Worldwide tablet sales continued to decline in the third quarter of 2016, according to a new report from International Data Corporation that also reveals Apple’s newest iPads aren’t the most popular.
Apple marketed the new iPad Pros heavily as PC replacements during 2016, but customers continue to buy the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 at a higher clip.
Worldwide tablet sales decline
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The two older tablets accounted for two-thirds of all Apple tablet shipments in Q3, according to IDC’s research. Apple’s iPad sales declined 6.2 percent year-over-year, but iPad-related revenues stayed flat for the quarter thanks to the iPad Pro’s higher price.
Apple introduced the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in late 2015, with the 9.7-inch model following in the spring of 2016. The new iPads come with support for the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, which turn the devices into better productivity machines. New iPad Pro models aren’t expected to be announced until the first half of 2017.
Total tablet shipments were up 9.8 percent worldwide in Q3 compared to Q2. Vendors shipped a total of 43 million tablets, marking at 14.7 percent decline from Q3 2015. Apple was the top seller of tablets last quarter, followed by Samsung, Amazon, Lenovo and Huawei.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
5 responses to “iPad Pro is getting outsold by Apple’s cheaper tablets”
UMMMMMM but?? Doesn’t everything expensive get outsold by cheaper things. For example aren’t the Mac Pros being outsold by the iMacs and mac minis. SMMFH This isn’t news. LOL
“Doesn’t everything expensive get outsold by cheaper things”
No, not always. I’d bet you Coca Cola outsells generic store brand colas, despite being more expensive. If the more expensive option really is better, people will choose it.
You can’t really compare food to electronics.
I can when using it as an example to show that a higher-priced option may sell more units than a lower-priced option. It makes sense there, it makes sense in this analogy.
Toyota outsold BMW too… and most would rather have the BMW if all things were equal. People make a choice between “high end/high price” version or the economy version based on their need and means. I don’t think this is a shocker. I love my iPad Pro but I can see where many wouldn’t need what it offers.