Worldwide Tablet Shipments Experience First Year-Over-Year Decline

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But...but...but....tablets are supposed to be killing the PC by now. What happened to those repeated predictions Mr. Analyst?

Worldwide tablet shipments recorded a year-over-year decline for the first time since the market's inception in 2010. Overall shipments for tablets and 2-in-1 devices reached 76.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 (4Q14) for -3.2% growth, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. Although the fourth quarter witnessed a decline in the global market, shipments for the full year 2014 increased 4.4%, totaling 229.6 million units.
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Just like PC's no longer require frequent replacement (especially desktops which can be upgraded indefinitely in chunks), tablets aren't going anywhere they have just reached market saturation.

The whole point of the tablet was that you can do light surfing, email, etc from the couch. An iPad 3 or Nexus 7 still does that, so why upgrade?
 
Oh no! Tablets are dyeinging!!!!!

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The only reason to upgrade a tablet is if you have one of the "hybrid" ones that allows you to run higher end productivity software. Office suites run the same on 3-year old hardware as they do on newer ones. If you don't mind waiting an extra second or two for things to open, there's virtually no difference or reason to upgrade.
Plus, more and more we're seeing tablets hitting the wall with necessity. Phones are getting bigger and portables/laptops are getting smaller.
I'm sure they'll rebound once someone creates something we all "need" that requires additional horsepower, but this will probably continue until that happens.
 
No fashion factor with tablets unlike phones, so its an easily saturated market.
 
Ducman69 said:
Just like PC's no longer require frequent replacement (especially desktops which can be upgraded indefinitely in chunks), tablets aren't going anywhere they have just reached market saturation.

The whole point of the tablet was that you can do light surfing, email, etc from the couch. An iPad 3 or Nexus 7 still does that, so why upgrade?
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Agreed that much of this is simply saturation as the market matured very quickly. And of course the rise of larger phones is another part.

The tablet market did however grow for the full year and is still expected to grow this year, still better than the desktops and laptops so tablets aren't going anywhere. I think though where the market has the roof is in the consumption area. I suspect Windows tablets and hybrids probably saw some growth for the full year in each quarter as x86 devices become cheaper and more interesting throughout 2014 with the Surface Pro line experiencing something a rebirth with the Surface Pro 3.

I think that's where the tablet market is headed next, bigger devices that aren't phone substitutes that are more geared towards productivity. Apple looks to be gearing up for its big iPad, there's probably going to be some more Android devices like the Galaxy Note 12 and of course there's going to be a Surface Pro 4 and other Windows hybrids coming out with Cherry Trail, new Broadwell chips and Windows 10.

It's possible that the overall tablet market will shrink but I think you'll see more big devices with bigger price tags as there's really no way to further with the race to the bottom and expand tablet shipments.
 
heatlesssun said:
I think that's where the tablet market is headed next, bigger devices that aren't phone substitutes that are more geared towards productivity. Apple looks to be gearing up for its big iPad, there's probably going to be some more Android devices like the Galaxy Note 12 and of course there's going to be a Surface Pro 4 and other Windows hybrids coming out with Cherry Trail, new Broadwell chips and Windows 10.
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Tablets need a massive overhaul. A screen size boost isn't going to do a thing.

What I think tablets need.

#1 A real OS. About the only thing the surface pro did right as it runs a full copy of windows. Android needs to become a full linux distro instread of a crummy phone OS. So damn limited to what you can do on iOS and Android.

#2 SD Card slot should be standard and should also include much larger storage. Minimal size of a tablets internal storage should be 128GB.

#3 Need real physical usb ports. Besides the charger port.

#4 Tactile feedback. Give me some buttons already. Seems like every new device finds a way to remove more and more buttons. At some point I'll have to shack my phone to turn it on. Look at LG Phone. Oh wait, they already have that. The surface pro has enough sense to include a keyboard. Something like a slide out keyboard isn't a bad idea.
 
mi7chy said:
It's the post-iPad era. This is why...

$699 for iPad Air 2 toy with 2GB DRAM and 128GB storage

or

$419 for full Windows 8.1 tablet with 4GB DRAM, 128GB storage and Wacom pen
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/thinkpad/thinkpad-10/?menu-id=thinkpad_10
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While the form factor may be similar which is probably confusing you, they are very different devices meant for different usage.

But don't let me get in the way......

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PS, you can buy a 10" Win 8.1 tablet for half the price of that Lenovo that will still satisfy most peoples needs. So price is not always the determining factor, even in 'Murica
 
Ashbringer said:
Tablets need a massive overhaul. A screen size boost isn't going to do a thing.

What I think tablets need.

#1 A real OS. About the only thing the surface pro did right as it runs a full copy of windows. Android needs to become a full linux distro instread of a crummy phone OS. So damn limited to what you can do on iOS and Android.
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Linux? Why? I use Linux every day and I would trade it for anything for what I use it for. But Linux is the biggest clusterfuck of an OS that exists. There are dozens of different flavors, but yet the differences are extremely convoluted. Linux can do everything and yet it can do nothing.

That's not what the consumer wants. That's not what Grandma wants and that's damn sure not what I want to have to teach my young children just so they can entertain themselves.

Linux is free and works on anything. There is a reason why it does not have mainstream market penetration.

iOS and Android were built for a purpose and for that purpose they do very well.
 
Meant to say

and I would *NOT* trade it for anything for what I use it for.

