Apple maintains worldwide tablet marketshare lead in Q1, but cedes ground to Samsung

AppleInsider

Apple held on as the world's largest tablet vendor during the first calendar quarter of 2017, though 13 straight quarters of decline are starting to take their toll on iPad's marketshare lead.

According to fresh statistics from market analyst IDC, Apple's share of the worldwide tablet market sits at 24.6 percent, down from 25.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016. As noted by Apple on Tuesday, iPad sales hit 8.9 million units for the three-month period ending in March, a figure down 13 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Samsung also felt the pinch of contracting tablet demand with a negative 1.1 percent growth rate on the year. The Korean tech giant shipped 6 million units to take a 16.5 percent share of the market during the first quarter, up from 15.2 percent in 2016.

Chinese upstart Huawei was the only top-five vendor to show growth in the March quarter with shipments of 2.7 million units, good enough for a 7.4 percent stake of the overall market. The finish, driven by the firm's decision to sell both Android and Windows devices, was up 31.7 percent compared to last year.

Amazon and Lenovo round out the list in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Amazon shipped 2.2 million Fire tablets to capture a 6 percent marketshare, while Lenovo managed 2.1 million units for a 5.7 percent share of the market.

Overall tablet shipments declined 8.5 percent to 36.2 million units over quarter one, the tenth straight quarter of declines for the ailing segment.

With iPad down in March, Apple has suffered 13 consecutive quarters of year-over-year sales declines. During the company's earnings conference call this week, CEO Tim Cook said sell-through was ahead of internal expectations, noting U.S. sales were up year-over-year.

Apple is looking for ways to drive iPad upgrades, traditionally a difficult proposition, while at the same time enticing new buyers.

Last March, the company launched a 9.7-inch iPad Pro with Apple Pencil support, which joined the 12.9-inch iPad Pro debuted in September 2015. Successor models are rumored for release in the near future.

Addressing the entry-level market, Apple launched a low-cost 9.7-inch iPad in March to replace the outgoing iPad Air 2. Cook said customer response to the $329 tablet has been "excellent," but failed to break out detailed numbers.

cornchip

I'm sure it will look to the pundits as though the sky is falling even though in reality it's basically the only time ever Apple has had a majority market share on anything. Unless you count Apple Watch I guess.

radarthekat

The damn things just last too long.  I'm on only my second iPad, the first being the iPad 3rd gen (I'd waited for the Retina display).  That was April 2012.  I replaced it with the Air 2 in early 2015.  I use my i.pad, with the Numbers spreadsheet, to manage my seven-figure investment portfolio, track my budget, workouts, etc.  it's been my main [large] screen since I got it; the MacBook Air has spent 95% of its life since unplugged and in the closet, used only to do my taxes each year.  

I did buy an iPad 2 for a girlfriend, and an iPad mini for another.  So there's that.  But I've had three I.phones in the same number of years, and feel I'm far behind in updating my current model (iPhone 6).  Apple needs to find a way to compel iPad upgrades.  Or juice the enterprise market to acquire new customers.  I've a feeling AR might be one dimension of the solution to the iPad problem.  

edited May 2017

cali

cornchip said:

I'm sure it will look to the pundits as though the sky is falling even though in reality it's basically the only time ever Apple has had a majority market share on anything. Unless you count Apple Watch I guess.

iPod. Pretty sure iPhone also unless you count android as one, something these stats aren't doing.

qwwera

It helps Android numbers with carriers giving away free Android junk tablets with the addition of a line of service. Or that most of the sales of Android tablets are ultra low budget junk.  it makes Android numbers artificially high.

sirlance99

If and when they come out with a new updated iPad Pro 12.9, I'll be more than happy to buy a fully loaded iPad. Still waiting around for that day tho. Maybe one day soon and not another year of waiting. 

bestkeptsecret

I can't think of using another tablet. iOS is irreplaceable for me.

iPads are built so solid that I'm running out of excuses to buy new ones! And frankly speaking, I haven't even chipped at the first layer of my 12.9" iPad Pro's potential.

These things are not going to sell like the iPhones. And, as evidenced a couple of months back, they seem to sell more like Macs.

adyb

radarthekat said:

The damn things just last too long.  

This!

My wife's iPad 2 is 6 years old and just keeps going & going. At some point even if it doesn't die I will replace it for the ability to keep up to date with iOS updates but for its current use, it's good enough.

avon b7

adyb said:

radarthekat said:

The damn things just last too long.  

This!

