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iPad Remains World's Most Popular Tablet as Apple Outsold Samsung and Amazon Combined Last Year

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iPad remains the world's most popular tablet by a significant margin, having outsold competing devices from rivals Samsung and Amazon combined last year, according to data shared by research firm IDC today.

ipad 2017
Apple sold a total of 43.8 million iPad units in 2017, as confirmed by its quarterly earnings results, while IDC estimates that Samsung and Amazon shipped 24.9 million and 16.7 million tablets respectively on the year. The combined Samsung-Amazon total of 41.6 million tablets is 2.2 million lower than iPad sales.

Apple captured a 26.8 percent share of the tablet market in 2017, meaning that roughly one in every four tablets sold last year was an iPad. Apple's tablet market share rose 2.5 percentage points year-on-year.

idc 2017 tablet shipments
Last week, Apple reported revenue of $5.8 billion from iPad sales in the fourth quarter of 2017, representing growth of six percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple's average selling price of an iPad was $445, up slightly from $423 in year-ago quarter, suggesting more higher-priced iPad Pro sales.

Apple's growth in iPad sales, albeit relatively flat, contrasted with the overall tablet market's 6.5 percent decline in shipments in 2017 compared to 2016. iPad has been the world's most popular tablet since shortly after it launched.

Shifting focus to this year, Apple is rumored to launch at least one new iPad Pro model with slimmer bezels, no home button, and Face ID. We haven't heard much about the lower-cost 9.7-inch iPad and iPad mini, but each could certainly receive a routine speed bump this year among other upgrades as well.

Related Roundups: iPad, iPad Pro, iPad mini
Tag: IDC
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Don't Buy), iPad Pro (Neutral), iPad Mini (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: iPad

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Top Rated Comments

B
Baymowe335
109 months ago
That's because there was never any consistency in Android tablets. There were so many tablets with different Android versions, screen sizes, resolutions, performance levels. Who would be able to make a tablet app that could run on all the possible devices.
Kind of sounds like their phones.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
trekkie604 Avatar
trekkie604
109 months ago
As an Android phone user with an iPad Pro - you don't want an Android tablet.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pete2106 Avatar
pete2106
109 months ago
Sadly, there's pretty much zero tablet competition unless you count devices like the Surface Pro which is really a laptop in tablet form.

I wish that Google still made Nexus tablets. They were nice iPad alternatives. The 2nd generation Nexus 7 was my first tablet. It certainly had some advantages over an iPad, but the drawback was the lack of actual tablet apps. Everything was just a blown up phone app.
That's because there was never any consistency in Android tablets. There were so many tablets with different Android versions, screen sizes, resolutions, performance levels. Who would be able to make a tablet app that could run on all the possible devices.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joonyaboy Avatar
joonyaboy
109 months ago
I’ve never used a Samsung, but the Amazon tablet is so frustrating to use.

iPad keeps it simple.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The Game 161 Avatar
The Game 161
109 months ago
And will always be that way. Android make terrible tablets in comparison
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
macduke
109 months ago
People only look at it as a failure now because it's down quite a bit from it's peak and it looks low compared to iPhone. But when compared to any other company's product line, it's extremely successful. Most companies would kill to have a product like this.

There are three reasons why iPad doesn't sell as many units as iPhone:
[LIST=1]
* They last forever—people are less likely to break them because they don't carry them everywhere while walking around. They're also primarily used for consuming content when you just need a big screen, so most people don't need the latest, fastest version. An old iPad is useful longer than an old iPhone.

* It's much less of a fashion accessory compared to a phone. Nobody cares if you have the latest iPad, and even though I think it's dumb, there is status associated with having a nice phone because—again—you have it out all the time so people see it.
* Phablets became popular. Most people can get by with their huge phone nowadays. People who are thrifty would rather buy a phablet than a phone and a tablet separately—even though I personally think that having separate devices is ideal.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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