Global Tablet Shipments Will Slow Dramatically, iPad Sales Will be Affected

[RaduTyrsina]

The tablet market is on a decreasing trend and even Apple's iPad doesn't seem to have a different fate. According to a recent story on the ComputerWorld website, Apple's iPad is expected to be hit hard this year as global tablet shipments and sales growth will slow dramatically. The article say that markets where Apple has historically been strongest: North American and Europe, are the ones where the biggest decreases are expected.

According to researcher IDC, global tablet shipments will grow just 6.5% compared to 2013, a major revision of earlier forecasts that as recently as five months ago predicted tablets would post year-over-year gains in 2014 of 19.4%, or triple the new number.

And virtually all the growth that will occur this year will take place in emerging markets, which will see a 12% year-over-year increase in shipments. In North America and Western Europe -- still strongholds of Apple even as sales in China climb -- the tablet growth rate will be zero.

Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC's research director for tablets, said in a statement recently:

"Mature markets like North America and Western Europe will combine for flat unit growth in 2014"

Financial analyst Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald has forecast iPad sales of 12.8 million in the September quarter and 23 million in the December quarter. If these predictions turn out to be true or near actual numbers, they represent a decline of 9% in the September period, and a year-over-year drop of 12% in the December quarter.

Recently, Tim Cook shared his opinion on decreasing iPad sales, saying that it's just a speed bump. He also says that enterprise consumers are another field for growth. Here's what more he added during the most recent earnings call:

"We still feel that category as a whole is in its early days and that there is also significant innovation that can be brought to the iPad and we plan on doing that. "I think our theory that has been there, honestly since the first time that we shipped iPad, that the tablet market would eventually surpass the PC market, that theory is still intact."

More recent rumors suggest that a bigger iPad, bundled with a keyboard, could compete with traditional notebooks for productivity purposes and in order to be attractive to businesses. What do you think of this - does the iPad still have life despite decreasing sales?

Source: ComputerWorld

 

[fb si]

All we're seeing is a bit of market saturation, that is all. iPad is still the best selling tablet and will remain so.

 

[s2mikey]

All we're seeing is a bit of market saturation, that is all. iPad is still the best selling tablet and will remain so.

It's the best seller but it will still be affected by lower demand. I think people are keeping their tablets longer between upgrades and I also think that the larger phones are cutting into tablet sales. IMO, phone screens are simply too small to do anything useful one but I'm obviously in the minority on that one.

 

[Elux72]

I'm also in that minority, but there are times I 'force' myself to use my phone for tasks that really benefit from a larger screen, namely reading books/comics/manga, writing, and even drawing. This latter is possible with a lot of pinching/zooming.

 

[Ser Aphim]

It's the best seller but it will still be affected by lower demand. I think people are keeping their tablets longer between upgrades and I also think that the larger phones are cutting into tablet sales. IMO, phone screens are simply too small to do anything useful one but I'm obviously in the minority on that one.

I'm also in that minority, but there are times I 'force' myself to use my phone for tasks that really benefit from a larger screen, namely reading books/comics/manga, writing, and even drawing. This latter is possible with a lot of pinching/zooming.

Considering that the rumored iPhone 6 may have a larger screen, and with the production of other phablets I guess this could decrease the demand for tablets.