“Apple sold more than 70 million iPads last year,” Marcus Wohlsen reports for Wired. “People love them. But they might love them a little too much for Apple’s taste, if new predictions of shrinking growth in the tablet market turn out to be true. Tablets are so good, it seems, that people are keeping the ones they have and not buying as many new ones.”
“New figures released today by market research firm IDC see growth in the tablet market shrinking by nearly one-third in 2014 compared to the previous year, with sales topping out at about 261 million new devices,” Wohlsen reports. “‘Consumers are deciding that their current tablets are good enough for the way they use them,’ says Tom Mainelli, IDC vice president of devices and displays. ‘Few are feeling compelled to upgrade the same way they did in years past.'”
“The forecast did not single out Apple or its iPads as being uniquely affected by the slowdown. The prediction appears to apply to the tablet market as a whole. But the declining eagerness to buy new tablets is particularly bad news for Apple.,” Wohlsen reports. “The glimmer of hope for Apple in IDC’s prognostication is that the trend toward lower-priced tablets appears to be bottoming out. Consumers are moving to higher-end devices that work better and last longer, Mainelli says. If Apple is anything, it’s high-end, and if relatively weak sales of its experiment in a ‘cheap’ iPhone, the 5c, are any sign, it’s high-end devices that people want from Apple. The good news is that if people want a new tablet and they want high-end, Apple is a likely place they’ll turn.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As always, Apple will just have to give us reasons to upgrade. They’re very good at that. As anybody who now owns an iPad Air after owning a previous generation iPad can attest: Apple’s latest iPads provide myriad improvements that are well worthy of triggering upgrade sales.
Furthermore, any company not named Apple would kill for the unit sales that iPhone 5c generates. Apple sells millions upon millions of iPhone 5c units.
And, for the umpteenth time, for the Church of Market Share congregation: Apple does not care about general market share. Apple only cares about the valuable part of the market, where the premium, quality, valuable customers exist. Apple’s target is the premium market and, in every category in which they participate – personal computers, smartphones, tablets, portable media players, electronics retail, digital music sales, set top boxes, etc. – Apple dominates.
People love their cars so much they never buy new cars. That’s why car manufacturers are all going out of business.
Or television, coffee maker, microwave, watch, computer. If it works for what you need it to do people will generally not replace it.
I will not replace either of our 128G iPads until iOS 7 allows us (and many, many others) to see the titles of ripped movies in the video app. Neither will we give up the ability to synchronize calendars, contacts, eBooks, and the like DIRECTLY and at will between Mac and iPads WITHOUT going through the “cloud.” Yes, iOS 7 is currently on our two 5S iPhones, for we use them primarily for web-browsing, texting, and voicing. No problem there, thankfully. Still, can’t wait for iOS 7.1; fingers are crossed.
I have hundreds of ripped movies in iTunes and they all display their titles in the iOS 7 Video app when I pull up Shares on my network.
I also have a ripped video on my iPad Air at the moment and it displays its title under the Home Videos category just fine.
So you wrote a bug at bugreport.apple.com about being unable “to see the titles of ripped movies in the video app”, right?
It’s also why they are not making wooden matches any longer. They found that they were long enough.
Good one. Most don’t get it.
Most of the women I know still have all of their diamonds yet Tiffany’s mysteriously hasn’t gone out of business.
I am using an iPad Air 32GB currently and have owned all but the first generation of iPad.
What would get me to buy the next version would be improved battery life. A micro SD card slot would also be nice. Improved Audio would also be something to consider.
The thinner thing is just marketing bullshit.
It’s not the thinner aspect of the Air that makes it noticeably better than the previous models, it’s the weight difference. Older iPads feel really heavy now.
I have bought and kept all five iPad generations.
The two current screen sizes have their places, but a bigger double size screen that could open like a book would have a place with me too. (I have Apple patents which would enable this some time ago.)
Thinner is better …. When I pick up my old iPad 3 and the the Air I wonder how I liked the iPad 3 so much ….
Love my Air!
My iPad 3 is still great! It gets a lot of use in my family, and it is still going strong. I really like the iPad Air, but not enough to shell out that kind of investment right now. The design aspects that would entice me to buy the next generation are TouchID, more RAM at the same price points (double RAM specs across the board, Apple), and increased battery life. I want Apple to keep the iPad while weight and thickness under control, but I would be willing to accept a little more weight and thickness than the Air for a substantial increase in battery life.
I am envious, I admit it. I have an iPad 2, and am getting the itch for a 32GB Air. That is, till I recall the state of my finances at the moment.
What I was saying is that the Air is plenty thin. Concentrate on extra battery life.
Improved audio how? You want better audio, you Airplay link it to a speaker system, or use better headphones.
Simple.
And as for a card slot, again, why?
I use the Camera Kit for loading photos from my camera onto my Pad, because most cameras use SD cards, and using MicroSD cards in an adaptor has caused me problems with data loss in my camera in the past.
Otherwise use Airdrop, Dropbox, or any of a number of other data transfer apps.
When I travel, it would be nice to carry extra media on a micro SD card. The cloud is limited by data caps.
I absolutely love my iPad Air and can’t imagine going back to an iPad 2 so could not agree more.
Another incentive for upgrades are family members my kids get my old devices so as they want new devices they’ll ask me to upgrade too. No pressure.
I have owned the 1,2,3 and air… The 1,2,3 were sold, or given to family…. and all are still operational. Fantastic products. Love my air.
Kingsbury Door!
