AppleInsider Staff
More than one out of every four tablets sold in the first quarter of 2015 bore an Apple logo, new data indicates, though the worldwide market for tablets and convertible devices continues to contract.
The iPad lineup took 27 percent of the tablet market from January to March, according to market research firm IDC. Samsung came in second with 19 percent, while no other single supplier exceeded 5 percent.
Overall, the market was down 6 percent year-over-year, the second consecutive quarter in which sales fell. Of those tablets that were sold, cellular models were found to be the most popular, outpacing the market.
"Cellular-enabled tablets are outgrowing the rest of the market, providing an additional revenue stream for OEMs and mobile operators," IDC tablet research director Jean Philippe Bouchard said in a release. "In addition to driving higher usage than Wi-Fi-only tablets, cellular-enabled tablets also help position the segment as true mobile solutions rather than stay-at-home devices."
Convertible devices, like Microsoft's Surface line, also had a strong showing.
IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani noted that "while 2-in-1, or detachables, still account for a small portion of the overall market, growth in this space has been stunning as vendors like Asus, Acer, and E-FUN have been able to offer products at a fantastic value; and vendors like Microsoft have been able to drive growth at the high end with devices like the Surface Pro 3."
Apple sold just over 12 million iPads in its second fiscal quarter of 2015, its fifth consecutive quarter of declining iPad shipments. Some of that drop is blamed on the success of the new, larger iPhone 6 lineup, while others believe it represents a natural leveling of the market as tablets — Â which have longer replacement cycles than smartphones — Â reach saturation.
Charles Martin
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Wesley Hilliard
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24 Comments
So they had a strong Christmas season, but now they're not selling as many over the winter? What did 2013Q4 look like?
Not sure if the time is quite right for panic here...
Here we go again with the "Other" manufacturers leading the group. It's the same as with smartphones. How many of the "others" are nothing more than a dumb screen with a few options? I'd like to see categories of tablets instead of lumping them all together. Go ahead and put Samsung, Microsoft, and a few others into the same category as Apple's offerings, then actually define what the "other" category actually includes so we can make our own judgment whether they belong in the same category as iPads. Have iPad sales slipped? Yes, but where are the articles about tablet longevity compared to laptops and desktops? Are Samsung and Microsoft tablets kept as long as iPads?
I seldom use my iPads. I have purchased 3 in all starting with the original. I was using my iPad mini last night to visit AI via a cellular connection. The page had so many ads that it would not even load with 2 bars of AT&T LTE. They really need to allow extensions in mobile Safari so I can block ads. I use Ghostery and Click to Flash, as well as some custom Javascript I wrote to eliminate the crap on AI's web page on my Mac so I never see ads. I literally could not use the AI site on an iPad over cellular.
I think consumers bought these thinking they would use them to read a lot of e-books. But that hasn't really happened. e-book sales are actually way down - I think they've dropped something like 20%. People update their phones as soon as their contract permits because it's relatively inexpensive over the life of the contract. But you've got to pay the full freight for an iPad. And even the first models still work well (although they're heavier). So it's not really necessary to update it as often. The third factor is that newer Macs are getting so small and light, they're practically as convenient as an iPad and far more efficient to use if one is doing any kind of real work. But I think a future generation of iPads which are lighter than the current and as thin as the new MacBook will be very compelling to a lot of people, although I think Apple also needs to get the price down.
Hi, I'm an analyst. Although Apple's in 1st place, they're not in 1st place *enough*. Thus, I am calling for panic regarding Apple's future.