PC device, something that would grow past just being a media consumption device into a productivity device. It partnered with IBM to get the business segment, it produced a "Pro" model targeted to graphics professional; none of this has been done in good faith on the Android side.

Also to your point, not all tablets have seen a decline. The Surface Pro 4 (and it shocked me to see this) helped MS tablet sales increase YOY by 29%. I'm not a Surface fan, mostly because I don't like Windows, but it's hard to argue with those numbers that maybe MS has finally made a Surface Pro worth consumer's consideration; something Apple hasn't done with the iPad for years. It's just rehashed the same product with a faster chip, sometimes slimmer, sometimes lighter but nothing to really enhance productivity, like say the Pro's Pencil.

 

[sracer]

You make it sound like a riddle. But it's the same reason iPads are declining... same old, same old. But there is a difference. Android tablets for the most part are predominantly sold as media consumption devices and marketed to price conscience consumers. Apple OTOH originally positioned the iPad as a post-PC device, something that would grow past just being a media consumption device into a productivity device. It partnered with IBM to get the business segment, it produced a "Pro" model targeted to graphics professional; none of this has been done in good faith on the Android side.

Also to your point, not all tablets have seen a decline. The Surface Pro 4 (and it shocked me to see this) helped MS tablet sales increase YOY by 29%. I'm not a Surface fan, mostly because I don't like Windows, but it's hard to argue with those numbers that maybe MS has finally made a Surface Pro worth consumer's consideration; something Apple hasn't done with the iPad for years. It's just rehashed the same product with a faster chip, sometimes slimmer, sometimes lighter but nothing to really enhance productivity, like say the Pro's Pencil.

That's an accurate observation.

But in context, Apple has ruled the roost for the past 5+ years, and Microsoft is just now starting to get some traction. The chronic issues with power management that Microsoft is wrestling with on the Surface devices (since the 1st gen) I find troublesome. 4 generations and Microsoft still cannot get it working out-of-the-gate. In and of itself, that is not necessarily a big deal, but as those who are familiar with iPads make a switch over to Surface devices, they will be surprised that a "tablet" has all of the headaches associated with a notebook.

Those who stick with the Surface (and all Windows-based 2-in-1 hybrids) have made the decision to accept an inferior tablet experience in exchange for desktop functionality.

For me, I'd love to see a Surface 3 (or Pro 4) form-factor (kickstand, ports, TypeCover) with iPad Pro internals + iOS w/trackpad/mouse support, Pencil.

I believe that Apple is working toward that (or more like inching toward). Any continued decline in iPad sales will encourage Apple to pick up the pace toward that goal.

 

[The Game 161]

iPad pro for example is a powerhouse and a lot who have one will not upgrade every year. Why would you need to?

 

[AppleScruff1]

iPad pro for example is a powerhouse and a lot who have one will not upgrade every year. Why would you need to?

It is a very expensive tablet that won't sell anywhere near the volume of the other iPads.

 

[melendezest]

In my household the iPads used to be used when the iMac, or the 2 MBPs were not available. Now that everyone has a phone, they don't get used unless all of the above are in use and individual phones are either dead or further away than the iPad is. In each case it literally is the last device you reach for.

I think the iPad had great promise, and it failed to live up to those promises. Or rather, failed to evolve into a truly Post-PC device.

I'm sure I echo what others have said, but the biggest limitations on the iPad are iOS itself and proprietary-ness.

In addition, for what the iPad can do today (and its cost), you don't need it. My (Note5) phablet does more.

The iPad needs to evolve into a true laptop replacement for it to justify its cost.

And for that, you have to get rid of all the limitations in iOS, which means getting rid of iOS and having a PadOS or something that's more flexible. Not gonna happen.

You also need to get rid of Lightning and replace it with USB-C or an equivalent. And give it filesystem access, as well as multiple user accounts (which leads into more customization), expandable storage, etc. Also, not going to happen.

Why not? Because it would mean a culture shift at Apple, which is definitely not going to happen. They are too scared to mess with their recipe. Which is a shame, because competitors are not afraid of to do so.