How many of those 261 million are in fact tablets. You know, devices that do more than one thing(Kindle I’m looking at you). And not just some glorified media player with a stretched screen. Or any of those that have screens, and aren’t just dongles.
My prediction is no more than 130 to 140 which means that Apple will have 60 to 70% of the total real tablet market in 2014.
Replace the disposable tech wroters and pseodo journalist wannabes of today, not the classics that will always be revered.
Next gen iPad bought means the previous one just controls the entertainment stuff.
Business, yup, no more keyboards in shipping & receiving.
I still use an iPad 3 and my wife an original iPad 1. Both of us are due for an upgrade and I believe we are not alone. I believe the life of an iPad has gone from 2 to 3 years though.
People love Apple products and so end up buying another one when they are ready. Other manufacturers do not have such loyalty. Since Apple’s customer base is increasing, the sales will continue to increase. For the competing vendors their problem will be loss of sales as gradually people move to Apple and stick with them.
Point in question – the missus and I have just replaced our phones with the 5S. She had a 4 and I had a 4S – 3.5 and 2.5 years old. The phones lasted well enough but we were getting to the point that the responsiveness was starting to lag.
Now we have our new phones and the great new deal with AT&T where we get 10GB data between 3 people and $15 per phone. We essentially rent to own the phones for 26 months and then pay no more fees for the purchase of the phone. Since we are typically using the phones for 3 years instead of 2, the overall cost has gone down by 30%.
I bought a galaxy tab 3 8” the other day to try and port my iOS game to Android as I have only sold 3 copies in the 2 months its been available for iOS so I thought i’d fill it with ads and chuck it on Google Play in the hope of getting some free publicity.
The fact that these tabs came out a couple months before the Air is a embarrassment to samsung and google. Nothing moves smoothly in android no matter what the cpu speed is. Going back to iPad after a day on android is comparable to sex with a supermodel
Why not add some credibility to your post and tell us the name of the game?
Yeah a bit of self promotion might help boost the 3 sales 🙂
It’s called Feed the Troll. Has 42 levels atm the moment, working on an update with more.
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id670689576?mt=8
I don’t understand the analogy of the Supermodel vs the iPad.
The iPad lasts for years. The Supermodel experience lasts about 30 seconds.
If iPad is like supermodel sex, then Samsung 3.8 tablet is like:
– masturb8ing in a cold damp cellar
– phone sex using Walkie-talkies
– finally using that condom you bought at 13 now that you are 31
Pick one.
None of the above.
Like a wet dream, only problem is when you wake up…..
Yuk.
we need to start measuring 2 and 3 Year Marketshare as well as Annual, quarterly and monthly, to understand the Tablet and Smartphone market.
with the iPhone 6 Apple is going to hit an incremental 3 year growth cycle that analysts are not expecting because their prediction and expectations are largely based Year over Year and Quarter over Quarter to affect the short term stock price.
Just a question or thought. Can any iOS device with the new small port run CarPlay? If so, why not both the iPads and iPhones? If so, then people will upgrade both over the next 2 or 3 years to connect to the CarPlay in their new cars.
Apple is doomed!
If by small port you mean the Lightning connection, then yes, it’s mandatory for devices connecting to CarPlay.
I think Jersey Trader understands that art of CarPlay but was asking if iPads and iPad mini would activate CarPlay when connected. I don’t know as it looks like it needs a continuos data connection which is really only guaranteed when an iPhone is connected.
I hate to tell the writer, but one of the reasons I’ve bought Apple products for over 30 years is that I know I WON’T have to be buying a new one in a couple of years like non-apple buyers. It’s got to be good business to build a clientele that’s going to stick with you year after year after year, doesn’t it?
Build great products -> customer satisfaction -> customer loyalty -> customer buys more of your products
Yes indeed, durability sells.
Bought the first 2, 2 Minis, and now the Air. Like my iPhones, I passed down each iteration to members of the family. Unfortunately now, having run out of ‘candidates’, I get the oldest version(s) back.
As one can see, my youngest can ‘t wait for Apple to bring out a new version.
So far it has worked out quite well. I have TomTom running on a G3 and an old iPad, that I use/keep in the cars. In addition I have the ‘DisplayPad’ app on an older iPad which helps me develop/test iOS apps on my Macs simultaneously.
Note: DisplayPad acts as a second monitor. However, you can use your mouse and keyboard, as well as Touch on widows/apps being viewed over on the iPad.
I predict that this time next year two things will come to light:
1) Apple owners are buying new iPads
2) Former Android tablet owners are buying iPads
With the recent research saying that iPad accounts for less than 50% of installed base I would attribute any slow down in tablet sales to Android more than iPad — it just makes sense that the low-end market would reach saturation before the high end. The challenge for Apple, as always, is to convince those folks burned by their first experience to come try out the Apple product.
I suspect iPads in general will be replaced less frequently than iPhones. But iPads are replaced more frequently than iMacs. Just because an iPad user doesn’t run out and buy the next gen model as soon as it comes out doesn’t mean Apple is doomed. They’re not buying an Android tablet either.
BlahBlahBlah… So dammit Apple! Make crappy hardware with planned obsolescence! Feed the parasites! Screw the customers! 😈
Wall-Nut Street Has Spoken.
As I said in a recent thread about the likely demise of the 3rd gen IPad, the iPad has got to be one of the best computer products for being a “hand-me-down” that has ever been made.
When you finally decide to invest in the latest, thinnest, whatever gen iPad you can always give it to another relative or family member of just about any age. Small kids use it for the apps and older ones for it connectivity.