Tablet sales remain bitter, but Nougat tipped to sweeten the market

Tablet computer sales are sliding, sharply, again. Analyst firms IDC and Canalys both today released their assessments of recent sales and the numbers are ugly. IDC was able to count 38.7 million shipments for Q2, 2016. That's a year-over-year fall of 12.3 per cent. Canalys' numbers found 35 million shipments, down 16 per …

[Anonymous Coward]

Business oriented Android tablets

No. Surface sells because it can run standard Windows apps - people buy them to use as laptops, not tablets. iPad sells because Apple (with IBM's help) has been making inroads into the corporate world for mobile devices, and supporting development of bespoke apps fulfilling specific functions.

Allowing better multitasking is not going to change Android's position in that market, because they still can't run Windows apps, and still won't have the bespoke business apps designed for Android tablets.

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: Business oriented Android tablets

but

but

but

Aren't businesses supposed to be putting everything into the (sigh) Cloud?

Won't that negate the need for 'specialised apps' to run directly on the device?

Isn't eveything supposed to be used via your browser?

Or have the travelling snake-oil vendors been playing the shell game again?

[AMBxx]

Isn't eveything supposed to be used via your browser?

If that were the case, Apple wouldn't be making so much money from the app store.

[Charlie Clark]

Re: Business oriented Android tablets

What about Office for Android and IOS? Might not be acceptable to the quants but may well satisfy others.

Android already multitasks, what Android N brings is multiple windows. While Samsung has something like this already, it will probably improve once it's in the core OS. However, I expect tablets to remain primarily devices of media consumption.

Apple's tie up with IBM, and others, has yet to yield any real gains as evinced by falling sales of all but the top end I-Pads. But it still has sufficient market share to allow for niche products. Elsewhere Android is becoming the first platform to be developed for (corporates with IOS investments are also planning Android rollouts).

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Business oriented Android tablets

Sure, you have Office, but that's hardly the only thing you need. Besides, if you're wanting to work on a spreadsheet on a 7" or even 10" tablet, the last the thing you'll want is to have it crammed into a smaller window.

[Simon 26]

Apple knock-off

s/iPad Pro/Galaxy Note Pro/g

[Taegukgi]

Re: Apple knock-off

Interesting ... Wonder how you deduce that! Galaxy Note Pro 12.2" with sPen started selling in February 2014 while iPad Pro 12.9" with the pencil started selling in November 2015.

Looks like the tide is flowing the other way now!

[dajames]

I'm not surprised ...

... that tablet sales are down. Anyone who's looked at the range of Android tablets available today will have noticed that there are far fewer models available than there were a year ago, and fewer of them are anything but basic entry-level budget models.

The fact that very few new models have been released in the past year also means that most of the models available are running older versions of Android, and (as is typical with Android devices) haven't been patched in the meantime.

It's just as well that I have a working tablet at the moment, because very little that's out there appeals to me at all.

[Gordon861]

Re: I'm not surprised ...

They never did make a replacement for the Nexus 7 which for the cost was a great tablet at the time, only spoilt by the Android 5 update.

[Mikel]

Re: I'm not surprised ...

@Gordon861

The 2013 Nexus 7 is still a darned fine tablet. I see it for hours a day. In terms of hours per dollar this thing has been wonderful! Not currently looking for a replacement on this one.

It was the 2012 model that had no legs, and the Nexus 10.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I'm not surprised ...

One of Android's issues in the tablet market is that most Android apps aren't optimized to handle the larger screen. You get the same thing you get on a phone, only bigger. The tablet market shrinking and fewer Android tablets for sale isn't likely to induce Android devs to address this issue.

[Bucky 2]

No compelling general-purpose use

A tablet is neither an apt replacement for my phone (which is more portable), nor for a device with a keyboard, like my laptop (which is much easier to do actual work on).

I don't have kids, so a portable entertainment device with no swallowable parts isn't a requirement.

I toyed with the idea of getting a tablet that was waterproof, for the pool or beach, but I couldn't really justify the expense (and let's face it--it was largely a thought experiment about ways to avoid exercise anyway).

So it always comes down to: do I need a THIRD computing device, and why?

[Richard Cranium]

Misleading heading?

I found this misleading "Shipment slump means just the iPhone outsells tablets from all vendors". Shouldn't it read "iPad..."? My understanding was that iPhone is a phone not a tablet (the clue's in the name). And then goes on to say apple tablets have about a quarter of the market so "outsells all vendors" may be strictly true but most alternatives are Android based and surely the software platform matters more than the hardware.

[IsaacF]

Re: Misleading heading?

No, not misleading. They did mean iPhones outsell all tablets combined (including iPads)

[Alex G]

Just waiting for Samsung Galaxy tabs3