I also don't think Apple is paying enough attention to this fact:

The phablet is killing the tablet, because the cellphone market already evolved into the phablet market

Microsoft certainly is paying attention with both their Win X and Surface products, and is blatantly positioning them as laptop replacements.

Google's Android is already flexible enough at the OS level to handle many (soft) laptop-replacement duties (multi-user accounts, customization, file-system access) and their OEMs are handling the rest (expandable storage, USB connectivity).

Apple is merely riding its popularity wave without fundamentally changing a damn thing (i.e. addressing its limitations). This will bite them, and it's starting to show.

 

[AxoNeuron]

You are speaking an unfortunate truth. I've got a nice setup with my Air 2 + Belkin Qode Ultrathin keyboard cover + DotPen stylus, iOS 9 splitwindow (and apps that support it). I have re-arranged my workflow to use the latest versions of the iWork apps so that I can easily go between iPad/MBA/iMac via iCloud.

For the short time that iCloud drive works, it's beautiful. But it never fails that after a few times a file syncs, it no longer syncs ANY files. That's when I give up and try alternatives (that don't work as well as iCloud does when iCloud works). I then go back to try iCloud again... works fine for a while, then stops.

Seriously. Even worse, not only do iPads seem to be stuck in 2010 when it comes to storage levels...but so does iCloud. They haven't moved it past 5GB since 2011 when it was created. Seems kind of ridiculous to me.

Heck, even Google somehow manages to provide 15GB of free Google Drive storage. Guess Apple can't keep up.

 

[Wowereit]

This in a nutshell, is the entirety of the problem right here. People are myopic and unable to understand forward thinking progress. If these people were in charge, we would still be using cassette tapes and floppy disks

Newer != better.

File management in iOS is a mess in general and the great icloud doesn't work reliable.
Should I reject clients who are using USB drives? Or want their files on a USB drive?
Let's imagine a world full of iPads. Want to download a file? Good luck...

 

[Ghost31]

Newer != better.

File management in iOS is a mess in general and the great icloud doesn't work reliable.
Should I reject clients who are using USB drives? Or want their files on a USB drive?
Let's imagine a world full of iPads. Want to download a file? Good luck...

I mean....

https://www.google.com/search?q=how...ipad&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

Or there are wireless flash drives. Or remoting in. Or you and your clients could manage your workflow through Dropbox or some other cloud service. Or you know...just don't buy an iPad if it's not for you.

I don't know? It's all totally depending on the person. For me? I had a client that tried to give me things on a flash drive. Then I told them it would be easier and even less time consuming to use Dropbox. Then after that 1 conversation, we used Dropbox every single time after that and it's been a million times easier than plugging something into my computer. We both liked it better anyway. Instead of going through that step of having to put crap on a flash drive and see me in person, they can just send me a link to the file on their Dropbox.

Everybody else I've met, like literally EVERYBODY from people in business, IT, specific programming areas have used some form of cloud service to share files back and forth. But that's just my experience. Maybe it doesn't work so well for you. I guess I lucked out when it came to this.

 

[Teon]

Everything goes to the fact that there was one universal gadget 8-10 inches and the battery charge 7-10 days .

 

[mi7chy]

This is why Apple for the longest time avoided a larger iPhone because they knew it would cannibalize iPad sales plus it's too limited, restrictive and overpriced compared to the competition.

 

[Foremastjack]

Microsoft and Samsung are catching up with equally as good if not better products that Apple resizes and recolours (instead if innovates) now. Less than a week the Galaxy S7 will be announced. I think 2016 is the year the competitors must capitulate on Apples laziness over the past three years that nobody yet has cottoned on to as stagnation. Rumours have it that the S7 isn't going to be massively different to the S6. So if Samsung have 'got lazy' too then it'll be up to MS to do the overtaking. It's too wide a shot to predict. 2016. Make or break. For the big three. ("Wow. Profound statement, man!"-Bill Gates)

Sorry- don't have my coffee yet; did you mean 'capitalize' instead of 'capitulate'? And I (really, actually) wonder why Android-powered tablets don't go the cola-wrs route with the iPad.