My wife's iPad 2 is 6 years old and just keeps going & going. At some point even if it doesn't die I will replace it for the ability to keep up to date with iOS updates but for its current use, it's good enough.

My Mini 2 still feels new although I didn't update it to iOS 10. The experience has been good enough for me to get another Mini when this one is retired. That is what is really important.

Getting users to upgrade more frequently won't have a big impact on share in the short term. There is a 75% pool of non iOS tablets to gun for if that is the goal. The latest entry level iPad may be aimed at taking some.of that market.

habi_tweet

radarthekat said:

The damn things just last too long.  I'm on only my second iPad, the first being the iPad 3rd gen (I'd waited for the Retina display).  That was April 2012.  I replaced it with the Air 2 in early 2015.  I use my i.pad, with the Numbers spreadsheet, to manage my seven-figure investment portfolio, track my budget, workouts, etc.  it's been my main [large] screen since I got it; the MacBook Air has spent 95% of its life since unplugged and in the closet, used only to do my taxes each year.  

I did buy an iPad 2 for a girlfriend, and an iPad mini for another.  So there's that.  But I've had three I.phones in the same number of years, and feel I'm far behind in updating my current model (iPhone 6).  Apple needs to find a way to compel iPad upgrades.  Or juice the enterprise market to acquire new customers.  I've a feeling AR might be one dimension of the solution to the iPad problem.  

Exactly, the ipad needs to be more than a big screen ipod touch. Im astounded by the fact that Apple waists that screen realestate on the ipad that it has (home screen). The home screen is just sooooo last decade. Its a potental that just sits there unleashed. Apple really hasn´t made any really good progress in the ipad UI that really would help the users see its value (only some minor cosmetic things). Dont get me wrong here, the ipad is good for quite a lot of things but a pain in the ass for others and then there are the possibilities of new things that it could do (impossible now). Its time to separate iphone / ipad UI in functionality still preserving some UI familiarity. Its time to make good even better (incredible is the apple destination that needs to be the mindset)...

edited May 2017

grimzahn

IDC has a history. I am recognizing their numbers as untrustworthy and a waste of time. I am surprised seeing AI taking the time to report about them.

ireland

Some of this has to do with how long iPads last before being replaced and then people resell them to another person before buying a new one. No one wants a three your old non-iPad tablet.

freeper

cornchip said:

I'm sure it will look to the pundits as though the sky is falling even though in reality it's basically the only time ever Apple has had a majority market share on anything. Unless you count Apple Watch I guess.

Apple hasn't had a majority share of the tablet market since legitimate competitors emerged years ago. And why bash pundits for pointing out that Apple sold less than 9 million iPads last quarter? Were you as troubled when the same pundits were announcing declines of Windows PCs and Samsung phones a few years go? Being some PR department for Apple who exerts herculean efforts to create positive spin out of every bad story isn't their job. Tablet sales have been declining for over 4 years while PC sales are beginning to creep back up. Various efforts such as advertising aimed at getting people to replace their Windows laptops with iPads and enterprises to do the same hasn't stemmed the tide. The iPad had it's day in the sun but the run is ending. It didn't last as long as the iPod, and it wasn't as influential as the iPod either, but I bet Apple made a lot more money off iPads than iPods, where the bulk of sales were the Shuffle models that didn't have very large margins. Time to move on to the next big thing. Maybe it will eventually be the Apple Watch.

freeper

Grimzahn said:

IDC has a history. I am recognizing their numbers as untrustworthy and a waste of time. I am surprised seeing AI taking the time to report about them.

