That appears to be well beyond Apple's current software development skills.
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iPad Sales May Decline to Lowest Quarterly Level Since 2011
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That appears to be well beyond Apple's current software development skills.
You raise good points, but I don't think this is the case with iPads, when you have iPhone 6+ and chromebooks competing with iPads, you have to differentiate iPads much more from the other product categories.
To me the most obvious example of how horribly Apple has lost vision in the iPad line is education: schools are selling iPads and getting chromebooks Honestly up to last year if I were shopping for a tech device for school I'd skip the iPad, there is nothing in the world I want more than replacing pen/paper with pen/tablet, and the iPad line was failing horribly at it until iPad pro, but even iPad pro is too little too late and it's not even aimed at education.
Apple just lost vision for this line.
From a business perspective it doesn't make sense for Apple to cannibalize their MacBook line by making the iPad basically a cheaper MacBook by giving it OS X.
Microsoft had nothing to lose since they had no successful PC line for those hybrid devices to cut into.
Unless the Surface turns into a true success, I don't see Apple making a hybrid device anytime soon. It's poor for business.
I think everybody is waiting for the government sponsored $ 2 iPad made for India.
Seriously, I have an iPad 2 and there is no reason to upgrade. Would Like an iPad pro, but price has to come down.
Plus, family hand me downs have also peaked.
Seriously, I have an iPad 2 and there is no reason to upgrade. Would Like an iPad pro, but price has to come down.
Plus, family hand me downs have also peaked.
I use my two year old iPad more than my phone or macbook. And I am very happy with it. Still performs as good as new. I'll replace it one day but no compelling need to now. And apparently I'm not alone.
Well perhaps if Apple offers a financing option (lease) of an iPad - they would see more people upgrade more frequently. Perhaps testing their program with iPhones is opening up doors to move it to other devices - iPads and Watches.
Samsung 14% World wide.. Seriously
I dont know anyone who has a samsung tablet and never ever seen anyone using one. In which part of the world do people buy these Samsung tablets? All i see is iPads
I dont know anyone who has a samsung tablet and never ever seen anyone using one. In which part of the world do people buy these Samsung tablets? All i see is iPads
Agreed. If this wasn't the case, Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 wouldn't be selling so well right now.
With that said, part of the problem is that the vast majority of the population aren't power users, and unlike the iPhone there are no installment plans and subsidies in place.With installments and other plans, Apple and the carriers can get existing users to upgrade every 1-2 years even though the market is saturated. No one is going to drop $500 "cash" on a new iPad when their iPad 2 surfs the web and plays bejeweled perfectly fine. I suspect a similar fate would have happened to the iPhone by now if everyone had to drop $650-$850 cash every time they wanted to upgrade.
Ride airplanes and you'll see everything in tablets - iPads hardly rule the roost.
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EXACTLY.
How is that surprising since there is a rumor of a new Ipad coming up (which would slow down sales a lot), the device is now old and the next 2 quarters are the lowest traditionally as Ipad's have gone down in sales continuously since 2013.
All of this together makes this a big duh; this is basically a clickbait title.
Another factor, tablet sales in general, even the cheap ones, are in steep decline.
Until another use case is found for them than media consumption, people will keep them until they break which in the case of Ipads can be more than 8 years I bet!.
All of this together makes this a big duh; this is basically a clickbait title.
Another factor, tablet sales in general, even the cheap ones, are in steep decline.
Until another use case is found for them than media consumption, people will keep them until they break which in the case of Ipads can be more than 8 years I bet!.
I do admire what Microsoft did, but as an AAPL shareholder, I don't want Apple to do the same thing.
If Apple gave the iPad more notebook capability, they might increase the sales of iPads, but they would be stealing that marketshare from themselves. We'd get headlines about iPad sales increasing, and we'd get headlines about Macbook Air sales falling off a cliff. Apple would be doomed.
Microsoft didn't make notebook computers, so the marketshare they were stealing was from other companies. (There's a bit of a downside there in that they're losing the Windows OEM licenses they would have sold to those other companies.)
Often, when people say what they think Apple should do, it's a matter of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Such as:
Add ports, windowing, and filesystem access to iPad. Sell more iPads (but fewer MacBooks).
Add telephony features to iPad. Sell more iPads (but fewer iPhones).
Lower the price of the iPad. Sell more iPads (but make less money).
I wonder if you realize how silly this sounds. Because you don't see them or know someone that has one (which I bet you actually do - not everyone brags about their tech) they must not be around you? Well I'll help you with your question. I live in NYC. Typically on the subway I see a plethora of devices. From iPhones to Notes to Windows phones. I see kindles, kindle fires, iPads and Samsung tablets. I see people reading newspapers and books and not using any technology. It's amazing.
