back to article Blighty tablet sales plunge 31 per cent in saturated market

The free fall descent of the tablet distribution market accelerated for the second quarter of 2015, with channel fondleslab sales plunging by 22 per cent to 2.3 million across Western Europe. Sales in the UK nosedived by 31 per cent to 410,100 units, according to the quarterly research on distribution sales compiled by analyst …

  1. Efros

    Suggests

    That tablets are still very much a luxury item, economy in the shitter so follows tablet sales.

    1. El_Fev

      Re: Suggests

      Rubbish , they are as cheap as chip and unless you step on the bugger will run forever. Everyone who wanted one, has probably got one by now. The upgrade cycle is wayyyy longer and quite frankly for surfing the net and watching some streams , they are more than good enough.

      1. AMBxx Silver badge
        Paris Hilton

        Re: Suggests

        Also suggests that Apple are struggling to come up with any compelling reason for their fans to upgrade.

        Slightly better screen?

        Slightly thinner?

        Slightly lighter?

        I'll keep my cash.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Suggests

        "[...] unless you step on the bugger will run forever. "

        I was under the impression that tablet batteries are effectively non-replaceable?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Suggests

          Not user replaceable at least. My girlfriend has a four year old iPad that is still going strong. It had such ridiculously long battery life when new that it is still going strong even though the battery has surely lost some pep in middle age (haven't we all) Someday it will reach a state battery life is a problem for her, and at that point it might be worth getting a new one. Probably about the same 6-7 year replacement cycle as a typical consumer laptop, in other words.

        2. John Bailey

          Re: Suggests

          "I was under the impression that tablet batteries are effectively non-replaceable?"

          USB cable + Power bank = problem solved.

          They do last for quite a while though, so the question is.. do the batteries fail before the utility of the device they power.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Suggests

            I think there's an element of fad to tablets, so a lot of people aren't in a hurry to upgrade/replace them as they're not really using them anymore.

            Combined with the comments above about them being powerful enough I don't expect to see a sales recovery in the near future.

  2. Andy Non Silver badge

    When you've got one, you've got one.

    Mine was cheap enough, £60 for 9" screen, 32 GB card. Had it a couple of years now and it still does what I want (Kindle app, listen to MP3s, play a few games etc) so why buy another?

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: When you've got one, you've got one.

      Eggs-actly! Ours gets used almost exclusively as a remote for Kodi/XBMC and for my wife to play a few games on. There are all sorts of apps installed which seemed like a good idea at the time, but most rarely get used.

  3. John Bailey

    Ooooh..

    Can we call this the post fondleslab era then?

    Or..

    Slabageddon?

    Ok fanboys.. Tell me why this is just a temporary hiccup.. Extra points for funny autocorrect induced earwax.

    Sent from my home built Linux running desktop.

    1. keithpeter Silver badge
      Windows

      Re: Ooooh..

      "Sent from my home built Linux running desktop."

      I see what there did you.

      Our core-duo laptops cope with everything we need to do. Absolutely no pressing need to upgrade or acquire new kit.

      Might get a tablet to try out ebook learning materials and to see if I can write some stuff for the platform. Just PDFs with hyperlinks. Flashcards for the modern era.

      1. Jean Le PHARMACIEN
        Holmes

        Re: Ooooh..

        Bought my wife a Nexus 10 nearly 2 years ago. As she's not managed to break/step on it it or 'break' the software - it's still working absolutely fine with no hold ups or shortage of storage. No need to replace = no more sales. As others have said already; that the most likely explanation for plunging sales.

        Re Core 2 duo desktops - mine are ye original HPs still doing excellant service as desktops and 'versatile' media boxes - 5 years old at least (and all on Linux if anyone's interested - which I suspect not). No need to replace them until they break irrepairably. H**k, I've even got an HP Pentium 4 dual core doing MythTV server duties without sweating, so that's not being replaced yet.

        1. Nigel 11

          Re: Ooooh..

          Re Core 2 duo desktops

          My last desktop "upgrade" was to complete silence, and in CPU terms was a downgrade possibly even from Core 2 Duo. SSD + fanless Celeron J1900 Mobo in mini-ITX case may well be the last desktop PC I ever need to buy, apart from replacements after hardware failure. The are good reasons for full-spec Core-i5/i7 systems, but none that make me want one at home.

          I have a tablet as well, it does all I want it to (not very much!) And a £50 Kindle with paper display, which I find the most "magical" of my devices, and a perfect replacement for a daily paper made of mashed tree.

    2. Phuq Witt
      Trollface

      Re: Ooooh..

      "...Sent from my home built Linux running desktop..."

      Must be great for reading in bed.

      1. John Bailey

        Re: Ooooh..

        "Must be great for reading in bed."

        Not really.. Which is why I also have an e-book reader.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Ooooh..

          I use this new thing I discovered called a "book". You can even get them for free from a place called a "library".

          They're light weight and can be read in bed, on beaches and usual recover from being dropped in the bath :-)

  4. elaar

    I bought a 2nd hand Nexus 7 from ebay for £60, it does everything I need a tablet to do (which isn't a great deal considering it sits in the cupboard for most of the year). Useful to take on holiday.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I was given an Android tablet when the owner bought a netbook to merge her tablet and laptop functions.

    Took it with me on visit to my folks rather than pack a laptop - thinking it would be enough for checking El Reg . In the end I gave up trying to use it in anger. It was just too annoying - and I borrowed my folks' laptop as a browser.

    A friend bought me a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas. The screen works very well in bright sunshine in the garden - but I find that accidental finger movements cause me to lose my place in a book. Have only put one e-book on it so far - as it was a no-brainer choice of £36 in paper - or £2.95 as an e-book. However for most books I have looked at - the e-book is only a few pence cheaper than the paper version. Might as well get the paper one at that price.

    1. Oldfogey

      Loads of excellent stuff for free on Project Gutenberg - not forgetting the English Language Gutenbergs such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and India (yes)

  6. Fungus Bob

    Perhaps people are just tired of all this computery stuff...

    ...and have switched to Pachisi, the Royal Game of India.

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