Apple tablet sales may have been lower this past quarter than analysts expected, but usage of the tablet remains strong. According to a recent Chitika Insights report, the iPad accounted for more than three quarters of all U.S. and Canadian tablet-based Web traffic in April. Chitika derived this traffic data by sampling tens of millions U.S. and Canadian tablet online impressions across its ad network during the first week of April 2014.
The iPad is the dominant tablet in North America with a mobile web traffic share of 77 percent as compared to 8.3 percent from number two Samsung. Amazon's Kindle Fire devices generated 6.3 percent of web traffic, while Google's Nexus tablets accounedt for 2.2 percent. The remaining tablets from Microsoft, Asus, Acer and others contributed 4.5 percent combined.
Though the iPad is the market leader with significantly more web traffic than all the other manufacturers combined, the tablet's traffic share fell slightly year over year from the 81.3 percent measured in April 2013. Samsung showed the biggest yearly gains, growing from 4.7 percent in April 2013 to 8.3 percent in April 2014. Amazon, similar to Apple, also lost 1.3 percentage points year over year.
The proverbial elephant in the room is iPad usage share, which still stands at over 77% of all U.S. and Canadian tablet-based Web traffic (Section 4). This is down a few percentage points year-over-year, but the current share is very notable in the context of the North American tablet market, which analyst estimates pointed to growing significantly throughout 2013 from a penetration standpoint. While it is uncertain if Apple can reverse the tide and grow its domestic tablet usage share in the coming months, it is clear that iPad users remain the most active aggregate tablet user base by a wide margin, with that likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future.
During Apple's Q2 2014 earnings conference call earlier this week, CEO Tim Cook commented on the slight drop in iPad sales this past quarter, citing high channel inventory levels that artificially inflated the company's March 2013 sales. Channel inventory in 2014 was significantly reduced, with a balance between iPad supply and demand achieved early in the launch cycle of the iPad Air and Retina iPad mini.
Apple is expected to introduce updated versions of the iPad Air and Retina iPad mini later this year. The company also may be developing a 12.9-inch iPad Pro that could possibly debut sometime next year.
Top Rated Comments
They're only reporting their ADVERTISEMENT impressions. In other words, who sees their hosted ads, on the 250,000 mostly North American web sites and blogs that they serve (less than 0.05% of the sites worldwide).
It's no surprise that in Chitika's home area of North America, the iPad sees more of their ads. Surveys show that US families with Android based eBook readers often also have an iPad. And the cheaper Android tablets are often given to children, who use them for games, or video viewing, not web surfing.
Of course, if a browser tends to reload pages as the user navigates back and forth in a website, then that will multiple the ad impressions quite a bit. Something else to think about.
--
Interestingly, when they leave out tablets, their reports say that PHONE web usage is the same between iOS and Android:
E.g. "While third-party and our own observations have pegged smartphone Web traffic share as a near-tie, Apple has a decided advantage in the tablet market, ..." - Chitika, 2012
This critical little fact has been left out of almost every fansite article that quoted that first report.
.
Exactly. Either all those "shipped" android tablets aren't actually selling or people are getting them and just throwing them in a drawer. Or maybe the droid users are so cheap they don't want to pay for internet. ;)
I bet when iOS 8 is announced, if it has some crazy new cool features but wont support the iPad 2, people will riot in the tech-forum streets... Apple "forcing you" to buy a new iPad, the usual stuff.
There is very little the "old" "new iPad" can do that the iPad air and the "newer" iPads can do.
They must differentiate.
I don't see it yet.
Please can someone blow down androids house of straw and reveal the manipulations?
There is no way people are buying millions of android tablets and not even using them to check email and browse web pages.
All these supposed millions of sales and what? The droidtab is sitting collecting dust at home ?
No way. That droidtab is still in the box in channel inventory while that iPad is being used constantly by a consumer.
Come on on Apple. There is only one way to deal with lying bullies. Punch them back.