So when IDC reported declining sales of Windows and Android (especially Samsung) devices and increasing sales of Apple devices (as they did when the iPhone 6 came out for example), are they equally trustworthy? Or did you like their numbers just fine back then? It seems like lots of Apple adherents love numbers from IDC, Kantar and Gartner when they show good numbers for Apple and bad numbers for everyone else but challenge them otherwise. Even though IDC, Kantar and Gartner have no business reason whatsoever to make Apple look bad and the other companies look good. Or that if the numbers from IDC, Kantar and Gartner do not match numbers from consumer surveys, retailers and supply chain data then companies will stop buying their data and they will go out of business. See, that is the thing. IDC, Kantar and Gartner don't produce their reports to fuel fanboy wars. Their reports are PRODUCTS that they SELL to investment firms, the media and companies themselves. If they were wrong year in and year out, the many companies that buy their reports would lose money, IDC/Gartner/Kantar would be discredited as a result and they would go out of business. Since that hasn't happened yet, obviously their data is pretty good. Not to mention that it clearly reflects anecdotal data and advertising trends. 5-6 years ago iPads were huge news. Everyone was talking about buying them, developing apps for them, rolling them out to their businesses etc. and carriers - especially AT&T - were running promotions based around data plans for LTE iPads and retailers - physical and online - prominently featured them in their advertising campaigns ... when you walked into a store iPads would often be the first thing that you saw. You even saw characters flaunting iPads - or devices designed to look like them - in movies and TV shows that were trying to appear cutting edge (or hip and cool). That isn't happening anymore, hasn't in awhile. But hey, you can believe that Kantar, IDC and Gartner are conspiring against Apple if it makes you feel better. But in the process, just know that retailers AND Apple have long confirmed the sales declines in iPads too. Where Apple used to have them front and center and almost as much attention as the iPhone, they are now barely mentioned in quarterly earnings calls and Apple doesn't even hold launch events for the media when new models are introduced anymore. So basically, all IDC is doing is providing numbers that confirm and provide context to Apple's own behavior.

freeper

radarthekat said:

The damn things just last too long.  I'm on only my second iPad, the first being the iPad 3rd gen (I'd waited for the Retina display).  That was April 2012.  I replaced it with the Air 2 in early 2015.  I use my i.pad, with the Numbers spreadsheet, to manage my seven-figure investment portfolio, track my budget, workouts, etc.  it's been my main [large] screen since I got it; the MacBook Air has spent 95% of its life since unplugged and in the closet, used only to do my taxes each year.  

I did buy an iPad 2 for a girlfriend, and an iPad mini for another.  So there's that.  But I've had three I.phones in the same number of years, and feel I'm far behind in updating my current model (iPhone 6).  Apple needs to find a way to compel iPad upgrades.  Or juice the enterprise market to acquire new customers.  I've a feeling AR might be one dimension of the solution to the iPad problem.  

Sorry not buying it. I know more than a few people whose iPhone 5 devices still work great. People bought the 6/6s/7/SE because they wanted new phones, not because there was something wrong with the old one. Also, no use pretending that these old iPads - a lot of them 32 bit and running very outdated SOCs - still perform like Porsches. Instead, if the reason why no one is buying new iPads because the old ones are still kicking then it is merely confirmation that they are not being used for anything but streaming, social media and casual gaming by most people. Juice the enterprise market to acquire new customers? Don't you think that Apple didn't try to do exactly that for years, to the point of creating an iPad Pro with a bigger screen and more processing power than their entry level Macs? The reason why iPads don't sell in the enterprise is that they really are limited devices. Even if you argue that they aren't - and totally ignore the differences between an iPad running iOS and a MacBook Pro running macOS in the process - while it may be possible to spend 10 hour workdays hammering away on a 9.7 inch touchscreen device, who wants to when a Windows or Mac with a much bigger screen, physical keyboard, trackpad etc. and can easily be docked to connect to an even bigger screen (or 2 or 3 screens!), better keyboard and mouse is an alternative? The best case that Apple was able to make for the iPad is your ability to leave your laptop behind and take it to meetings. But since A) laptops are nearly as mobile as tablets and you can also do the same with your phone especially if it is a phablet (note that iPad sales really began to fall off the cliff when the iPhone 6 Plus was introduced) that didn't justify it either. In my office lots of people use MacBooks (including more than a few who also own Android phones), lots of people have iPhones (including more than a few who use Windows PCs) but I have never seen anyone use an iPad for work other than to test an app. And I work for a tech company.

freeper

"The finish, driven by the firm's decision to sell both Android and Windows devices, was up 31.7 percent compared to last year." Samsung and Lenovo now sell Windows 10 tablets too. In fact, the more expensive Samsung and Lenovo tablets, such as the Galaxy Book and the Note Pro, have replaced Android with Windows 10. Professionals are buying them for work use - because they are essentially cheap Surface devices because they include a keyboard and can do pretty much anything a Windows laptop can do - and that accounts for Samsung's small sales drop. If Samsung were still only selling Android tablets, their drop would have been as big as everyone else's. Samsung still sells 2 premium Android tablets, the Galaxy Tab S3 and their 10.1' Tab A, but the smaller Tab A and Tab E devices start at $120 make up the majority of the Android tablets that they still manufacture and sell in decent numbers.

muthuk_vanalingam

freeper said:

cornchip said:

I'm sure it will look to the pundits as though the sky is falling even though in reality it's basically the only time ever Apple has had a majority market share on anything. Unless you count Apple Watch I guess.