I love Linux in the business environment :D
 
Ashbringer said:
#1 A real OS. About the only thing the surface pro did right as it runs a full copy of windows. Android needs to become a full linux distro instread of a crummy phone OS. So damn limited to what you can do on iOS and Android.
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Which can be a touch nut to crack. Microsoft is much closer than anyone with this but of course how they did it has caused lots a disdain from desktop folks. Of course I guess the option to just turn off all of the tablet stuff would solve the issue for desktop users but then makes the tablet scenario more complicated.

Ashbringer said:
#2 SD Card slot should be standard and should also include much larger storage. Minimal size of a tablets internal storage should be 128GB.
hat you can do on iOS and Android.
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The vast majority of Windows tablets have at least micro SD slots. I think setting minimum storage requirements at 128 GB is unnecessary at it would only raise costs for everyone when that kind of storage is actually kind of lot, even for Windows and especially with SD expansion. Of course I'm not saying more internal storage isn't a good thing, but a Windows 8 tablet with 64GB of internal storage can get by pretty nicely. That's enough for Office, various other desktop apps and modern apps and local files can be storage on SD.

Ashbringer said:
#3 Need real physical usb ports. Besides the charger port.
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Can come in handy. Use of OTG cables does the trick for most things though that's another thing to have to carry.

Ashbringer said:
The surface pro has enough sense to include a keyboard. Something like a slide out keyboard isn't a bad idea.
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In all fairness the Surface Pro line doesn't include the keyboard per se. There are bundles from some places, I think Costco does that. But more important that just having a keyboard is how well does it actually integrate with the device. That's where the Surface Pro line was very clever. While the kickstand/Type Cover solution isn't the best at laptop conversion, it's perfect for just about everything else, including using the tablet without the keyboard.
 
westrock2000 said:
PS, you can buy a 10" Win 8.1 tablet for half the price of that Lenovo that will still satisfy most peoples needs. So price is not always the determining factor, even in 'Murica
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I do think pricing is becoming an issue for the iPad. It's certainly much harder to justify the price tag now than a few years ago. The iPad is still a great consumption tablet but the high price point buts it in the price range of devices that a few years ago didn't exist at the prices they do now and can be used in ways that iPads can't.
 
westrock2000 said:
Linux? Why? I use Linux every day and I would trade it for anything for what I use it for. But Linux is the biggest clusterfuck of an OS that exists. There are dozens of different flavors, but yet the differences are extremely convoluted. Linux can do everything and yet it can do nothing.

That's not what the consumer wants. That's not what Grandma wants and that's damn sure not what I want to have to teach my young children just so they can entertain themselves.

Linux is free and works on anything. There is a reason why it does not have mainstream market penetration.

iOS and Android were built for a purpose and for that purpose they do very well.
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I'm not saying Google should take Ubuntu and slap Android compatibility on it. Android needs to have a dynamic software update environment instead of relying on phone manufacturers to update their devices. Cyanogemod does a better job of this.

Also it needs to be more open. Nobody wants to use a device that tells you what you can or can't do to it. Also Android is linux but under Google's control.
 
I'd be okay with fewer touchscreen devices around. Maybe it'll discourage people from sticking touchscreen and tablet-like functionality on everything that doesn't need it and was easier to use without it. Besides that, I don't like people who like touchscreens so I'd be really, really happy to see those people not getting the products they want and being all gloomy at having to turn random dials or pull on levers instead of smearing their pizza-greasy fingers onto a screen.
 
I like tablets and find mine useful, but anyone who didn't see saturation coming had his or her head buried in the sand.
 
Tablets are already reaching a computing requirement peak. An iPad 3 or 4 from a couple of years ago at this point is still more than enough for the average users needs (reading, browsing and media content consumption). Tablets simply aren't a every year or even 2 year purchase, the leaps in performance and feature sets simply aren't apparent enough for most users. They will probably settle into a 4-5 year refresh cycle much like laptops.
 
I think as others have noted the tablets filled a niche at their launch this is now being encroached upon and they also don't support the aggressive upgrade path that phones do ... that said, notebook computers continue to do well and remain the dominant PC platform ... if the manufacturers could find more creative ways to make Surface style notebooklets then they could likely displace a larger portion of the notebook market and find their place in the PC pantheon of products ;)
 
kbrickley said:
if the manufacturers could find more creative ways to make Surface style notebooklets then they could likely displace a larger portion of the notebook market and find their place in the PC pantheon of products ;)
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This is occurring but the process is slow. Making a good hybrid isn't easy nor cheap. You see people say things like if an i5/8GB/256GB Surface Pro 3 cost $800 they'd buy one. I seriously doubt that a Surface Pro 3 with those specs at that price would be remotely profitable.
 
If the tablet doesn't fit into your pocket, it's a useless touchscreen device.
 
ICOM said:
If the tablet doesn't fit into your pocket, it's a useless touchscreen device.
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I use my Surface Pro 3 via touch without the keyboard all of the time to read, surf the web and watch video. I'd rather use it than a laptop or small tablet because the large screen and unneeded keyboard in those circumstances.
 
westrock2000 said:
While the form factor may be similar which is probably confusing you, they are very different devices meant for different usage.
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What kind of non-sense is this? Devices like the Thinkpad 10 is a superset of the other mentioned devices and even does consumption better such as streaming 1080p popcorn time wirelessly to Chromecast which the others can't do, full browser with Adblock Plus that can access any site such as twitch.tv without needing an app, etc. When I use my iPad I wish it could do more like the Galaxy Note with pen and with the Note I wish it could run Windows software. Now the Thinkpad tablet replaces the others.
 
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