Apple released its fiscal third quarter earnings results earlier this week, confirming that it sold 9.95 million iPads from early March through late June. iPad shipments have now declined for ten consecutive quarters, but the lineup continues to outsell all Samsung, Amazon, and Microsoft tablets combined.
Taiwanese market research firm TrendForce has released new quarterly data that shows Samsung, Amazon, and Microsoft shipped an estimated 6 million, 2.2 million, and 700,000 units respectively for a combined total of 9.5 million, amounting to roughly 450,000 fewer tablets than the number of iPads sold.
Despite the shipment decline, reflective of a continued slowdown in the broader tablet market, Apple's tablet revenue increased for the first time in ten quarters due to the iPad Pro's higher average selling price. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro starts at $599, whereas the iPad Air 2 started at $499, while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is priced from $799.
In terms of shipments, however, TrendForce says the iPad Air 2 was the key driver:
“The lack of changes in appearance and high prices work against the iPad Pro series. Consumers do not see these devices as a good bargain. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro maintained strong sales momentum for two quarters, while the 9.7-inch model lost its luster after just one quarter since its release. On the whole, the Pro series did not help expand iPad shipments in the second quarter as expected. The overall sales were instead sustained by iPad Air 2, which captured consumers’ interest with its reduced price tag.”
Worldwide tablet shipments in the June quarter totaled an estimated 33.54 million units, representing a quarterly drop of 4.8 percent and a year-on-year decline of 8.8 percent. Lenovo, Huawei, and ASUS were also among the top six vendors, with estimated shipments of 2.4 million, 2.2 million, and 800,000 tablets respectively.
With no new iPads models anticipated in the immediate future, TrendForce estimates Apple's tablet sales will drop to 9.2 million sequentially.
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