The tablet market continues to plummet worldwide, but Apple’s still leading the pack, thanks to the iPad.
According to new figures released by the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, tablet shipments fell 7 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2015 to a total of 44.7 million units.
Of these, Apple shipped 10.9 million iPads to represent 24.5 percent of the tablet market — or 1 in every 4 tablets sold. Samsung followed with 7.6 million tablets shipped, representing 17 percent of all tablets, while Leonovo, Huawei and LG Electronics rounded out the top five sellers.
While Apple continued to lead, however, it is certainly not the dominant force that it once was, with the iPad suffering a year-over-year decrease of 17.9 percent negative growth. Ouch!
Tim Cook addressed this during Apple’s recent quarterly earnings call, in which he noted that he is still “bullish” about the iPad’s prospects. It would seem the folks at IDC agree, too, since when it comes to their remedy for falling tablet sales, they point to Apple to lead the way.
“Longer life cycles, increased competition from other categories such as larger smartphones, combined with the fact that end users can install the latest operating systems on their older tablets has stifled the initial enthusiasm for these devices in the consumer market,” said Jitesh Ubrani, IDC’s senior research analyst for tablets. “But with newer form factors like 2-in-1s, and added productivity-enabling features like those highlighted in iOS 9, vendors should be able to bring new vitality to a market that has lost its momentum.”
Given that Cupertino is rumored to be releasing three new iPad models this year — including the long-awaited iPad Pro — 2015 could wind up being the year when Apple finally turns its tablet business around. We hope.
Source: IDC
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
6 responses to “iPad still has biggest slice of the (crumbling) tablet pie”
Well I found that if Apple had of wanted to increase their market share of the iPad or iPad Mini they would have put a phone app in it which they refuse to do, rather they would like the public to buy the over priced iPhone instead.
I will buy a iPad Mini if there was a phone app in it but not until that time and I will stick with the iPhone 5s rather than upgrade since like I stated above, the iPhone is over priced.
Yes, some of their decisions are puzzling. The Mac doesn’t have Siri, which now makes Windows 10 superior. Yes, Microsoft slavishly copied Mission Control. No one cares. You can get a $300 notebook with Windows 10 and it can do some amazing things. I will stick with my Mac. Stability and performance are more important for me. But I may consider replacing my obsolete-after-three-years $700 iPad 2 with a $300 Windows notebook.
Consumers are starting to see that an iPhone is enough iOS. The iPhone 6 plus has replaced the iPad for many people. I paid $699 for an iPad 2 that was practically obsolete after 3 years. iOS 8 is unusably slow and Apple Music is unresponsive. Never again! Apple just stopped selling the iPad 2 last year. There are people who bought a new iPad that was obsolete after 6 months. This is unusual for Apple. They usually treat their customers better. I think it speaks to their desperate attemps to boost iPad sales.
I am using my iPad 2 to write this comment. Every character I type takes 2-5 seconds to be displayed. If I type a sentence quickly, it won’t show up for 30 seconds. It can run iOS 8 in theory, but it is unusable in practice.
Corporations and consumers will go for cheap Windows 10 notebooks, which are half the price of an iPad and more capable. Running two watered-down apps side-by-side is not worth $600-700 every three years. Anyone who has worked in a large corporation knows this. Windows is still the leader. The iOS 9 multitasking features still aren’t as good as what computers have offered for three decades.
I’m tired of bloggers telling me how capable the iPad is and that it is the future of computing and will be the ubiquitous office machine. Yes, you can write a document on an iPad. Whoopty doo. I don’t like Windows, but I am not an iSheep. I know that it is a extremely popular operating system. You will not see office workers slumped over an iPad in their cubicles. Corporations will buy inexpensive Windows PCs as they have done for years. Tablet sales are slumping because they aren’t very useful. If you have a larger smart phone, it is good enough. I operate an Apple-centric website and half of my visitors are using Windows. I haven’t written one article about Windows. Most people who buy an iPhone have a Windows PC and no iPad. Tablets are the new netbook. You trade off a lot of functionality for a little convenience. Ultrabooks are just as portable and can do so much more.
I will continue to buy Apple products, but I will never buy another iPad.
My iPad 2 loves iOS 8. It runs as well as it does on my iPhone 5 and iPad mini.
Love the iPad, big time. It is a wonderful device for media consumption, games, etc. I just don’t upgrade at the rate I do my phone, though.
Screw you haters, iPad’s are awesome! I have a 2, 4, and an Air. Will be upgrading later this year. I love Mac, iPhone, and iPad … they all have their specific uses.