
Do you really need a tablet? - PretzelFisch
https://www.engadget.com/2018/11/26/do-you-really-need-a-tablet-in-2018/
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simonh
It's always interesting to read these articles. As is often the case, there
are some good points and some silliness for the sake of an interesting
narrative. However there's actually a much more interesting story in there.

Yes global tablet sales are half PC sales, but it includes detachables and
convertibles of which only a small fraction are used regularly as tablets.
Probably only two thirds of these 'tablets' are slates or see regular use in
tablet mode.

Meanwhile those PC sales include a ton of laptops. IMHO a much more
interesting contract is a direct slate to laptop comparison but that's hard to
tease out of the press releases and summaries of the data. It odes look like
overall laptop sales probably exceed tablet sales by about double though.

Looking at Apple though, we see the opposite story. They sell significantly
more than twice as many iPads compared to Macs. No wonder they are doubling
down on pro features for the iPad to prop up the ASP, but they're also
aggressive at the low end with an entry level price at $329 including pencil
support. I really don't think they see the iPad as being a small niche. For
them this is a diverse and differentiated market segment.

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josefresco
We hardly ever use our iPad's anymore - kids use the newest one (old one is
unusable except for Netflix) to stream YouTube and use Facetime (gaming chat)
and not much else. Bought them Kindles last year, can't remember the last time
they last used them. I started using one as an eBook reader which given their
lack of power, is basically all they're good for. Wife has one of those jumbo
iPhones so she doesn't require a larger device.

I expected the iPad to revolutionize computing, and interfaces - unfortunately
it ended up being a "second-class" device.

~~~
simonh
I use mine like crazy, but it's true our kids use their phones more than the
tablets.

I think the numbers don't bear out the surface analysis here though. See my
other comment, but basically the story for tablets generally is not the same
as the story for Apple. High powered pro iPads with advanced features continue
to do well, and those can't all be going to new users that don't realise how
little they will end up using them. I went from a 6.5" iPhone to a 5.5"
because it's much handier and an iPad is a better larger format device. Larger
phones have killed the Mini though.

