A few days ago, Apple officially released a number of new iPad series machines, and at the same time, the previous generation iPad equipped with a physical home button was also removed from the official website. Since then, the physical home button has completely disappeared from the iPad product line, and the Lightning connector has also become "extinct" in the iPad series. This news has also sparked a lot of heated discussions, and some users regret it for various reasons, but in fact this is a normal product and technology iteration, and users will also benefit from such an update.
In the evolution of the iPad series models, whether it is the cancellation of the physical home button or the elimination of the Lightning interface, it is essentially an adjustment in line with market demand. It aims to bring users a more convenient experience. Taking the popularity of full-screen design in smartphones and tablets as an example, this solution can undoubtedly bring users a better visual experience. Similarly, the popularity of USB Type-C will not only bring faster data transfer speeds, but also bring a more convenient user experience.
Of course, the evolution of the iPad series on the product side undoubtedly has the factor of controlling costs, after all, with the progress of related technologies, some components are gradually eliminated by the market, and the continued use of such components will not only increase costs, but also may affect the market competitiveness of the product itself. Therefore, through upgrading, it can not only meet the needs of users, but also achieve a win-win situation for manufacturers in cost control and efficiency improvement.
However, it is worth mentioning that although the tablet market seems to be calm at present, there are actually many hidden "killing opportunities", and a number of manufacturers are also actively making various layouts to compete for market share.
According to the analysis of the global tablet market in the first quarter of 2024 previously released by research agency Canalys, the shipment of such products increased slightly by 1% in the quarter, of which the market share of the iPad series was 35.6%, still occupying an absolute advantage. Some analysts optimistically predict that in the case of a gradual recovery of the market, the demand for updated tablets may be boosted, so it is expected to help the entire market continue to grow. At the same time, analysts at IDC gave a similar view.
But for Apple at the moment, the pressure it is facing in the tablet market is actually not small, although the market share has not changed much, but the shipments have dropped significantly. According to the statistics released by Canalys, the shipment of iPad series models in the fourth quarter of 2023 is about 14.8 million units, and it will drop to 12.01 million units in the first quarter of this year.
Obviously, the adverse effects of the long-term "discontinuity" of the iPad series have been magnified in the first quarter of this year, so Apple is likely to try to drive sales and market share growth by launching new products. And this strategy seems to have paid off, and it has recently been reported that the new iPad Pro has been on the shelves of an e-commerce platform for only 2 hours, and the number of reservations has exceeded 10,000.
However, this has not fundamentally changed the market situation that Apple is currently facing, there is a view that the tablet computer represented by the iPad series is currently in an embarrassing period, although Apple has set up a "next computer why be a computer" flag in the early years, but whether from the software, or hardware point of view, any model of the iPad series is obviously still far from achieving this goal.
Among them, in terms of hardware, the impact of smartphones with AI blessings, especially folding screen mobile phones, and the PC squeeze with AI blessings, how to reflect their own uniqueness in this situation has obviously become a problem that Apple needs to consider. Although the new iPad Pro, which debuted with the M4 chip, is trying to overtake by advancing the implementation of AI functions, it will obviously take time.
At the software level, the user experience of the iPad series models is still slow to change. iPadOS, which was born out of iOS, is limited by various constraints, and the interface is still stuck at the level of a "large iPhone", although there have been rumors that Apple may be adapting a macOS-like multitasking interface for iPadOS, but there is no official news so far. And this problem has also led to the opinion that the budget for the MacBook series can only use the iPad Pro experience, and the practicality does not seem to be high.
It is worth mentioning that the pricing strategy of the new iPad Pro has somewhat "added fuel to the fire" of this view. In the case of not choosing Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil Pro and other accessories, the new iPad Pro's 11-inch top version is priced at nearly 20,000 yuan, and the 13-inch top version is priced at more than 20,000 yuan.
In the Android camp, it's a different story. In the market window period left by the iPad series due to the "disconnection", the Android tablet quickly adjusted its product strategy, greatly improved its product strength by introducing new flagship SoCs, and actively promoted the implementation of AI functions. However, it must be noted that the improvement of productivity tool attributes currently shown by Android tablets relies more on tablet manufacturers, such as the introduction of office suites, cross-screen circulation and other functions, and only a few software vendors such as WPS provide adaptation for them.
However, there are still challenges at this stage that require additional fees for AI functions, and the acceptance of this form by users is obviously still up for debate. The previous Galaxy AI charging controversy actually revealed users' doubts and dissatisfaction with the charging of related functions.
From a deeper perspective, the current challenges faced by Android tablets actually reveal the shortcomings of this ecological construction. For example, in the adaptation of Android tablet-specific applications, the enthusiasm of developers is obviously not high, and the key factor is that the income from this investment is difficult to guarantee. As a result, applications such as video and video editing, which are closely related to productivity, are still scarce, which also largely limits the potential of Android tablets in these scenarios. In contrast, the iPad series has always occupied a significant advantage with its complete ecology and rich applications.
In addition, in terms of hardware, with the unveiling of the new iPad Pro equipped with the M4 chip, the performance gap between Android tablets that had gradually narrowed has recovered again, and it is hopeless to catch up in the short term. So far, the layout of Android tablets for the iPad series "update window period" has almost all failed, leaving only the first-mover advantage of AI functions, so the subsequent market share of Android tablets is bound to continue to face huge pressure from Apple.
Nowadays, in the face of the impact of AI-related technologies and the intensification of market competition, although Apple's iPad series is also facing the pressure of transformation and upgrading, at the same time, Android tablets still need to continue to strengthen the software ecosystem. Therefore, with the competition in the tablet market in the future, how to effectively integrate resources and improve user experience is still the key to maintaining market competitiveness.