It has been 13 years since the first tablet in history was introduced. This product between mobile phones and computers, in the polishing of time, has gradually become one of the necessary digital products for people, although there is a joke of "productivity before buying, iQiyi after buying", but there are always necessary use scenarios, not like some "grandstanding" products, and eventually can only be reduced to ashes.
Like mobile phones, tablets have gradually grown in size over time, and the largest tablet is like a thin and light notebook when paired with a keyboard and mouse set. So, is the small-size tablet really going to gradually disappear in the process of history like a small-screen mobile phone?
Small tablets are not as popular as large screens
Just as the development trend of the mobile phone market, tablet computers are gradually developing in the direction of larger screens and larger sizes. Apple's iPad Pro is available in a 12.9-inch version. In the Android camp, not only has the brand iQOO, which has just entered the tablet market, its first product uses a 12.1-inch screen, and the second-generation tablet product launched by vivo is also an upgrade from an 11-inch to 12.1-inch one.
vivo Pad2
On the other hand, small size tablets, since the iPad mini 6 released by Apple at the end of 2021, iPad mini 7 has been in various rumors. A well-known brand in the Android camp, only Lenovo Savior Y700 is still updating and iterating. It can be said that the existence of small-sized tablets is getting lower and lower, and the market performance is becoming more and more weak.
From a consumer perspective, small size tablets are not the choice for most people. According to a survey by market research agency Counterpoint, consumers currently pay more attention to product productivity than portability when buying tablets.
According to the data, from 2020 to 2022, the screen size of tablets is getting bigger and bigger, with tablets under 11 inches falling from 77.5% to 66%, and those above 11 inches rising from 22.5% to 34%, and this trend is expected to continue.
In addition, with the gradual increase in the size of tablet screens, the capacity of its batteries continues to grow, and it is expected to grow to 6658mAh in 2023, an increase of 15% compared to 2020.
Whether it is the increase in battery capacity due to the increase in screen size, or the increase in screen size due to the increase in battery capacity, this is the choice made by manufacturers according to the current market consumption situation. Therefore, large-screen tablets have become an industry trend, and small-size tablets, like small-screen mobile phones, are destined to be only the preferences of some people.
Small slabs are not useless
From the feedback that has been released and sold small-size tablets, the small screen still has a certain user base in the market, on the Jingdong platform, iPad mini 6 has accumulated more than 200,000 reviews, even the second-generation Lenovo savior Y700 just released, although not officially sold, but also has about 10,000 reservations.
Therefore, although small-size tablets are like small-screen mobile phones, they are destined to be only the preferences of some people. But it has advantages that small-screen phones do not have.
The first is the battery. The primary reason why small-screen mobile phones are not popular is that the battery life is very crotch-pulling, and this problem is no longer a problem on the tablet, because the mobile phone is an electronic product that people use most frequently in daily life, and the vast majority of people are inseparable from it, which leads to its need for a strong enough battery life to ensure the minimum power level of the day.
On the other hand, tablet computers, even small size tablets, that have a screen size of 8 or 9 inches, so the battery also corresponds to the larger size, and the use scenario of tablet computers is relatively single, most of them are indoors. The author has rarely heard people complain that the battery life of the tablet computer is not good, at most, it is automatically shut down after a long time without use, but it can be used immediately after basically plugging in.
The second advantage of small tablet size is that the use scenarios are single but rich. For most people, the common use scenario of tablets is indoor scenes dominated by homes. This is why the author said that the use scenario of tablet computers is single, but in the fixed scene indoors, the use range of small-size tablets is more than that of large-screen tablets.
Although the screen of the tablet computer above 11 inches is larger and the look and feel is better, it is not portable enough, especially the tablet above 12 inches that can be comparable to a thin and light notebook, and its use scenarios are basically limited to the table. But the small size tablet is different, the iPad mini 6 8.3 inches and the rescuer Y700 8.8 inches, ordinary people can hold and use with one hand, so not only in scenes such as tables, but also in scenes such as beds and sofas where young people stay for a long time, small size tablets have a larger range of application and more advantages.
Compared with large-size tablets, the author believes that the third advantage of small-size tablets is that they are more suitable for entertainment. From the perspective of the market's mainstream large-size tablet selling points, large screens and work productivity are the first. And most of the display scenes are also accompanied by the matching stylus and keyboard set. In the online grass video, the iPad mini 6 shows functions that are more suitable for entertainment, such as games, reading books, reading comics, etc., and in the Android camp, the savior Y700, which focuses on gaming e-sports, is not to mention.
The last advantage of small size tablets is the price. Compared with large-screen tablets, the price of small tablets is relatively low - iPad mini 6 is cheap among iPad products, and Android's savior Y700 is also priced at a price of more than two thousand. Secondly, in the author's opinion, because of the difference in positioning, the competitors of small-size tablets are not those large-screen tablets, but those horizontal folding screen mobile phones, and the size of their screens after expansion is not much different from that of small tablets. Compared with the current high-priced folding screen mobile phone, the combination of straight mobile phone + small size tablet seems to be more attractive.
If you can't become the "Red Sea", the "Dead Sea" is also a good choice
Located on the border of Israel, Palestine and Jordan, the Dead Sea is the lowest lake in the world, and its lake and shore are rich in salt, so there are only bacteria and green algae in the water and no other organisms, and there are no flowers and plants growing on the shore and surrounding areas, so people call it the "Dead Sea".
As far as the current market demand is concerned, small-size tablets cannot shake the market position of large-screen tablets. But it can be based on its own characteristics, and it is not impossible to embark on a path of "small but beautiful, specialized and refined". Just like the Dead Sea, although there is no living thing in the water and it is impossible to develop conventional fisheries, it has found a different way, using its characteristics to develop tourism, and relying on tourism to drive its surrounding industries, embark on a unique and beautiful path.
Under the current situation that the share of large-screen tablets is increasing year by year, although small-size tablets cannot become a "blue ocean" with potential and a "red ocean" with hot competition, it may also be a good choice to adhere to their own style, fight steadily, and become a "dead sea" in the market.