I have all iPad 1,2 and 3, mini2 and they are keep going strong.
OS is good and hardware is also good enough. Tablets seem just not made for annual revamp.
In our household, family members use those iPads, but when they read Facebook and so on in their beds and etc, iPhones are used most. Which means that in general, tablets are not so mobile or personal as phones and yet are to reach level of sophistication of notebooks. Surface is fine but I can't see a Windows tablet for casual use.
Thats again leads to question, what is most compelling feature for iPads? Apple made a right step in creating Pro version, but still its not enough, I think. Pro is too expensive and when it get that amount of casual use, it won't justify the cost. Artists will buy it, but even their number is limited and they got no limitless budgets. But if Air and mini support Pencil, I will buy both Pencil and new iPads. If not, no.
IMHO, Apple has some keys to reinvigorating the iPad line.
Hardware: support Pencil across the whole line of all iPads. This is absolute requirement for any new iPad to be sold, IMHO.
Pricing: make 32 or 64 GB the starting baseline storage (otherwise with 16 GB there is not much apps or photos to use the iPad itself). Reduce Pencil prices. For iPad line, you have to sacrifice some margins for more sales, thats the right case. Make iPad Pro, Pencil and keyboard Case bundle cheaper.
Software wise: drastically revamp iPad user interface. It was OK for first iPad to have same icon lines as iPhones because it was new model. After 5 years, its intolerable and straight lazy. There is no vision for iPad and its shown by its outdated GUI look and I don't mean 3D touch. If watches and AppleTV have different interface, why iPads still look like big iPhones? Are they iPhones? No. So why the large desktop like empty spaces are not utilized? Why we can't still customize the Home view, resize icons of apps we use most, or have larger Watch and Calendar icons, with dynamic information? Or Email notifications on desktop? Or live Safari pages on desktop? Or live Stocks and Weather big-sized icons, allowing for easy information access? Why we can't still use our own custom keyboard layout (for me, its biggest obstacle in using iPads as freely as macs for which I can make my own custom keyboard layout. Notes app on iPad also can be remade and rethought. Generally, it just shows lack of vision and understanding of inherent features of iPad. Its falling sales show that iPads are failing in being a true necessity and its worrisome news for Apple. iPad OS is really stagnating last 3 years and only recently we some changes, inspired by bigger iPhones. But iPad OS must be really forked and made into something better.
Think about possibilities and various scenarios of joint use of iPads wit macs, iPhones and even AppleTV.
For me, these are true features that are needed to make iPads truly specific and unique products.
OS is good and hardware is also good enough. Tablets seem just not made for annual revamp.
In our household, family members use those iPads, but when they read Facebook and so on in their beds and etc, iPhones are used most. Which means that in general, tablets are not so mobile or personal as phones and yet are to reach level of sophistication of notebooks. Surface is fine but I can't see a Windows tablet for casual use.
Thats again leads to question, what is most compelling feature for iPads? Apple made a right step in creating Pro version, but still its not enough, I think. Pro is too expensive and when it get that amount of casual use, it won't justify the cost. Artists will buy it, but even their number is limited and they got no limitless budgets. But if Air and mini support Pencil, I will buy both Pencil and new iPads. If not, no.
IMHO, Apple has some keys to reinvigorating the iPad line.
Hardware: support Pencil across the whole line of all iPads. This is absolute requirement for any new iPad to be sold, IMHO.
Pricing: make 32 or 64 GB the starting baseline storage (otherwise with 16 GB there is not much apps or photos to use the iPad itself). Reduce Pencil prices. For iPad line, you have to sacrifice some margins for more sales, thats the right case. Make iPad Pro, Pencil and keyboard Case bundle cheaper.
Software wise: drastically revamp iPad user interface. It was OK for first iPad to have same icon lines as iPhones because it was new model. After 5 years, its intolerable and straight lazy. There is no vision for iPad and its shown by its outdated GUI look and I don't mean 3D touch. If watches and AppleTV have different interface, why iPads still look like big iPhones? Are they iPhones? No. So why the large desktop like empty spaces are not utilized? Why we can't still customize the Home view, resize icons of apps we use most, or have larger Watch and Calendar icons, with dynamic information? Or Email notifications on desktop? Or live Safari pages on desktop? Or live Stocks and Weather big-sized icons, allowing for easy information access? Why we can't still use our own custom keyboard layout (for me, its biggest obstacle in using iPads as freely as macs for which I can make my own custom keyboard layout. Notes app on iPad also can be remade and rethought. Generally, it just shows lack of vision and understanding of inherent features of iPad. Its falling sales show that iPads are failing in being a true necessity and its worrisome news for Apple. iPad OS is really stagnating last 3 years and only recently we some changes, inspired by bigger iPhones. But iPad OS must be really forked and made into something better.
