The iPad and iPad mini are still the world’s best selling tablets, but the tablet market is undergoing some big changes. From April to June of this year, Android tablets – which have played second fiddle to Apple slates since tablets become a household device – finally outsold the iPad.
Q2 tablet shipments brought in $12.7 billion – of that, according to market intelligence firm ABI Research, Apple took in a mere $6.3 billion which means that for the first time the computing giant split the market with its competitors.
And just like that makers of Android devices found themselves on equal footing with Apple. Though it’s not a hard win for any one tablet manufacturer considering that in this race the iPad was pitted against every other make and model of tablet on the market today, it does indicate that Android can finally be considered a true competitor of iOS in the tablet sphere.
A Transition a Long Time Coming
One factor in the shift is that the selling price of the iPad is finally approaching market average, so tablet makers that rely on volume sales have a chance to compete. At the same time the cost of Android tablets has risen in recent years. As prices on older generation iPads continue to drop some have predicted that sales of Android tablets, like those sold by Lenovo, will overtake Apple tablet sales completely.
However, the fact that Android devices have finally come into their own in the past few years also cannot be ignored when considering the Q2 upset. Non-Apple tablets have always been more affordable while offering many of the same benefits: portability, a wide selection of apps, and solid computing power. And Android tablets have customarily been the more flexible and customizable optionwhen compared to the iPad.
Timing Is Everything
Apple’s tendency to launch new product rollouts and updates could just make Android’s single-quarter slim-margin win a moot point. On October 22, Apple will unveil the next generation of iPads – which are expected to be slimmer, lighter, faster and better at taking photos than previous models, according to the Wall Street Journal blog All Things Digital.
It’s likely no accident that the launch event is scheduled for the pre-holiday shopping season. Nor is it any surprise that that date of the launch coincides with both Nokia’s Innovation Reinvented showcase and the consumer debut of Microsoft’s new Surface 2tablet in the United States.
Now that non-Apple tablet manufacturers are finally gaining a foothold in the market, increasing competition for consumer attention may be inevitable. Android device manufactures are likely counting on sales volume to stay ahead, while Apple is no doubt banking on both the loyalty of its fan base and their customers’ affinity for juicy upgrades.
The Fight Continues
What this latest development in the tablet world doesn’t mean is that Apple is losing its foothold in the immediate future. The iPad still outsells every other tablet on the market today when you look at yearly sales figures and the Internet traffic generated by iPad enthusiasts eclipses that of all the Android tablet users combined.
In the long term, however, Apple’s losing quarter might just mean that the iPad’s dominance in the tablet sphere could eventually crumble under the weight of a preponderance of Android and other tablets being released by abundant competition – similar to how Apple lost its top dog position in the handset field.
In other words, it could just be a matter of time before the much-lauded iPad becomes just another tablet.
About the author -
Jennifer Thayer is a technology writer who enjoys sharing news on gadgets, apps and the latest tech news. Follow her on Twitter to see what she discovers next.
