14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s iPad lineup struggles to remain relevant in a market where Windows tablets are becoming more successful, with Microsoft spearheading the transition to 2-in-1 devices running its operating system.
Research firm IDC reveals that Apple’s shipments fell 18.8 percent year over year when looking at the fourth quarter of 2016, even though market share has actually improved. The new OEMs that launched products, as well as the growth of other companies, both had a substantial impact on Apple’s business, which has often been criticized for the lack of innovation and subtle upgrades.
Specifically, IDC indicates that Apple sold only 13.1 million iPads in the fourth quarter of last year, down from 16.1 million the same quarter of 2015, which is a drop of no less than 3 million units.
IDC says that both Microsoft and Apple struggled to maintain momentum in the fourth quarter, but what’s worth mentioning is that the Redmond-based software giant hasn’t actually unveiled a new product last year. This means that in Q4 2016, its latest Surface models were already one year old, so they continued to sell well despite the lack of a hardware refresh.
Windows tablet OEMs stealing Apple buyers
Apple, on the other hand, remains the leading firm in the tablet market, but it’s very clear that the fierce competition from other companies, including Microsoft, is dragging it down.
“Apple's venerable hold on the tablet market is yet to be challenged although the company is not immune to overall market challenges, declining 18.8% in 4Q16. The iPad Pro lineup made up only a small portion of overall shipments as the iPad Air 2 and Mini tablets continued to account for the majority of the shipments for Apple. For every 10 slate tablets shipped, Apple only sold 1 iPad Pro tablet,” IDC says.
Apple itself is preparing new iPad models for this year, but at the same time, so does Microsoft. The new Surface Pro 5 and the Surface Book 2 laptop is projected to see daylight sometime in the spring, possibly when the company introduces the Windows 10 Creators Update, so these refreshed devices could be used as pioneers of the new OS update.
