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Full-size Apple iPad sales collapse as iPad mini takes over

by Mark Tyson on 1 March 2013, 14:50

Tags: iPad, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Samsung (005935.KS), PC

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Apple’s iPad mini has leapfrogged its bigger brother in terms of sales. If the latest figures and projections from NPD DisplaySearch are anything to go by it seems like the market has shifted and smaller tablets will take over in 2013. The main reasons for the swing are twofold, according to NPD; the price and the ability to hold the device in one hand. Overall the iPad mini is not doing so badly for a tweener.

Tablet PC Panel Shipment in Dec.’12 and Jan’13 (Million units)

CHART by NPD

The DisplaySearch blog says that “Apple had planned to sell 40M iPad minis (7.9”) and 60M iPads (9.7”) in 2013”. That’s a total of 100 million units. However the iPad mini has been much more popular than the iPad over Christmas and into the New Year. “We now understand that Apple may be planning to sell 55M iPad minis (7.9”) and 33M iPads (9.7”) in 2013,” said the blog. That’s a total of 88 million Apple tablet computers. Though that projection is down and skewed from what was put forward earlier, 88 million is still a big improvement on total combined sales of 58.31 million Apple iPads in 2012.

The focus upon smaller screened tablets isn’t just from Apple’s customers. NPD figures looks at industry-wide shipments which indicate that “in the first month of 2013, tablet PC panel shipments shifted dramatically toward smaller screen sizes”. You can see in the above chart the iPad mini spec 7.9-inch panels and an even bigger number of 7.0-inch panels. NPD notes that big hitting tech firms such as Samsung, Amazon, Google, ASUS and Acer are all trying to grab a slice of the action.

Further predictions in the report are that smartphones getting bigger will take sales away from the 7-inch tablets during 2013. Also NPD suggests that the mini tablets are about to get a shot in the arm with higher resolution displays.

An interesting question raised by DislpaySearch, is regarding how manufacturers will be able to raise the prices of the smaller tablets to make premium products and better profits. It’s difficult for many tablet makers to rise above brand agnostic commodity pricing in the smaller screened tablet market, right now only Samsung and Apple seem to be capable in that respect.



HEXUS Forums :: 16 Comments

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I think its quite funny that this one would never have been built if Mr Jobs hadn't passed away and its the more successful form factor. Perhaps its more to do with price than practicality?
Biscuit
I think its quite funny that this one would never have been built if Mr Jobs hadn't passed away and its the more successful form factor. Perhaps its more to do with price than practicality?

I reckon people who want an “iPad” just for the brand and having one are now buying the mini because it's cheaper rather than buying the full-fat £400+, it's hard for many people to justify £400 on something so limited, 16GB and only WiFi with no cover, useful bundled apps or anything.

But a lot of people will like the smaller size first and just be happy that it's cheaper, or get a 32GB/64GB/cellular version instead of a 16GB WiFi big'un. £529 for the 64GB cellular is criminal though, for a 8" tablet with last years innards… it's pretty poor value.
it seems like the market has shifted and smaller tablets will take over in 2013

Not really - it's only the 8“ - 9.7” tablets that have seen a drop. All other tablets - smaller and larger - saw a small increase. Sure, 9.7“ tablet shipments plummeted, but so did overall tablet shipments. Most of those lost tablet sales remained lost, and those that moved to other tablet sizes did so fairly evenly across the board.

All we're really reporting on here is the death of the 9.7” tablet. Must suck if you're a company whose halo product is one of those… ;)
How is that the ipad mini taking over? Looks like a collapse of over 5 million ipad 9.7“ screens and a miniscule increase of maybe a few hundred thousand ipad mini 7.9” screens.
I've had both the ipad2 and ipad mini and the mini is nowhere as good as the full size one, the screen feels cheap an nasty on the mini.