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Tablet Shipments Decline For 13th Straight Quarter (venturebeat.com)
The tablet market has now declined year-over-year for 13 quarters straight. From a report: Q4 2017 saw a 7.9 percent year-over-year decline: 49.6 million units shipped worldwide, compared to 53.8 million units in the same quarter last year. The only silver lining is that declines for 2017 haven't been in the double-digits, like they were in 2016.
Oh, that thing I have to use for anything more complicated than watching Youtube videos.
I remember the days when ./ headlines told me the PC was on the way out as tablets were the new thing to replace them. I remember getting modded as a Troll when I posted that PCs weren't going anywhere because tablets were a solution in search of a problem. Those were the days.
I remember when tablets started getting popular I thought they were just a fad.
I think they lasted long enough to not be considered a fad, but I think the basic problem remains. They're not as convenient as a phone and they're not as usable as a laptop. Sure, helps if you have a keyboard case... but still a laptop will always do more. I think there will always be a demographic that likes tablets (children for one)... they're just not as useful for most things. They will have their niche.
A tablet is after all just a clunky phone or a crippled laptop.
How many people bought a tablet expecting to do great things with it and after a month or so barely used it, instead preferring their phone (or laptop)? I imagine most tablet buyers (at least that's how most people I know who have a tablet operated).
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
What are they qualifying as a tablet? I didn't see any mention of the Microsoft Surface line so I'm assuming Android/iPad. One of the reasons for the decline is Windows tablets are getting good enough to replace traditional laptops negating the need for a laptop for work and an additional tablet for lighter activities. I suspect Chromebooks are also eroding the tablet space at the low end for those who need a keyboard. I have stopped using all my tablets since acquiring a 10" Windows tablet a few years ago. I was shocked (not really) when Apple finally released the iPad Pro and gimped it with iOS.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
I remember when tablets started getting popular I thought they were just a fad.
Really? It seemed clear enough to me right away that they were going to be a strong market segment for a long time.
I think they lasted long enough to not be considered a fad, but I think the basic problem remains. They're not as convenient as a phone and they're not as usable as a laptop.
That depends entirely on what you are doing. A tablet is most useful for things where you might have used a clipboard or binder for previously. Think stuff like doctor's offices using them in patient rooms to record data. A phone doesn't have enough screen size and a laptop is too cumbersome. Tablets hit a nice form factor for tasks like that.
They also are nice for people who don't need all the bells and whistles of a laptop but for whom a phone is too small. My grandmother uses an iPad to do various tasks. She can't handle the complexity of a laptop and a phone is too small for her to see or use efficiently. The young and the elderly as well as the (ahem) technologically impaired tend to fall into this category.
A lot of sales people that come to my office these days use tablets and it's a good fit. A laptop is overkill and presents the company a needless administrative burden (read $$$) and security risk.
Short version is that there are a ton of non-trivial use cases where tablets are the best option.
A tablet is after all just a clunky phone or a crippled laptop.
Only if you are using it wrong. It's all about the use case. There are things you can do on a tablet that are awkward to impossible on a phone because of the screen size difference. There are tasks where using a mouse/keyboard is inefficient or unnecessary. Sometimes people don't need the extra complexity of a full blown PC because they are just doing some light web browsing or email or watching some videos.
That is exactly the problem.
My last tablet broke, and I am looking for a replacement: HiDPI screen, 9" or 10", light enough to hold, contemporary amount of RAM (4GB or more).
And where are all those tablets? There is the obscenely expensive Pixel C has been discontinued., and the only slightly less expensive Galaxy Tab S3 does not provide a proper Android experience. Amazon also discontinued the HDX, which never provided a great Android experience. Only cheap Android tablets are left on the market.
Wait...
This is not that kind of tablets, isn't it?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact