Apple iPad sales crash to accelerate this year - and Android tablet sales to plunge as well

Tablet computers are so 2012: iPad sales dip as users prefer large-screen smartphones instead

Sales of the Apple iPad will continue to fall this year, according to reports from component suppliers in the Far East, with sales of Android tablet computers also expected to fall at the same time.

The sales slide is a continuation of the trend established in 2014, which saw sales slide from a peak of 26.04 million units in the three months run-up to Christmas 2013 - Apple's fiscal first quarter 2014 - to 12.32 million by the fourth quarter of Apple's fiscal 2014. That was the lowest iPad sales figure for two years.

Now, according to reports from the Far East, sales are expected to continue falling this year, with financial results from component suppliers indicating that sales will fall by about 20 per cent this year.

A report in Taiwanese business newspaper Digitimes quotes orders for major component suppliers, such as Radiant Optoelectronics and Coretronic. It suggests that sales of the 9.7-inch iPads are falling particularly hard, causing a 24.9 per cent year-on-year drop in Radiant Optoelectronics' revenues in its first quarter of 2015.

"Coretronic also saw shipments for tablet products drop 35% on quarter during the first quarter while touch panel maker TPK saw an overall 67% decline for tablet products, down from 10 million in the previous quarter to around three million," reports Digitimes.

Instead, it adds, component makers are focusing on displays for larger-screen smartphones. They are also working on revised 7.9-inch models and a 12.9-inch iPad, according to Digitimes.

The fall in iPad sales was also seen in Apple's most recently reported second financial quarter, the three months to the end of March 2015. Apple iPad sales fell by 22.5 per cent in fiscal 2015, from 16.35 million in the same quarter of 2014 to 12.62 million - despite the introduction of new models last autumn.

Sales of the Apple iPad peaked in the first quarter of 2014, which coincided with Christmas 2013, at 26.04 million, but fell throughout the year. First quarter 2015 sales, which encompass Christmas 2014, weighed in at 21.42 million - 17.7 per cent down on the same quarter a year earlier.

Apple - and industry analysts - attribute the sales slide to the introduction of larger screen smartphones, particularly the iPhone 6+, which has a 5.5-inch screen. When the iPad was introduced in 2010, most smartphones, including Apple's, typically had much smaller screens, partly due to screen-resolution and battery-life limitations.

Overall tablet computer sales, according to Digitimes' research, will reach 49.31 million in the current quarter - down by 10 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2014. However, with the starting price for Android tablet computers falling to just £50, overall revenues for device makers and component manufacturers in the Android market may also be squeezed.