The market hasn’t been kind to tablets and they’ve been far crueler to Apple’s iPad lineup. However, despite the setback in sales, the California-based giant still manages to hold the top position.
Apple iPad Sales Took a Plunge of 14 Percent According to Statistical Data Gathered
According to the latest data gathered by TrendForce, Apple sold a total of 42 million devices, and easily swept past its biggest rival in the smartphone and tablet industry, Samsung. However, another player has managed to steer some consumers away from the tech giant and it is none other than Amazon. The E-commerce giant managed to sell over 11 million Fire tablets in 2016, but it still remained behind Samsung, with the Korean firm selling 27 million slates in the previous year.
These last few years have been very tough for the tablet industry, with reports of slowing sales coming out quarter after quarter. However, 2017 could be the year where things finally start to get better. According to TrendForce analyst (via CNET) Anita Wang, she states that part of Apple’s tablet market dominance was due to the fact that shipments increased during the holiday period.
The analyst also states that Apple is going to be announcing three new iPad models in 2017. One is going to be a 9.7-inch model, followed by a massive 12.9-inch slate and then a 10.5-inch slate. The 9.7-inch variant is going to be the cheapest out of the three, which should encourage consumers on a ‘base iPad purchasing budget’ to experience the fluid OS that Apple’s iOS ecosystem has to offer coupled with yearly major software updates.
Lenovo also managed to see strong demand for its products in 2016 as it managed to sell 10.9 million tablets, translating a shipment growth of 12.3 percent. Microsoft, on the other hand, has definitely seen better days as the company’s Surface Pro sales dropped 1.4 percent to equal a shipment tally of 3.89 million. Apple will definitely be looking to turn its luck around when it announces three new slates this year. Will you be looking forward to them? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
