Apple dominates the US tablet market, and Mac sales are surging

AppleInsider

New figures for US consumer and business spending on computers in the first calendar quarter of 2024 show Apple's iPad leading tablet sales, and the Mac coming close to the top for growth in PCs shipped.

Apple's new iPad Pro

The new figures are from Canalys, which has previously reported a bleak first quarter for Apple in China. In its report for the US, its figures are much more positive.

Overall, the PC market -- defined as computing devices other than tablets -- is said to have seen shipments up 5% year over year, in Q1 2024. In the consumer and small business market, that figure is up 9%.

Overall, the US computer market has risen 5% year over year (source: Canalys)

For desktop and notebook computers, Apple saw an annual growth of 22%. That puts it in second place for growth, beaten only by Lenovo's 22.4%.

It means that Apple had 14.2% of the desktop and notebook computer market in this quarter. It shipped approximately 2,102,000 Macs, compared to 1,723,000 in Q1 2023.

The picture is a little different in tablets, though, as Apple saw an annual decline of 8.8%. However, apart from Samsung which saw a 2% growth, all tablet vendors declined year over year.

Apple's decline was the least, with Amazon seeing a fall of 21.5%, and Microsoft getting a 30.1% drop.

In total, Apple shipped 4,928,000 iPads in the quarter, down from 5,404,000 the year before. Nonetheless, the iPad remains dominant with 50.8% of the market.

By comparison, that's more than the next four tablet vendors combined. The closest to Apple in tablet sales is Samsung, with 18.5% of the market, while Microsoft has 2.7%.

Growth is expected to continue into 2025 because of AI features (source: Canalys)

Canalys expects that the growth will continue into 2025. It says that's due to both Windows 10 coming to its end of life, spurring upgrades, and the addition of AI features to both PCs and Macs.

Note that Apple had no iPad launches in either Q1 2023 or Q1 2024. It launched its latest iPad Pro and iPad Air in May 2024.



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blastdoor

I was all set to buy a 13 inch iPad Air but then got hit with an unexpected and unavoidable expense , so will need to make my A10X based 13 inch iPad Pro stretch a little further. 

That’s a great thing about iPads — they really last. 

tmay

I found it interesting that the iPad is being used in the F-15EX test program;

https://www.twz.com/sponsored-content/f-15ex-testers-are-now-preparing-the-eagle-ii-for-rapidly-adapting-to-new-missions

“What the F-15EX brings that other F-15s do not is what you hear being talked about as the digital backbone of the aircraft,” adds Maj. Eshkenazi. “It has ethernet wiring running throughout the airframe and it’s linked to the weapon stations. This opens up future potential in terms of integrating weapons. We might have a separate computer or a tablet that can be linked [to the jet] that allows us to connect to the weapons stations while keeping our safety of flight elements [in the mission software] isolated. So we could run apps but not have them running through our main computer, which isolates this from the safety of flight things like the flight controls, for example. This means I’m not concerned about an app coming from a vendor that might affect my ability to fly the airplane.”

“One of the big capabilities that the F-15EX brings to the fight is the ability to rapidly put new weapons on it, because of its external carriage capacity and its ability to carry a lot of weight,” Col. Daniel Lehoski, 53rd Wing commander, further explained. “We have the independent ability to upgrade the jet’s Operational Flight Program [OFP] as well as actually working around the OFP to add some capabilities. I’ll give you an example; we have a jet that we’re using to push situational awareness and command and control [C2] capabilities to the leading edge of the fight. We’re doing that literally with an iPad hooked up to the jet in order to get information into it. That sits outside the OFP. It’s a little clunky because you have an iPad in the cockpit, but that is enabling us to add capability in conjunction with our agile OFP upgrades. The iPad is getting power from the jet and then using Link 16 datalink to communicate with the aircraft.”

apple4thewin

tmay said:

I found it interesting that the iPad is being used in the F-15EX test program;

https://www.twz.com/sponsored-content/f-15ex-testers-are-now-preparing-the-eagle-ii-for-rapidly-adapting-to-new-missions

“What the F-15EX brings that other F-15s do not is what you hear being talked about as the digital backbone of the aircraft,” adds Maj. Eshkenazi. “It has ethernet wiring running throughout the airframe and it’s linked to the weapon stations. This opens up future potential in terms of integrating weapons. We might have a separate computer or a tablet that can be linked [to the jet] that allows us to connect to the weapons stations while keeping our safety of flight elements [in the mission software] isolated. So we could run apps but not have them running through our main computer, which isolates this from the safety of flight things like the flight controls, for example. This means I’m not concerned about an app coming from a vendor that might affect my ability to fly the airplane.”

“One of the big capabilities that the F-15EX brings to the fight is the ability to rapidly put new weapons on it, because of its external carriage capacity and its ability to carry a lot of weight,” Col. Daniel Lehoski, 53rd Wing commander, further explained. “We have the independent ability to upgrade the jet’s Operational Flight Program [OFP] as well as actually working around the OFP to add some capabilities. I’ll give you an example; we have a jet that we’re using to push situational awareness and command and control [C2] capabilities to the leading edge of the fight. We’re doing that literally with an iPad hooked up to the jet in order to get information into it. That sits outside the OFP. It’s a little clunky because you have an iPad in the cockpit, but that is enabling us to add capability in conjunction with our agile OFP upgrades. The iPad is getting power from the jet and then using Link 16 datalink to communicate with the aircraft.”

Ok that is pretty awesome 

blastdoor

tmay said:

I found it interesting that the iPad is being used in the F-15EX test program;

https://www.twz.com/sponsored-content/f-15ex-testers-are-now-preparing-the-eagle-ii-for-rapidly-adapting-to-new-missions

“What the F-15EX brings that other F-15s do not is what you hear being talked about as the digital backbone of the aircraft,” adds Maj. Eshkenazi. “It has ethernet wiring running throughout the airframe and it’s linked to the weapon stations. This opens up future potential in terms of integrating weapons. We might have a separate computer or a tablet that can be linked [to the jet] that allows us to connect to the weapons stations while keeping our safety of flight elements [in the mission software] isolated. So we could run apps but not have them running through our main computer, which isolates this from the safety of flight things like the flight controls, for example. This means I’m not concerned about an app coming from a vendor that might affect my ability to fly the airplane.”

“One of the big capabilities that the F-15EX brings to the fight is the ability to rapidly put new weapons on it, because of its external carriage capacity and its ability to carry a lot of weight,” Col. Daniel Lehoski, 53rd Wing commander, further explained. “We have the independent ability to upgrade the jet’s Operational Flight Program [OFP] as well as actually working around the OFP to add some capabilities. I’ll give you an example; we have a jet that we’re using to push situational awareness and command and control [C2] capabilities to the leading edge of the fight. We’re doing that literally with an iPad hooked up to the jet in order to get information into it. That sits outside the OFP. It’s a little clunky because you have an iPad in the cockpit, but that is enabling us to add capability in conjunction with our agile OFP upgrades. The iPad is getting power from the jet and then using Link 16 datalink to communicate with the aircraft.”

Ukraine too: https://www.twz.com/air/ukrainian-fighter-jets-using-ipads-to-control-western-weapons

radarthekat

tmay said:

I found it interesting that the iPad is being used in the F-15EX test program;

https://www.twz.com/sponsored-content/f-15ex-testers-are-now-preparing-the-eagle-ii-for-rapidly-adapting-to-new-missions

“What the F-15EX brings that other F-15s do not is what you hear being talked about as the digital backbone of the aircraft,” adds Maj. Eshkenazi. “It has ethernet wiring running throughout the airframe and it’s linked to the weapon stations. This opens up future potential in terms of integrating weapons. We might have a separate computer or a tablet that can be linked [to the jet] that allows us to connect to the weapons stations while keeping our safety of flight elements [in the mission software] isolated. So we could run apps but not have them running through our main computer, which isolates this from the safety of flight things like the flight controls, for example. This means I’m not concerned about an app coming from a vendor that might affect my ability to fly the airplane.”

“One of the big capabilities that the F-15EX brings to the fight is the ability to rapidly put new weapons on it, because of its external carriage capacity and its ability to carry a lot of weight,” Col. Daniel Lehoski, 53rd Wing commander, further explained. “We have the independent ability to upgrade the jet’s Operational Flight Program [OFP] as well as actually working around the OFP to add some capabilities. I’ll give you an example; we have a jet that we’re using to push situational awareness and command and control [C2] capabilities to the leading edge of the fight. We’re doing that literally with an iPad hooked up to the jet in order to get information into it. That sits outside the OFP. It’s a little clunky because you have an iPad in the cockpit, but that is enabling us to add capability in conjunction with our agile OFP upgrades. The iPad is getting power from the jet and then using Link 16 datalink to communicate with the aircraft.”

I was an F-15C avionics technician in my Air Force days (1981-1985).  It’s amazing that the plane has lived on to be a still-viable weapon in 2024 and beyond.  

hexclock

blastdoor said:

I was all set to buy a 13 inch iPad Air but then got hit with an unexpected and unavoidable expense , so will need to make my A10X based 13 inch iPad Pro stretch a little further. 

That’s a great thing about iPads — they really last. 

Yeah they do. My iPad Air gen 3 is still going strong and will still support  iPadOS 18. 

Flappo

Deservedly so , although it would be nice if ipados was more dedicated to the ipad rather than just an enlarged version of the iphone os 

tmay

radarthekat said:

tmay said:

I found it interesting that the iPad is being used in the F-15EX test program;

https://www.twz.com/sponsored-content/f-15ex-testers-are-now-preparing-the-eagle-ii-for-rapidly-adapting-to-new-missions

“What the F-15EX brings that other F-15s do not is what you hear being talked about as the digital backbone of the aircraft,” adds Maj. Eshkenazi. “It has ethernet wiring running throughout the airframe and it’s linked to the weapon stations. This opens up future potential in terms of integrating weapons. We might have a separate computer or a tablet that can be linked [to the jet] that allows us to connect to the weapons stations while keeping our safety of flight elements [in the mission software] isolated. So we could run apps but not have them running through our main computer, which isolates this from the safety of flight things like the flight controls, for example. This means I’m not concerned about an app coming from a vendor that might affect my ability to fly the airplane.”

“One of the big capabilities that the F-15EX brings to the fight is the ability to rapidly put new weapons on it, because of its external carriage capacity and its ability to carry a lot of weight,” Col. Daniel Lehoski, 53rd Wing commander, further explained. “We have the independent ability to upgrade the jet’s Operational Flight Program [OFP] as well as actually working around the OFP to add some capabilities. I’ll give you an example; we have a jet that we’re using to push situational awareness and command and control [C2] capabilities to the leading edge of the fight. We’re doing that literally with an iPad hooked up to the jet in order to get information into it. That sits outside the OFP. It’s a little clunky because you have an iPad in the cockpit, but that is enabling us to add capability in conjunction with our agile OFP upgrades. The iPad is getting power from the jet and then using Link 16 datalink to communicate with the aircraft.”

I was an F-15C avionics technician in my Air Force days (1981-1985).  It’s amazing that the plane has lived on to be a still-viable weapon in 2024 and beyond.  

F-15C "Not a pound for air to ground"...