Although people are still buying millions of iPads, the numbers are down compared to where they were during the pandemic.
Still, Apple is doing a much better job of selling tablets than any of its rivals. During the second quarter of this year, it shipped about twice as many as any other company, according to a pair of market research firms.
iPad shipments aren’t quite what they used to be
The pandemic brought a huge surge in demand for tablets of all types. As one example, the third quarter of 2020 — near the peak of the Stay At Home movement — saw a 47% year-over-year increase in iPad shipments, according to Canalys.
But we’re now in the post-pandemic period, and people are back in the office and classroom. The need for tablets to take classes or work from home has declined.
That’s reflected in iPad shipments. In the April-through-June quarter, market research firm IDC says the iPad shipment total was 10.5 million, a 16.8% annual decrease.
But not everyone agrees the situation is so bad. iPad shipments totaled 12.4, according to the latest data from Canalys. That’s actually a modest 2% year-over-year increase.
“Although demand for tablets has dropped from the highs of the pandemic, it remains relatively resilient,” said Himani Mukka, Research Manager at Canalys. “With the PC and smartphone markets also under threat, vendors selling tablets have an additional tool to help target pockets of opportunity in consumer, commercial and education sectors.”
Shipments vs. revenue
Apple does not reveal how many iPads it ships. It’s up to companies like Canalys and IDC to estimate the figure. And it’s not easy because there’s a wide range of models and price ranges in Apple’s tablet line.
Apple does say how much revenue came in from iPad sales, and in Q2 it was down 20% year-over-year. But that doesn’t mean the number of tablets shipped went down 20%. The mix of models that are selling now versus a year ago has a big effect.
iPad Air 5 launched in spring of 2022, bringing a surge of sales for the $599 model in Q2.
Apple explained when it announced the latest quarterly revenue number that Q2 2023 declined because there was no new iPadOS tablet early this year to push up sales
And that also means a higher percentage of customers are choosing the basic $329 iPad, reducing revenue but not shipments.
iPad still vastly outsells Android tablets
Although iPad may not have had a strong quarter, it did far better than Android tablets. But that’s not surprising, given that Apple has dominated this product category for many years. Both IDC and Canalys agree it controls roughly 40% of the global market.
Samsung is perennially in second place. In Q2 2023, it shipped 5.8 million tablets, an 18% year-over-year decline, according to IDC.
Lenovo shipped 2.2 million units, 38.8%, while Huawei shipped 1.7 million tablets in the June quarter, a 22.9% decline.
