Here's My Theory For Why Tablet-Market Growth Just Collapsed ...

Business Insider ^ | 05/12/2014

[SeekAndFind]

As recently as a couple of quarters ago, analysts were convinced that tablet growth rates would be stratospheric forever, or at least until a few billion people had one.

Apple, it was said, was no longer going to be "the iPhone company." It was going to be "the iPad company." And analysts were frantically calculating how much money Apple was going to coin once it was selling more iPads than iPhones.

Well, those forecasts aren't looking so promising anymore.

Tablet growth has slowed sharply over the past few quarters. And tablet growth at Apple has hit a wall.

BII

Business Insider

Analysts have several theories for why growth in this recently ballistic market has suddenly tanked. They cite "increased penetration rates," "high price points," and "lack of innovation," for example.

And all those factors are indeed likely contributing.

But here's what I think is the real reason tablet growth has cratered:

Tablets do not yet solve a pressing need that is not already solved by a laptop or smartphone.

Put differently, there's no clear reason yet to own two or three expensive personal-computing devices. You can accomplish just about everything by owning one or two. Some people can get by with only a smartphone, especially now that smartphone screens are much larger than they used to be. (And if people have to own only one device, that's what they're going to own—a smartphone.) Others need two devices. For some people, the best two-gadget combination will be a smartphone and tablet. For others, a smartphone and laptop or desktop.

[latina4dubya]

something tells me that this family does not have the $79 Kindles... no way...

[kevslisababy]

I got an I-Pad as a gift about 18 months ago....I love it, but I find it is really for entertainment. There is no place for file storage, like a computer, so I use both.

[JRandomFreeper]

True. I use the tablet only when I'm away from the house and not carrying a laptop. It is easier to carry than a laptop and power supply. But I don't use it when I've got a real keyboard available.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

I plug a 16 Gig micro SD card into my Samsung android and store plenty of files.

/johnny

[MCF]

The real reason is the drop in discretionary spending money.

[al baby]

I love my kindle it was more like 179 bucks but it is now my favorite bathroom buddy

[al baby]

Bingo

[for-q-clinton]

Also convertibles and hybrids I don’t think count as tablets...so those are probably hurting the trending in this chart.

[Alex Murphy]

IMO innovation (or the lack of) is killing tablets. Most tablets boast slower processers and poorer cameras than their same-brand, same-generation smartphone counterparts. Screen size is the only practical differentiator.

[ilgipper]

Here’s my take. Phone demand remains constant because phones go through more wear and tear and get outdated more quickly. I almost always NEED to replace a phone every two years because I wear it out. I have a two year old iPad right now with zero need to upgrade.

I think the author has a point, too. There isn’t a NEED for tablets in the same way as phones. A husband and wife may decide they need two phones, but many will have one tablet. Or none.

[cuban leaf]

The real reason is the drop in discretionary spending money.

---

I think that really is a major factor that nobody is talking about. It may be that it HAS hit the saturation point for those who can afford one...

[SeekAndFind]

To attract business customers, tablets, including the iPad, need to support the needs of business rather than forcing business users make concessions to the device’s functional limits. While there are certainly plenty of tablets in use in corporate environments, it’s not always a happy marriage.

I will concede that there are a few tablets and tablets with detachable keyboards that are aimed at business users. But even if the uptake in business use were to grow substantially, it wouldn’t necessarily be enough to kick start tablet sales.

What’s needed there as many observers have noted is something more. There needs to be a useful new feature that makes business users suddenly decide in mass that they need to upgrade.

Unfortunately, it’s not clear what that something might be. Right now, tablets are a sort of technological one-trick pony. They do what they do nicely, but that’s all that they do. While you can force a tablet into new roles, that doesn’t make it a happy fit.

[cuban leaf]

Also convertibles and hybrids...

---

Um. This thread isn’t about cars.

[Foundahardheadedwoman]

I think you hit the nail on the head. I have noticed it in another type of business also.

[taildragger]

We need one device, a tablet with a phone built in so you can use a Blue-Tooth for your built-in-Phone. A friend who goes to Europe claims they have one for his work their, I can't remember which brand.

I don't have room in my pockets for a phone, kindle, tablet, Franklinm Planner and a laptop. Give me something akin to an electronic Clipboard that does laptop/tablet functions and a phone and be done with it. Also allow a flexible membrane-ish keyboard and an pen or mouse option for us troglodytes :-)

[aMorePerfectUnion]

World economy tanking and with it the disappearance of discretionary income. No surprise people spend less on items like this.

[Dusty Road]

When we travel I carry my laptop and she carries an I-Pad, I do not like the I-Pad.

[Raycpa]

This is a prime example of using charts to make something that is good look bad.

[for-q-clinton]

Funny.