Apple's iPad marketshare growing in declining tablet market

AppleInsider · November 1, 2021 3:34PM

Tablet shipments declined in Q4 2021 for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, though Apple's iPad actually grew its share of the market in the quarter.

Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider

Global shipments of tablets clocked in at 42.3 million units in the third quarter, representing a 9.4% year-over-year decline, according to new data from analysis firm IDC. However, Apple's iPad is still growing in the contracting market.

Apple shipped an estimated 14.7 million iPad units in the third quarter, up from 14 million units in Q3 2020. The number marks 4.6% year-over-year growth in iPad shipments, and has netted Apple a larger 34.6% share of the tablet market.

The Cupertino tech giant is the biggest global tablet market by a large margin. Behind Apple's 34.6% market share is Samsung with 17.7%. Amazon comes in third with 11.1%. Samsung and Amazon tablet shipments declined 11.1% and 13.3% year-over-year.

Although Apple appears relatively unaffected by the decline in tablet sales, IDC notes that the easing of coronavirus restrictions across the globe has led to an increase in spending in other categories, which seems to have weakened tablet and Chromebook demand.

"Many schools and governments blew out their budgets to provide devices for remote learning and even consumers aggressively purchased devices for learning in 2020," said IDC analyst Anuroopa Nataraj. "As a result, some saturation in the education market is expected in the near term."

Back in September, Apple unveiled a new iPad mini 6, as well as an update on its entry-level iPad. Earlier in 2021, the company debuted new iPad Pro models equipped with the company's M1 chip.

Apple's iPad revenue reached $8.3 billion in the third quarter, which corresponds to the company's fourth quarter, marking 21% year-over-year revenue growth. However, Apple expects the iPad to see no shipment growth in the holiday quarter due to ongoing supply constraints.

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lkrupp · November 1, 2021 3:59PM

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

rob53 · November 1, 2021 4:07PM

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Saw an ad from Walmart for a $89 Chromebook. They can't even give them away. Of course, they still use them in middle school (at least) in my town but I'm assuming they don't last more than one school year.

maciekskontakt · November 1, 2021 4:25PM

rob53 said:

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Saw an ad from Walmart for a $89 Chromebook. They can't even give them away. Of course, they still use them in middle school (at least) in my town but I'm assuming they don't last more than one school year.

And how frequently one buys iPad? Every three years? We can calculate cost and it ain't gonna be good for Apple. For the record, I still have first gen iPad Retina and its screen looks far better than 2 years old iPad Pro. They should think how to avoid that yellow tint after that sort period of time. Compared side by side in the same mode. It is not just about AI and processor speed. Yes old is slow, but quality was there.

And as far as Chromebook, well one can by Samsung Galaxy S7 and pay $200 that is normal price instead. Sure resolution is not the same as iPad, but for size and functions there is not much need to go crazy resolutions.

maciekskontakt · November 1, 2021 4:28PM

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Chromebook maybe not, but Kindle does. Well audience is different: those who read books and learn and those who spent/waste time playing with apps.

LoneStar88 · November 1, 2021 5:11PM

rob53 said:

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Saw an ad from Walmart for a $89 Chromebook. They can't even give them away. Of course, they still use them in middle school (at least) in my town but I'm assuming they don't last more than one school year.

It's yet another MIS-education of the younger generation: always buy cheap and/or expect free shit. Never plan for the future—'cause we're all gonna die anyway!!

LoneStar88 · November 1, 2021 5:19PM

I bought an iPad Pro 12.9" with Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard just before the M1 iPads came out. Though Apple would have given me over $500 on a trade in, COVID happened and there were other exigencies. . . oh well. But it's great that Adobe came out with mobile Photoshop and Illustrator, which are developing nicely! I enjoy dust spotting and repairing images on the iPad with the Pencil.

techconc · November 1, 2021 5:59PM

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Chromebook found their niche with school districts. It makes sense. The needs of most students are pretty basic. Most schools have incompetent IT departments and Chromebooks are very easy to administer. Combine that with a low price to match school district's low budgets and you have a "winning" combination. I say that with quotes, because with Chromebook, there are now winners.

maciekskontakt said:

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Chromebook maybe not, but Kindle does. Well audience is different: those who read books and learn and those who spent/waste time playing with apps.

Kindles are in now way shape or form replacements for real tablets like iPads. If you want a dedicated reader. Fine. Kindle does the job fairly well. For general purpose tablet use?? No way.

lkrupp · November 1, 2021 8:20PM

maciekskontakt said:

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Chromebook maybe not, but Kindle does. Well audience is different: those who read books and learn and those who spent/waste time playing with apps.

Oh, right, only stupid people buy iPads. Intelligent people buy Kindles. How could I have forgotten that tidbit.

elijahg · November 2, 2021 1:11AM

techconc said:

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Chromebook found their niche with school districts. It makes sense. The needs of most students are pretty basic. Most schools have incompetent IT departments and Chromebooks are very easy to administer. Combine that with a low price to match school district's low budgets and you have a "winning" combination. I say that with quotes, because with Chromebook, there are now winners.

maciekskontakt said:

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Chromebook maybe not, but Kindle does. Well audience is different: those who read books and learn and those who spent/waste time playing with apps.

Kindles are in now way shape or form replacements for real tablets like iPads. If you want a dedicated reader. Fine. Kindle does the job fairly well. For general purpose tablet use?? No way.

What is "general purpose tablet use" if reading does not come under the "general purpose" moniker?

muthuk_vanalingam · November 2, 2021 7:57AM

elijahg said:

techconc said:

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Chromebook found their niche with school districts. It makes sense. The needs of most students are pretty basic. Most schools have incompetent IT departments and Chromebooks are very easy to administer. Combine that with a low price to match school district's low budgets and you have a "winning" combination. I say that with quotes, because with Chromebook, there are now winners.

maciekskontakt said:

lkrupp said:

I thought Chromebooks were going to kill off the iPad.

Chromebook maybe not, but Kindle does. Well audience is different: those who read books and learn and those who spent/waste time playing with apps.

Kindles are in now way shape or form replacements for real tablets like iPads. If you want a dedicated reader. Fine. Kindle does the job fairly well. For general purpose tablet use?? No way.

What is "general purpose tablet use" if reading does not come under the "general purpose" moniker?

??? Playing casual games, consuming media, using browser for reading articles (not e-books) etc. I thought @techconc was fairly straightforward with his post, i.e. e-book reading using a e-ink display is NOT a general purpose tablet use. Are we missing something?

Alex_V · November 2, 2021 5:30PM

maciekskontakt said:
And how frequently one buys iPad? Every three years? We can calculate cost and it ain't gonna be good for Apple. For the record, I still have first gen iPad Retina and its screen looks far better than 2 years old iPad Pro. They should think how to avoid that yellow tint after that sort period of time. Compared side by side in the same mode. It is not just about AI and processor speed. Yes old is slow, but quality was there.
And as far as Chromebook, well one can by Samsung Galaxy S7 and pay $200 that is normal price instead. Sure resolution is not the same as iPad, but for size and functions there is not much need to go crazy resolutions.

I just bought my third iPad since 2010. My mother’s has had two iPads over eight years, I just bought her third. That’s not bad going, I doubt many pc users are getting more than 4 to 5 years use out of a laptop, for instance. I have other computers, but in my mother’s case I did not hesitate to buy her the new iPad Air when her previous machine broke. Pretty good for Apple, in my view.

(Might your iPad Pro set to Night Mode? Might that be the problem?)

Apple's iPad marketshare growing in declining tablet market

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