The functionality that tablets offer, at least at the moment, is not something that can keep them pushing forward in the new market.
Apple announced its earnings for the company's Q2, 2014, a few days ago. As usual, it beat the Wall Street expectations, sold stuff worth $45.6 billion and made $10.2 billion. Purely from the business point of view, this is one very impressive performance. There are only a handful of companies - and none of them are technology firms - that can pull in this kind of money in one quarter.
But amidst the chartbusting revenue-and-profit figures, there was one figure that stood out: The number of iPads sold in the quarter.
Compared to 19.5 million iPads sold during the same quarter last year, Apple sold 16.35 million iPads this year. This is a rather steep 16% fall for a product that is just four years old and is supposed to usher the world into the post-PC era.
What is going on? It is not as if people don't like Apple products anymore. They clearly do. Despite tough competition from Android phone companies, Apple sold 43.7 million iPhones. But iPad just wasn't flying off the self, at least in the last few months.
Here is what I think is going on.
While good at some of the things and pretty to look at, iPad (and other tablets) aren't particularly useful. The functionality that tablets offer, at least at the moment, is not something that can keep them pushing forward in the new market.
It is true that a lot of iPads have been sold in the last three years. But most of that has happened in the developed market, where people can afford to have multiple devices - smartphones, tablets and computers. These are also the markets where spending $500 on a product with incremental value with lot of novelty is not that a big deal. But now that people who wanted a tablet already have it, they don't see much value in upgrading to a newer iPad because in terms of functionality there is nothing much new to it. The tablet market has already matured or nearing maturation in developed countries.
To offset the slow growth in developed markets, Apple has to push iPad in the developing countries like India (and I think it is doing that). Unfortunately for Apple, markets like India are different. The novelty factor in a product doesn't work here very well. For the consumers here a product is not a high-priority unless it offers incredible value and functionality.
For iPad, with its current functionality, there is very little room between a smartphone and a personal computer. It neither offers the mobility and ease of a smartphone, nor the flexibility and power of a laptop.
I have three devices - a Nexus 5, an iPad Mini and a personal computer. iPad is the least used device in the list.
In fact, it is rarely used. Nexus 5 is always with me and I use that to make calls, communicate, browse web, connect with social media sites and take photos. It provides great functionality and even though the larger screen of an iPad is better for web browsing or reading, I find it more convenient to use Nexus while I am on the go. I even find typing easier on Nexus, because I can hold it securely in my hand while typing on it. If I am in office or at home, I use the computer because it is incredibly powerful and it is easier to work on a computer.
Do you see a pattern here? Outside, it is Nexus all the way. Inside office or at home, it is the personal computer. iPad doesn't have a use case for me. Around 90% of the time I use iPad, I play games on it or read a long article that I add to the Pocket app.
I can ditch iPad anytime and wouldn't miss it.
Of course, this is not true for everyone. There are people who use iPad in ways that are unique and find it a great tool. But the number of such people is not very high.
For most people, between the convenience of a large-screen smartphone and the power of personal computers (complete with a nice keyboard), there are not many use cases for an iPad, or for that matter any other tablet.
People in developing countries, who can fuel the growth of a gadget, can't afford to have a smartphone, a computer and an iPad and then upgrade them every year or two. People who already have a computer are upgrading to a smartphone, because that is much better value. And people who are picking a computing device for the first time are going for smartphones, especially those with a screen size of around 5-inches, as it is portable and yet large enough for offer multi-functional features.
What next for iPad
Apple also doesn't really help the case of iPad because of the barebones experience offered in iOS in the name of simplicity. For a product that is supposed to replace computers, iPad is woefully inflexible. A user can't drag and drop files between an iPad and a computer or can't attach an external storage drive. There is no proper file system in iPad. Attaching a few files into an email on iPad continues to be a bothersome exercise. Despite powerful hardware, it still faces problems in playing high-definition media files unless a user takes pains to re-encode the files on a computer.
Sharing content between apps on iPad continues to be incredibly. iPad doesn't talk to a gadget that doesn't have the Apple logo. If I buy music from iTunes using iPad, I can't transfer those songs directly to my Nexus phone. To transfer one song, I have to do iPad > PC > Nexus routine.
If Apple really believes iPad is the post-PC champion that will rid the world of messy and chaotic personal computers, it is time the device is given features and functionality that allows it do the work that people, mainstream consumers, do through computers.
The way I see it, Apple needs to turn iPad into a convertible device. It needs to come up with a sleek and easy-to-use keyboard accessory for iPad. More important, it needs to rework the OS that powers iPad - maybe a modified version of iOS - that allows the tablet to be used as a functional and powerful computer instead of being a pretty device with touchscreen novelty. Currently, iPad is like a console for people. For some it is a gaming console. For some, a browsing console. For some, social media console. It is time Apple turns it into a device with all the functionality of computers but with almost none of their flaws.
