The gigantic 12.9-inch iPad Pro could turn around the iPad sales decline, as the market transitions to detachable tablets, the latest International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker forecast reveals.
Nonetheless, IDC projects an 8.1% decline in worldwide tablet shipments, as it estimates to total number of units to reach 211.3 million in 2015. This new forecast follows three consecutive quarters of dropping worldwide tablet shipments this year.
“We’re witnessing a real market transition as end users shift their demand towards detachables and more broadly towards a productivity-based value proposition,” said Jean Philippe Bouchard , Research Director, Tablets . “The proliferation of detachable offerings from hardware vendors continues to help drive this switch. We’re starting to see the impact of competition within this space as the major platform vendors – Apple, Google and Microsoft – now have physical product offerings. With attractive price points, including the introduction of sub-$100 detachables, and platform innovation being driven by competition, IDC is confident that the detachables segment will nearly double in size in the next year, recording more than 75% growth compared to 2015.”
Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst at Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, points to the iPad Pro as a game changer, as it could be the only reason for Apple to gain market share in the coming year, as the company targets enterprise users and prosumer audiences.
As IDC foresees, the medium sized tablets — with displays between 9 and 13 inches — will surpass small sized — between 7 and 9 inch — tablets by 2019. By the end of the year medium-sized tablets will account for 41.9% of the worldwide tablet market, while small tablets are said to grab 57.7%. This will drop to 43% by 2019 for small tablets and will increase to 55.1% for medium sized tablets, according to IDC’s forecast.
