According to research data published on Monday, Oct. 31, even with the tablet market shrinking year over year and iPad shipments declining, in the September quarter Apple still managed to increase its share of the tablet industry.
Global Tablet Market
According to Business Wire, IDC reported that Apple's share on the global tablet market increased from 19.6 percent to 21.5. These figures are keeping the Cupertino-based high tech company ahead of Samsung. The South Korean company's tablet market share slipped from 16 percent to 15.1. Over the same period, Amazon came ahead of Huawei and Lenovo, with a market share growin from 1.5 percent to 7.3 percent.
CNET reports that, overall, the global tablet market shrank to 43 million units, or 14.7 percent. Of the five companies mentioned above, only Huawei and Amazon were able to increase shipments. Even if Apple's iPad sales slipped from approximately 9.9 million to 9.3, or around 6.2 percent, the company was able to increase its market share due to bigger drops in sales figures coming from rival companies.
Apple's iPad Sales
In terms of revenues, instead of declining, Apple's iPad revenues kept flat. According to Apple Insider, this was largely happening because of company's more expensive iPad Pro models. Mini and Air Apple iPad models, however, accounted for more than two-thirds of estimated shipments. This might be an indication that for customers the price was more important than specifications. For instance, Apple's more recent Mini 4 actually uses an A8 processor, while the iPad Air 2 features 2014's A8X processor. Apple's 2013's Mini 2 equipped with an A7 is still on the market.
Apple did not announce any new iPad models at last week's press event. Considering the 9.7-inch iPad Pro launch earlier this year, the high-tech giant could be waiting for the spring. But another possibility is that, since sales have been on the decline for many quarters, Apple has de-emphasized the iPad in general.
