A 9.7-inch Apple Inc. iPad Pro is displayed at the company's Omotesando store on March 31, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo : Getty Images/Tomohiro Ohsumi)
Although the Apple' iPad Pro has turned out to be a Microsoft Surface killer, everything does not seem to be right for the Cupertino-based tech titan. Recently, the company's iPad sales are declining significantly.
"Apple beats Microsoft at their own game," International Data Corporation said in a recently released report, which explained that Apple's entry into the detachable segment has provided the company with a striking lead within a brief period. However, the company's iPad shipments have not been good in recent times. The "detachable segment" refers to devices that have separate keyboard base.
Rather than witnessing a growth during the first quarter of 2016, the shipment of iPads has declined by 18.8 percent year-over-year, report said. Describing the iPad as a "plain, old tablet," it said that the future of the device will mainly be downgraded to replacements of older iPads or PCs, instead of new additions.
On the other hand, the report categorizes the iPad Pro as a pricey detachable device that comes with a Smart Keyboard. Since the release of the iPad Pro in March last, the largest and fastest tablet from Apple has quickly become a Microsoft Surface killer. According to the report, the iPad Pro is a "healthy additions" to the lineup that is also enterprise-friendly.
Apple's main growth is entirely from the detachable iPad Pro, and not their slate lines, which include the iPad Air and iPad Mini. This is possibly a positive sign keeping in view that the potential profit from the iPad Pro is much greater. However, the irony is that it was Microsoft that arguably created the market for detachable tablets with the launch of its Surface device, IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani said in a statement released to Forbes.
During the first quarter of 2016, Apple shipped 10.3 million iPads compared to 12.6 million during the corresponding period in 2015. Moreover, the overall tablet market share of the Cupertino tech titan was still highest in the industry with 25.9 percent.
While IDC did not present Microsoft Surface's quarterly numbers, the agency said in February that Microsoft sold an estimated 1.6 million Surface devices during the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to an estimated 2 million iPad Pro devices.
Watch the iPad Pro release video below:
