Tablets Predicted to Make Up Half of Total PC Shipments in 2014, iPad to Fall Further Behind Android

[CharlOz]

Everyone should be thankful Apple is falling behind; just means they have to be more competitive.

God forbid you get that extra 16GB of storage for less than $100... I'm growing a personal resentment toward this company though.

Hear, hear. I hate when others bang on and wine about their own personal issues, but I am going to be a hypocrite and do exactly that.
I for one am thankful Apple is falling behind, at the end of the day, like 99% of people, price is king, then experience. There is no doubt that Apple nail the experience 99% of the time, but please empty those cash coffers Cook and stop increasing prices, case in point for me. I have two ipad's original and 3, and have been waiting patiently for ipad mini with retina, (so I can hand me downs no.1) only to discover the price increase, blink and you would have missed it re: keynote. Yeah, I know everyone's going to say but look at the guts, it's so much faster wonk wonk wonk. I would have been happier with touch ID then a better guts. Long story short, I am going to suck it up and be thankful for what I have and wait another year for an even better upgrade, who knows, Apple may pull a swifty and update ipad mini retina with touch ID in 6 months (unlikely, but who knows with this mob) Same situation with the iphone 4s, skipping the 5s going straight to 6 if compelling enough, if not, I'll settle for iphone 5s at 100 bucks off thankyou. If this is how apple want to play, I am happy to play back. If they want my moola right away, then stop with the increase prices apple. Overdue for upgrades but won't buy on principle.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Fall "further" behind? By what metric that has any importance to anyone?

Apple's ahead in the metrics that matter to profits, to developers, and best of all: to users.

Fudging the numbers in Android's favor is easy:

- Count "shipped" instead of sold.

- Count Asian media players designed to use pirated content on SD cards and don't even connect to the Internet, much less run apps. (Apparently these are HUGELY popular in unit numbers, yet of no interest to developers or "tabler users" per se.)

- Count embedded, non-user devices that happen to run Android internally.

- Equate high-end, well-supported quality tablets with low-end, throwaway junk. Pretend those junk sales are actually high-end Samsung/Nexus sales when they're not. Pretend those sales are in the US when they're limited to Asia.

- Ignore actual usage stats, be they from app developers or web traffic.

- Combine the installed base of ancient versions of Android all together, and equate them with the latest iOS.

That's my biggest problem with market share analysis.

If two $79 Android tablets get sold for every one iPad... people think that's an automatic "win" for Android. Yikes!

You're right... sales of a bunch of junk tablets should not be compared to sales of a few high-end tablets. There's so much more to consider over the number of units sold.

But unfortunately that's how the "market share" game is played. Oh well.

 

[TimeSquareDesi]

The tablet can't replace a laptop. Not yet.

Not for us mature, power users. but for kids, this is probably true. We are being turned into a society of sheep/data consumers and the percentage of people consuming content vs creating (emails/real work work,etc) is diminishing with every swipe across an ipad/"other devices."

 

[bpdons]

I'm not impressed about the excess charges, on these devices for users in other countries, maybe that's the reason Apple are falling behind.

For example in Australia, the 16gb iPad mini Retina retails for $479 AUD. This equates to $437 USD.

Doing conversion from the $299 USD to AUD = $327.

That's an increase of $150 just to ship to another country.
Android devices are so much cheaper over here, is a major reason I see so many of them on my travels to work each day. It's very sad.

 

[TimeSquareDesi]

Everyone should be thankful Apple is falling behind; just means they have to be more competitive.

God forbid you get that extra 16GB of storage for less than $100... I'm growing a personal resentment toward this company though.

Same here for the following reasons:

- 16GB as a base (but it is a business and they're supposed to make a ton of $ for shareholders, right...?)

- introducing the ipad air + mini retina but WITHOUT touchID. not that i use it but from a buyers standpoint, i find myself asking "the next one will have it so why should i buy this already "inferior" model)

- Intentionally releasing buggy drivers/sw for bootcamp.

- No real way to backup iphone contacts and the genius bar just says "to sync everything to the cloud" which i refuse to do.

all that and more being said, no one still would be able to pry my iphone from my cold, dead hand!

----------

As an owner of an iPad 3 and a Nexus 10, I can resoundingly tell you that the apps I run on the Nexus 10 are more than capable, designed well and look beautiful.

Let's see if you're singing the same tune in a year when software updates cripple your Nexus 10 and make it feel like Nexus 10 years old.

 

[dennno]

I really don't like these market share statistics. Notice how they mention iPad vs Android. There isn't a single Android tablet that even comes close to the iPad market share. It's so misleading.

 

[ericinboston]

"Tablets Predicted to Make Up Half of Total PC Shipments in 2014"

...because of course, Tablets are equivalent to the traditional PC (personal computer) that has been around since the early 80s...

You can blab all you want about how "personal" or "personal computing" has been changing the past few years...but it's moot.

The correct process to report on these shipments is to leave PC Sales as PC Sales and let Tablets have their own sales numbers. The car industry doesn't lump sedans into the same category as trucks or motorcycles....right?

 

[wovel]

This again... Search these forums and/or look at Apple's financial filing.

Apple reports shipped as sold when selling to retailers and carriers.

Also, look up the term "write down" in regards to your "Like nearly a billion dollars worth, each." statement.

What again? Apple reports starting and ending channel inventory, easy enough to derive sales from that. Samsung reports absolutely nothing at all. Analysts look at shipments from suppliers but have no way of diving inventory.

Microsoft did take a $900 million down write down on the surface. Not sure where he came up with the Samsung thing, I am not aware of significant Samsung write down, but I didn't look that hard.

 

[Renzatic]

But unfortunately that's how the "market share" game is played. Oh well.

Sort of, but not quite. Profits are the most important measure after everything is said and done, but marketshare isn't a useless metric by comparison. It could very easily be used as a way to project interest, since the more people you have using a product, the more likely they are to talk about it, and thus others are likely to see or hear about it, which could equate to more potential sales in the future.

 

[wovel]

Not for us mature, power users. but for kids, this is probably true. We are being turned into a society of sheep/data consumers and the percentage of people consuming content vs creating (emails/real work work,etc) is diminishing with every swipe across an ipad/"other devices."

May Kids are just more adaptable than you. Just because you don't know how to do something doesn't mean it can't be done.

 

[nagromme]

That's my biggest problem with market share analysis.

If two $79 Android tablets get sold for every one iPad... people think that's an automatic "win" for Android. Yikes!

You're right... sales of a bunch of junk tablets should not be compared to sales of a few high-end tablets. There's so much more to consider over the number of units sold.

But unfortunately that's how the "market share" game is played. Oh well.

The analysts should say:

"The small, low-capability, cheaply-made pirated video-player industry is dominated by the small, low-capability, cheaply-made pirated video-player industry. Apple is not expected to enter this non-profit market of no interest to developers."

 

[postpc]

Android tablet app quality is atrocious

 

[Michael Scrip]

Not for us mature, power users. but for kids, this is probably true. We are being turned into a society of sheep/data consumers and the percentage of people consuming content vs creating (emails/real work work,etc) is diminishing with every swipe across an ipad/"other devices."

There's nothing wrong with simply consuming data. Lots of people only need that.

How many average consumers bought full PCs over the years just to check email?

For decades that's all their was.

Now Grandma can check her email and surf the web with an iPad. That's why the PC market is in trouble.

You don't have to buy a backhoe when you only need a garden trowel

I'm not saying laptops and desktops are going away completely... there will always be uses for those. Like you said... power user will need them.

But for a large percentage of regular consumers... they won't be going to Best Buy and taking home a shiny new Windows laptop anymore.

 

[sir1963nz]

"Shipped" is meaningless. Microsoft and Samsung both shipped huge numbers of units, and both had huge numbers that didn't sell. Like nearly a billion dollars worth, each.

What matters is "sold" not shipped. If you look at sold then Apple does far better.

Even more important is sold and then buys again. Again Apple does far, far better.

Quality matters.

More important still is sold and still used 3-5 years later.

 

[coolspot18]

iPads are still in the lead as far as I'm concerned. I do not believe Android will dominate the tablet market. Consumers love iPad and they are not interested in subpar experiences regardless of price.