Think about possibilities and various scenarios of joint use of iPads wit macs, iPhones and even AppleTV.
For me, these are true features that are needed to make iPads truly specific and unique products.
It made sense on v1 and even v2 - to make it as easy as possible to start using right away. However in doing so, they got "lazy" - not really... but they really didn't create a Tablet version of iOS in the way it should have. They wanted to make it easy/easier for developers. Makes sense. But now people expect more/different.
I agree - the iPad's layout is a blown up phone. It makes no sense. Even a lot of android phones now have the ability to scale the icon size/grid.
Awesome post, agreed on the interface revamp now more than ever with the new pro line.
Yes, HUGE market ceded by Apple in education and they are scrambling way too late to catch up. We know that the desirability of the iPads lead many schools and enterprises to adopt them only to see the IT leaders abandon them after not being able to meet some minimal docking requirements or multi-user accounts capabilities. I think the iPad Pro is on its way to being the device to win back the deserters but Microsoft really got it right already. Chromebooks, IMO, are a closed and limited eco system of software and tools but if you are vested in the Google apps world they are a great solution at such a low price point.
True.
Netbooks were popular for a season because it was the closest thing to what people were looking for. But Netbooks weren't what people were looking for. Enter the iPad. It exploded because it was a lot closer to what people were looking for. That is when netbooks declined.
But having a few years of experiencing the iPad in people's workflows and use cases, people now have a better understanding of what they want... not in the theoretical sense, but based on first-hand experience.
Microsoft's Surface is what happens when a "common sense" idea of a hybrid is brought to fruition. In theory it should've been the dream device. In practice, not so much.
I think that Apple understands that and is inching toward to a balance between tablet and notebook that WILL work. The iPad Pro is a step toward that sweet spot (which is different for each person) but still not there yet. The Surface is way too slanted toward the notebook side.
The declining sales of the iPad have shown that it is time for Apple to take that next incremental step. What outsiders see as a bad thing is actually a good thing for the Apple corporation. Apple has made boatloads of money on these incremental steps with the iPad. If they simply jumped forward to the ultimate device, they'd only get a customer's money once. With incrementalism, they have the opportunity to do so multiple times.
How many people have purchase more than one generation of iPad for themselves? How much less would Apple have made if they went from the iPad 1 to the iPad Air 2 with nothing in between?
I think the iPad is currently a great casual device for light safari, facebook, email. This is EXACTLY why so many are saying their iPad 2 is just fine. And so many others are saying their iPhone 6+ is more than enough and why they don't need/use iPad.
If Apple wants for this product line to be more than casual facebook/email they need to revamp both their hardware and software vision.
If Apple wants for this product line to be more than casual facebook/email they need to revamp both their hardware and software vision.
Not quite. Cars are also seen as a necessity,(So much so that many low incomes will willingly spend half their income to have one) and thus sales are pretty much going to be proportional to the increasing population. Cars also have many financing options. Most will gladly invest $100-$200/month on a car payment thats gets them to work or errands everyday than spending $500 every year on an iPad. A car and iPad not even really comparable for most people.
Get pencil on the Air and mini asap.
Proper file system for iOS.
Mouse support for iOS.
USB-C
Ability to open multiple files in the same app (e.g. Word, etc)
This is my iPad wishlist. I was hoping the Pro would have checked any of 2-4 off but meh. Until then, the iPad will largely be a video, email, game, and ebook hub while I rely on my MacBook for everything else. This is fine I suppose but it means I can hold onto my old iPads longer if they're just playing Netflix and Kindle mostly :/
Proper file system for iOS.
Mouse support for iOS.
USB-C
Ability to open multiple files in the same app (e.g. Word, etc)
This is my iPad wishlist. I was hoping the Pro would have checked any of 2-4 off but meh. Until then, the iPad will largely be a video, email, game, and ebook hub while I rely on my MacBook for everything else. This is fine I suppose but it means I can hold onto my old iPads longer if they're just playing Netflix and Kindle mostly :/
Competition very strong in the tablet market. The iPad almost totally gone in the youth market. Amazon and other less expensive tablets are dominating this market. The bad news, when the youth market moves up they will be comfortable with Android tablets. Thus, moving them to Apple more of a challenge.
Yes, but even so, it took MS 3 tries to get it right. The SP3 is a great tablet and I really like it. the Sp4 is even better, but it seems MS stumbled out of the gate with it.