Are Tablets Losing Popularity?

According to statistics released by the global data company (IDC), global tablet shipments in the first quarter of 2018 have significantly decreased compared to the previous year. This decrease is reported to be 12 percent, with tablet sales dropping from 35.8 million units last year to 31.8 million units this year. However, sales of Apple's tablets (iPad Pro) have seen an increase of nearly three percent. Apple has claimed the title of the largest and leading tablet vendor, followed by Samsung and Huawei in second and third place, respectively. Apple has managed to sell about 9 million tablets, of which approximately 1.8 million are iPad Pros. Apple unveiled its new iPad last month at the end of the first quarter of 2018. The sixth version of the iPad has two major changes: the use of the A10 Fusion processor chip and support for a stylus, the latter being a first for this category of iPads. Apple has launched this new iPad to compete with Google's Chromebooks in educational environments, making the product less vulnerable to drops and impacts. It seems the company aims to increase its tablet sales by leveraging the educational product market. Apple has also increased the free iCloud storage for students from five gigabytes to 200 gigabytes, making its service a suitable option for backing up iPad data and using Apple's photo service. In contrast, Samsung is not faring well in this market segment, with tablet shipments declining by 11 percent compared to last year. Some tablet users have shifted from Samsung tablets to Chinese tablets. Meanwhile, Chinese companies attempting to replicate Microsoft's methods in creating multi-functional tablets have somewhat improved their standings. Huawei's tablet shipments have increased by 13 percent compared to last year, with sales primarily in the Asia-Pacific region and recently growing in Europe. Lenovo and Amazon occupy the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. In recent years, as mobile phone screens have grown larger, many prefer to use their phones instead of tablets. Various companies are also trying to boost tablet sales by turning their devices into multi-functional gadgets.