IDC speculates an Apple 'iPad Pro' could help invigorate 2-in-1 tablet market

Posted:
in iPad edited August 2015
If Apple releases a "larger, screen-detachable" iPad in the near future it could help invigorate the once-quiet 2-in-1 tablet market, IDC suggested in a Wednesday research report.




The segment is forecast to grow 86.5 percent year-over-year in 2015 to 14.7 million units as it overcomes a number of problems that were previously holding it back, said a program director at IDC, Ryan Reith. He argued that many older models were expensive, unattractive, and/or saddled with Microsoft's unpopular Windows 8.

The number of vendors has grown from 14 to 40 in two years though, helping to push prices down. Along with a bigger iPad, the launch of Windows 10 and more Android-based 2-in-1s could also mark a turning point, Reith said.

Another potential aid may be businesses, which have typically veered away from tablets of any kind.

"It will take some time but we expect that once IT departments are done evaluating Windows 10 and the awaited iPad Pro, they will start migrating some their portable PC and tablet installed base towards 2-in-1's," said IDC's tablet research director, Jean Philippe Bouchard.

Apple is believed to be working on a 12.9-inch iPad commonly referred to as the iPad Pro, which should have features such as a pressure-sensitive stylus and unique iOS improvements. No evidence of a detachable keyboard has surfaced, although that could be a possibility if the device has a rumored second connection port, whether based on Lightning or USB-C.

The average selling price of standard "slate" tablets, like current iPads, is expected to fall under $300 this year thanks to a proliferation of 7- to 8-inch generic models targeting markets like Africa and the Middle East. Nevertheless, IDC is forecasting that the combined 10-inch-plus and 2-in-1 tablet markets should rise from an 18.6 share last year to 39.5 percent by 2019.

In the short term, the overall tablet market is predicted to drop 8 percent in 2015 to 212 million units. Apple's own iPad sales have declined consistently in the past several quarters, which has commonly been blamed on things like slower update cycles for tablets and the popularity of "phablets" like the iPhone 6 Plus, which can serve many tablet functions while offering the benefits of a phone.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 46
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    I think this new Adobe Photoshop app that is going to be iOS only at launch all but confirms an iPad "Pro". The new app will be available in October.

    http://www.cnet.com/news/with-project-rigel-adobe-hopes-to-bring-photoshop-to-the-mobile-masses/
  • Reply 2 of 46

    Sorry, what's "screen-detachable"? Serious question. Is this like the Surface tablet with their optional cover/keyboard?

  • Reply 3 of 46
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by ddawson100 View Post

    Sorry, what's "screen-detachable"? Serious question. Is this like the Surface tablet with their optional cover/keyboard?



    Yep, that’d be it.

  • Reply 4 of 46

    IDC. Ha ha ha.

     

    As one poster nailed it yesterday(?), and I am paraphrasing, irrelevant data company.

  • Reply 5 of 46
    lovemnlovemn Posts: 52member
    Sorry, but 2 in 1's haven't gone anywhere in the minds of consumers. Didn't MS take a nearly 1 billion dollar write off on one of their iterations of Surface?
  • Reply 6 of 46

    LOLZ. The reason this market is "quiet" is because no one wants one. If you want a laptop you get a laptop, if you want a tablet you get a tablet. IDC's guess is precisely as useful as all their former predictions.

  • Reply 7 of 46
    monstrositymonstrosity Posts: 2,234member
    I'm going to go out on a limb and predict the focus for the iPad pro will lean towards Pro Audio.
    I sent a suggestion to Apple 3 years ago about this (I'm not suggesting Apple acted on my suggestion, so don't jump on me).
    A better processor, extra audio out (for the headphones), a bigger screen, and the DJ market will be owned by Apple. I did the math a while back, the DJ market is not small, and it seemed feasible.
    Current iPad line up does not cut it for audio, they make excellent audio toys, but it's not something you could play a professional set on. Combine this with Apple's new Music app and it's a winning combination.
    Owning the new industry standard in live audio (the new Technics 1210's so to speak) will be a great boost to Apple's 'cool factor'. It's a win win IMO.
  • Reply 8 of 46
    talexytalexy Posts: 80member
    Quote: Apple's own iPad sales have declined consistently in the past several quarters, which has commonly been blamed on things like slower update cycles for tablets… Unquote

    I would be interested to see a comparison between upgrade cycles from iPad and Android tablet users.

    My belief is, that since iPad 2 the urge to buy a new Apple tablet every two years has shrunken, simply because 1. these devices aren't cheap and 2. they're just working OK even with the latest OS. I appreciate Apple choice to make longer lasting devices instead of crippled ones for the sake of sales. Whereas with Android tablets, even if they technically could, they can't run the latest Android OS and thus "feel" old earlier (after roundabout a year :))

    Still i'm going to upgrade from my iPad 3 to whatever will be the actual iPad in the fall, may it be still the Air 2 as reported or 'surprise' the Air 3. Splitscreen got me.
  • Reply 9 of 46
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by monstrosity View Post



    I'm going to go out on a limb and predict the focus for the iPad pro will lean towards Pro Audio.

    I sent a suggestion to Apple 3 years ago about this (I'm not suggesting Apple acted on my suggestion, so don't jump on me).

    A better processor, extra audio out (for the headphones), a bigger screen, and the DJ market will be owned by Apple. I did the math a while back, the DJ market is not small, and it seemed feasible.

    Current iPad line up does not cut it for audio, they make excellent audio toys, but it's not something you could play a professional set on. Combine this with Apple's new Music app and it's a winning combination.

    Owning the new industry standard in live audio (the new Technics 1210's so to speak) will be a great boost to Apple's 'cool factor'. It's a win win IMO.

    I see DJs with Macs all the time. Are they using a separate headphone amp?

  • Reply 10 of 46
    IDC. Ha ha ha.

    As one poster nailed it yesterday(?), and I am paraphrasing, irrelevant data company.

    Yup. IDC: still hoping to randomly be right sometimes.
  • Reply 11 of 46
    monstrositymonstrosity Posts: 2,234member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mike1 View Post

     

    I see DJs with Macs all the time. Are they using a separate headphone amp?




    Sure, they will use Mac's along with Traktor and a separate USB audio out, and a separate controller, all of which is a fairly wieldy, and often unreliable set up.

    There's also no touch screen on a Macbook.

    Apps such as https://www.algoriddim.com/djay-ipad are great, except that they are pretty useless in a pro environment. 

    The problem with the iPad is that it only has one audio output, there's no USB port to add an additional one, and Bluetooth has terrible latency to the point that it is useless. You need (bare minimum) two stereo outputs, one for the headphones, and stereo output for the speakers.

     

    An iPad Pro could address all of this nonsense and slip neatly into a record bag (not that you would need a record bag as all tunes would be digital!)

  • Reply 12 of 46
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post





    Yup. IDC: still hoping to randomly be right sometimes.

     

    Nailing jello to the wall still leaves a lot of nails in the wall.

  • Reply 13 of 46
    ddawson100 wrote: »
    Sorry, what's "screen-detachable"? Serious question. Is this like the Surface tablet with their optional cover/keyboard?

    The original IDC "report" uses two terms interchangeably: "2-in-1s" and "detachables."
    I think they mean any Windows Tablet PC with a removable (as opposed to a fold-away) keyboard. Surface is not the first Windows Tablet PC to have a detaching keyboard, but the Surface brand seems to be have become the generic name for them, for no reason other than people not knowing the history of Windows Tablet PCs.
  • Reply 14 of 46
    monstrositymonstrosity Posts: 2,234member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

    Remember all the people here who said they wanted to wait till Apple hits $90 to buy?

     

    To bad.  They missed out big time.  The stock is testing $110.




    I set my short to sell at $100, which it hit. And don't be surprised it it doesn't dip violently again. I doubt we have seen the end of this negative run just yet.

  • Reply 15 of 46
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Hot damn, IDC created yet another product category just to skew numbers for its clients.

    I wonder why they don't further redefine a category: 16:9 ratio media tablets with colorful cases.
  • Reply 16 of 46
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member

    People who don't get the use for a iPad Pro tend to be people who think 'productivity' = spreadsheets and databases.

    As a musician, I'm drooling to get my hands on a 12.9" iPad that supports split screen and perhaps even USB-C.

    Being able to do transcriptions by having Coda on one side and Symphony Pro on the other for notation would be perfect.

    A large (yet light) screen on my music stand for charts with a USB footswitch for advancing pages would be a god-send.

    A high quality pen input for making notations on my charts? Absolutely.

    How about a live performance rig with both my effects on one side and my looper on the other?

     

    And don't want to get to its uses as an artist's self contained palette.

     

    You see, productivity isn't just IT and office work.

  • Reply 17 of 46
    nousernouser Posts: 65member

    It amazes me that anyone would listen to or even re-publish articles by a company who has been so wrong, so often, especially as their track record regarding Apple is concerned.

     

    Some people are ingenious.  These people create things, invent things or discover things.  Other people, lacking that talent, often become business analysts.  Problem for them is they are only as good as their track record, hence their strong desire to avoid looking back.

  • Reply 18 of 46
    monstrositymonstrosity Posts: 2,234member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    The negative run is over.  The market makers know now that the entire market is dependent on Apple.  If Apple tanks the entire market tanks.  If Apple explodes to $140 it will carry the entire market with it up.

     

    Funny how the Nasdaq and S&P500 all peaked this year to all time highs when Apple peak in mid July.

     

    IMO we see one final run up in this market.  Apple will reach $140-$150 this year and then we will have a real bear market.




    Maybe, maybe not. All I will say is, don't be too confident. That sell off was WAY too protracted to warrant a comparatively short lived drop and subsequent rebound IMO. Time will tell. It's good to see a bit of volatility back in the market though, it's like the good old days again. The waters have been too calm since the dividend and buyback. I love these violent premarket conditions!

     

    I could not afford to buy any more stock anyway, if Apple hit $80 I was due to lose the lot. I'm as loaded up as I can justify right now, and the shorts are there for protection rather than profit.

  • Reply 19 of 46
    monstrositymonstrosity Posts: 2,234member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    Actually this sell off has been going on for a long time.  Most stocks in the S&P500 and Nasdaq have already been down 10-15% off their highs months ago.  It was just that the giants like Apple/Google/Amazon/Microsoft were still going strong and hiding the overall weakness.

     

    I think about 60-70% of the S&P500 was 10-15% below their 12-month highs in May/June.  So this correction has actually been going on for 3 months.




    By 'sell off' I don't mean the recent dip. I mean that steady 6 month period between feb and july 2015, where the big players were  quietly selling off at a high and into false positivity created by the media. Carl Icahn for instance suggesting dumbass short term numbers above $200 for instance.

     

    So all that sell off has to be bought back, and that doesn't happen over night. You likely talking another six month period, plus one last nasty spike downward to knock out stops before we surge back up again.

     

    I'll wait for the 'Apple is doomed' articles before deciding to risk any more on AAPL.

  • Reply 20 of 46
    IDC. Ha ha ha.

    As one poster nailed it yesterday(?), and I am paraphrasing, irrelevant data company.

    I feel "Imaginary Data Cruncher" is even more on target....
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