But amidst the chartbusting revenue-and-profit figures, there was one figure that stood out: The number of iPads sold in the quarter.
Compared to 19.5 million iPads sold during the same quarter last year, Apple sold 16.35 million iPads this year. This is a rather steep 16% fall for a product that is just four years old and is supposed to usher the world into the post-PC era.
What is going on? It is not as if people don't like Apple products anymore. They clearly do. Despite tough competition from Android phone companies, Apple sold 43.7 million iPhones. But iPad just wasn't flying off the self, at least in the last few months.
Here is what I think is going on.
While good at some of the things and pretty to look at, iPad (and other tablets) aren't particularly useful. The functionality that tablets offer, at least at the moment, is not something that can keep them pushing forward in the new market.
It is true that a lot of iPads have been sold in the last three years. But most of that has happened in the developed market, where people can afford to have multiple devices - smartphones, tablets and computers. These are also the markets where spending $500 on a product with incremental value with lot of novelty is not that a big deal. But now that people who wanted a tablet already have it, they don't see much value in upgrading to a newer iPad because in terms of functionality there is nothing much new to it. The tablet market has already matured or nearing maturation in developed countries.
To offset the slow growth in developed markets, Apple has to push iPad in the developing countries like India (and I think it is doing that). Unfortunately for Apple, markets like India are different. The novelty factor in a product doesn't work here very well. For the consumers here a product is not a high-priority unless it offers incredible value and functionality.
For iPad, with its current functionality, there is very little room between a smartphone and a personal computer. It neither offers the mobility and ease of a smartphone, nor the flexibility and power of a laptop.
I have three devices - a Nexus 5, an iPad Mini and a personal computer. iPad is the least used device in the list.
In fact, it is rarely used. Nexus 5 is always with me and I use that to make calls, communicate, browse web, connect with social media sites and take photos. It provides great functionality and even though the larger screen of an iPad is better for web browsing or reading, I find it more convenient to use Nexus while I am on the go. I even find typing easier on Nexus, because I can hold it securely in my hand while typing on it. If I am in office or at home, I use the computer because it is incredibly powerful and it is easier to work on a computer.
Do you see a pattern here? Outside, it is Nexus all the way. Inside office or at home, it is the personal computer. iPad doesn't have a use case for me. Around 90% of the time I use iPad, I play games on it or read a long article that I add to the Pocket app.
I can ditch iPad anytime and wouldn't miss it.
Of course, this is not true for everyone. There are people who use iPad in ways that are unique and find it a great tool. But the number of such people is not very high.
For most people, between the convenience of a large-screen smartphone and the power of personal computers (complete with a nice keyboard), there are not many use cases for an iPad, or for that matter any other tablet.
People in developing countries, who can fuel the growth of a gadget, can't afford to have a smartphone, a computer and an iPad and then upgrade them every year or two. People who already have a computer are upgrading to a smartphone, because that is much better value. And people who are picking a computing device for the first time are going for smartphones, especially those with a screen size of around 5-inches, as it is portable and yet large enough for offer multi-functional features.
What next for iPad
Apple also doesn't really help the case of iPad because of the barebones experience offered in iOS in the name of simplicity. For a product that is supposed to replace computers, iPad is woefully inflexible. A user can't drag and drop files between an iPad and a computer or can't attach an external storage drive. There is no proper file system in iPad. Attaching a few files into an email on iPad continues to be a bothersome exercise. Despite powerful hardware, it still faces problems in playing high-definition media files unless a user takes pains to re-encode the files on a computer.
Sharing content between apps on iPad continues to be incredibly. iPad doesn't talk to a gadget that doesn't have the Apple logo. If I buy music from iTunes using iPad, I can't transfer those songs directly to my Nexus phone. To transfer one song, I have to do iPad > PC > Nexus routine.
If Apple really believes iPad is the post-PC champion that will rid the world of messy and chaotic personal computers, it is time the device is given features and functionality that allows it do the work that people, mainstream consumers, do through computers.
The way I see it, Apple needs to turn iPad into a convertible device. It needs to come up with a sleek and easy-to-use keyboard accessory for iPad. More important, it needs to rework the OS that powers iPad - maybe a modified version of iOS - that allows the tablet to be used as a functional and powerful computer instead of being a pretty device with touchscreen novelty. Currently, iPad is like a console for people. For some it is a gaming console. For some, a browsing console. For some, social media console. It is time Apple turns it into a device with all the functionality of computers but with almost none of their flaws.
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