You know the tablet market is in a slump when even Apple is suffering from shrinking iPad sales. Despite being the next big thing not that long ago, the tablet market has more or less plateaued, with Android tablets also dropping to extremely low prices in an effort to boost sales. The phablet market, on the other hand, has been enjoying some ridiculous growth, especially now that Apple has entered the market with the iPhone 6 Plus.
As iPhone revenue soars, Apple’s iPad sales dropped 18 percent year-over-year in the final quarter of 2014 and has now hit a plateau, according to a new study from Forrester Research. Even the new iPad Air didn’t help. But it’s not just Apple’s device that slipped. The study points to an overall plateau in tablet sales worldwide. The reason for the slump in sales is varied, but saturation in the consumer market may have a lot to do with it. Android tablets have plummeted in price – some to even as low as $50 – making this an incredibly accessible piece of technology for most consumers. Tablet sales skyrocketed from 2010 to 2013 as Apple, Samsung and others introduced these new pieces of innovation to the market. However, tablet replacement rates are not the same as replacement rates for smartphones. And, as was pointed out in the study, earlier versions of these tablets don’t differ much or offer radically new “must-have” features in the latest models, at least not enough to get consumers to shell out $500 more for a newer device when their old tablet works pretty much the same.