Yet Walmart is the largest retailer in the world.

Price is a huge factor, for many people, Android is good enough.

 

[notabadname]

And again, we compare the market share of Apple hardware to the sum of all hardware running a particular software platform (regardless of hardware maker). Apples and oranges.

 

[ChrisA]

this is reasonable

This is reasonable. I expect iPad's share to follow even lower. The reason is that most people don't need a notebook and not even an iPad. All they do is what movies, games and maybe read some Internet web pages. A few might read a book. In other words 99% of users are what we call "media consumers". For that use case the $150 tablet works well enough

 

[Alphabetize]

Tablets have done little to impress me and most of them are pretty much useless in my opinion. Actually, the only tablet that I've expressed any interest in is actually the Windows Surface Pro tablet—it's almost what I've been wanting out of a tablet.

I wish Apple made a touch-based version of OS X (NOT iOS). Everything OS X offers, but just easier to manipulate things via touch.

 

[notabadname]

Not for us mature, power users. but for kids, this is probably true. We are being turned into a society of sheep/data consumers and the percentage of people consuming content vs creating (emails/real work work,etc) is diminishing with every swipe across an ipad/"other devices."

Mature? As in dated and unable to advance with the times and current technology movement? Tablets are used across countless "mature" industries, from medicine to aviation, and on the battlefield with the world's most advanced military to the top universities in the nation. Perhaps you only speak of your limited ability to use such technology.

Learn to differentiate the limitations of the user, versus the those of the tool.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Sort of, but not quite. Profits are the most important measure after everything is said and done, but marketshare isn't a useless metric by comparison. It could very easily be used as a way to project interest, since the more people you have using a product, the more likely they are to talk about it, and thus others are likely to see or hear about it, which could equate to more potential sales in the future.

Market share might not be useless... but I'm having a hard time finding the silver lining.

Look at smartphone market share. Android smartphones have 80% of the market compared to the iPhone's 12%

And yet the next great mobile app will come out on the iPhone first... or only on the iPhone.

All those extra people on the Android side aren't enticing developers, accessory makers, etc.

And a lot of those Android smartphones are sold in countries that barely have 3G or to people who don't buy apps. Who cares if they have "more market share" after all?

On the tablet front... there might be a lot of cheap white-box Android tablets out there... but they are doing very little to enhance the platform as a whole. Again... market share seems like a number with no benefit.

So that's why I don't put my faith in black-n-white market share statistics.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

Huh... Apple versus everyone combined, Apple is losing share. Except, how is that a fair comparison? When you look at PC shipments, you break it down by manufacturer (Lenovo, HP, Apple, etc.) - not by OS type. Sounds like nothing but spin in my opinion.

 

[Jambalaya]

iOS really needs to support "shared folders" across apps, keeping the robustness of apps sandboxing, but allowing the user to share files across apps (always as a request from the user, not an app request, since the later would be dangerous). Without this, I cannot see any iPad use other than net surfing or fun.

I use my iPad a lot for work. In fact at my company people buy iPads with their own money to use at work rather than use the laptops the company provides.

iPad allows docs to to shared via email with apps like iAnnotate allowing you to read and mark up / comment and then re-distribute with mail. This is just one of many examples.

 

[taojones]

i think is to piss us off

again with the lost market share and no mention of the profit share. I guess if your dumb enough to think this is the right way to look at apples business your too dull to get why its meaningless. (ok one last time THIS IS NOT A COMMODITY BUSINESS APPLE HAS A QUALITY PRODUCT NOT A SLICE OF BREAD LIKE ANY OTHER for some reason i feel better now )

 

[Jambalaya]

I am surprised by the android stats - when I look around work, on the commute, at the airport, on holiday and amongst friends I see nothing but iPads

 

[Michael Scrip]

I am surprised by the android stats - when I look around work, on the commute, at the airport, on holiday and amongst friends I see nothing but iPads

You're forgetting the billions of people in China and India who use white-box devices running some version of Android.

Those devices get counted in the same pool of Android market share... under the category "Other"