Apple hasn't had a majority share of the tablet market since legitimate competitors emerged years ago. And why bash pundits for pointing out that Apple sold less than 9 million iPads last quarter? Were you as troubled when the same pundits were announcing declines of Windows PCs and Samsung phones a few years go? Being some PR department for Apple who exerts herculean efforts to create positive spin out of every bad story isn't their job. Tablet sales have been declining for over 4 years while PC sales are beginning to creep back up. Various efforts such as advertising aimed at getting people to replace their Windows laptops with iPads and enterprises to do the same hasn't stemmed the tide. The iPad had it's day in the sun but the run is ending. It didn't last as long as the iPod, and it wasn't as influential as the iPod either, but I bet Apple made a lot more money off iPads than iPods, where the bulk of sales were the Shuffle models that didn't have very large margins. Time to move on to the next big thing. Maybe it will eventually be the Apple Watch.

Apple hasn't had a majority share of the tablet market since legitimate competitors emerged years ago - You may need to revisit this line, since the opposite is exactly true and the numbers presented in this very article point to that fact. Fact is - Most of the Android OEMs (except Samsung) have given up on tablets ever since google abandoned it in the name of Chrome OS. If someone can provide data on %share of tablets with >$300, I won't be surprised if Apple owns about 90% of that marketshare. With the release of iPad 2017, it is only going to grow further, taking away sales from other Android tablets which are in the same price segment.

muthuk_vanalingam

freeper said:

radarthekat said:

The damn things just last too long.  I'm on only my second iPad, the first being the iPad 3rd gen (I'd waited for the Retina display).  That was April 2012.  I replaced it with the Air 2 in early 2015.  I use my i.pad, with the Numbers spreadsheet, to manage my seven-figure investment portfolio, track my budget, workouts, etc.  it's been my main [large] screen since I got it; the MacBook Air has spent 95% of its life since unplugged and in the closet, used only to do my taxes each year.  

I did buy an iPad 2 for a girlfriend, and an iPad mini for another.  So there's that.  But I've had three I.phones in the same number of years, and feel I'm far behind in updating my current model (iPhone 6).  Apple needs to find a way to compel iPad upgrades.  Or juice the enterprise market to acquire new customers.  I've a feeling AR might be one dimension of the solution to the iPad problem.  

Sorry not buying it. I know more than a few people whose iPhone 5 devices still work great. People bought the 6/6s/7/SE because they wanted new phones, not because there was something wrong with the old one. Also, no use pretending that these old iPads - a lot of them 32 bit and running very outdated SOCs - still perform like Porsches. Instead, if the reason why no one is buying new iPads because the old ones are still kicking then it is merely confirmation that they are not being used for anything but streaming, social media and casual gaming by most people. Juice the enterprise market to acquire new customers? Don't you think that Apple didn't try to do exactly that for years, to the point of creating an iPad Pro with a bigger screen and more processing power than their entry level Macs? The reason why iPads don't sell in the enterprise is that they really are limited devices. Even if you argue that they aren't - and totally ignore the differences between an iPad running iOS and a MacBook Pro running macOS in the process - while it may be possible to spend 10 hour workdays hammering away on a 9.7 inch touchscreen device, who wants to when a Windows or Mac with a much bigger screen, physical keyboard, trackpad etc. and can easily be docked to connect to an even bigger screen (or 2 or 3 screens!), better keyboard and mouse is an alternative? The best case that Apple was able to make for the iPad is your ability to leave your laptop behind and take it to meetings. But since A) laptops are nearly as mobile as tablets and you can also do the same with your phone especially if it is a phablet (note that iPad sales really began to fall off the cliff when the iPhone 6 Plus was introduced) that didn't justify it either. In my office lots of people use MacBooks (including more than a few who also own Android phones), lots of people have iPhones (including more than a few who use Windows PCs) but I have never seen anyone use an iPad for work other than to test an app. And I work for a tech company.

It is not uncommon for people to have iPad as their tablet device AND an Android phone as their primary phone. With such a possibility, why iPad sales are NOT growing? It is simply due to longer replacement cycles. Nothing else.

freeper

qwwera said:

It helps Android numbers with carriers giving away free Android junk tablets with the addition of a line of service. Or that most of the sales of Android tablets are ultra low budget junk.  it makes Android numbers artificially high.

Except that the Samsung, Huawei, Lenovo and especially Amazon tablets that appear in the chart above aren't the ones that you describe. The next Amazon (whose Fire platform actually competes with Google Android), Lenovo or Huawei tablet given away by carriers in phone promotions will be the first. Samsung tablets used to be popular in those promotions - especially with Samsung phones - but haven't been in years, with Samsung promotions now focusing on giving away Gear devices (VR headsets and smartwatches). The devices that carriers are giving away are usually LG, Alcatel and more representatives of the "others" category above ... that dropped 15% year over year. By the way, it doesn't matter. Carriers are customers too. So whether it is a consumer walking into a store to buy a tablet for personal use or a carrier buying a tablet to give away in a promotion, it counts. It is revenue that the company would not have if they were not making tablets. HTC hasn't made tablets since the (terrible and failed) Nexus 9. If they were making a few hundred thousand budget tablets a year - or even letting someone else make them while licensing their brand name - to sell to carriers on promotions, they would be in a lot better financial shape. Instead they are losing a ton of money making $800 VR headsets that everyone praises the design, hardware and software ... but no one actually buys.

rogifan_new

This is what I want from my iPad Pro:

1. the ability to drag and drop between apps when using split view
2. all iPad apps (with maybe the exception of games) are required to support split view
3. a better way to switch apps when in split view mode
4. ability to load/save media on to device and edit metadata without having to use iTunes
5. Ability to access locally stored media via the share sheet (similar to how photos can be accessed and shared)

Give me those things and I'd probably never need to use my windows laptop again. Are those unreasonable requests? I think not. 

cropr

muthuk_vanalingam said:

freeper said:

radarthekat said:

The damn things just last too long.  I'm on only my second iPad, the first being the iPad 3rd gen (I'd waited for the Retina display).  That was April 2012.  I replaced it with the Air 2 in early 2015.  I use my i.pad, with the Numbers spreadsheet, to manage my seven-figure investment portfolio, track my budget, workouts, etc.  it's been my main [large] screen since I got it; the MacBook Air has spent 95% of its life since unplugged and in the closet, used only to do my taxes each year.  

I did buy an iPad 2 for a girlfriend, and an iPad mini for another.  So there's that.  But I've had three I.phones in the same number of years, and feel I'm far behind in updating my current model (iPhone 6).  Apple needs to find a way to compel iPad upgrades.  Or juice the enterprise market to acquire new customers.  I've a feeling AR might be one dimension of the solution to the iPad problem.  

Sorry not buying it. I know more than a few people whose iPhone 5 devices still work great. People bought the 6/6s/7/SE because they wanted new phones, not because there was something wrong with the old one. Also, no use pretending that these old iPads - a lot of them 32 bit and running very outdated SOCs - still perform like Porsches. Instead, if the reason why no one is buying new iPads because the old ones are still kicking then it is merely confirmation that they are not being used for anything but streaming, social media and casual gaming by most people. Juice the enterprise market to acquire new customers? Don't you think that Apple didn't try to do exactly that for years, to the point of creating an iPad Pro with a bigger screen and more processing power than their entry level Macs? The reason why iPads don't sell in the enterprise is that they really are limited devices. Even if you argue that they aren't - and totally ignore the differences between an iPad running iOS and a MacBook Pro running macOS in the process - while it may be possible to spend 10 hour workdays hammering away on a 9.7 inch touchscreen device, who wants to when a Windows or Mac with a much bigger screen, physical keyboard, trackpad etc. and can easily be docked to connect to an even bigger screen (or 2 or 3 screens!), better keyboard and mouse is an alternative? The best case that Apple was able to make for the iPad is your ability to leave your laptop behind and take it to meetings. But since A) laptops are nearly as mobile as tablets and you can also do the same with your phone especially if it is a phablet (note that iPad sales really began to fall off the cliff when the iPhone 6 Plus was introduced) that didn't justify it either. In my office lots of people use MacBooks (including more than a few who also own Android phones), lots of people have iPhones (including more than a few who use Windows PCs) but I have never seen anyone use an iPad for work other than to test an app. And I work for a tech company.

It is not uncommon for people to have iPad as their tablet device AND an Android phone as their primary phone. With such a possibility, why iPad sales are NOT growing? It is simply due to longer replacement cycles. Nothing else.

Longer lasting devices are not the only reason.   Apple fails to attract new customers for its iPad product line, totally in contrast to the iPhone.  My guts feeling is that iOS is the culprit.  iOS shines as smartphone OS but lacks some features (file manager, multi user, decent off-line mode, ...) to make an iPad a general computing device.  If I look at my own situation, I always uses my iPad as a companion device next to something else, never as a my primary device.