The Death of Tablets

In it's relatively short life time, tablets have undergone many changes. They have gone from being a fad that few imagined there was a market for, to being a staple in every home and most backpacks. These days, however, tablet sales have been rapidly declining quarter after quarter. Causing a concern for many tech companies. Many of which have dropped out of the tablet game altogether. Samsung, once churning out multiple tablet models a year, has streamlined production, drastically cutting down on it's range. Google has pulled HTC built Nexus 9 from it's online store and they are no longer in production. It seems only Apple (some may say the originators of the tablet) are consistently releasing new models every year. But when you take away the Pro versions of the iPad, which many would argue classifies as a hybrid along with the likes of Microsoft's Surface and Lenovo's Yoga, even Apple seem to have left the game behind. With no new iterations of the iPad mini and very little to be desired in the way of the standard iPad.

So what's going on? Have tablets come to the end of their short reign? Is it time to leave them behind as just another passing craze to look back on fondly in a few years?

My Daily Carry

Rewind two years. I owned three tablets, and would usually carry two with me. I had the iPad Air 2, iPad Mini and the 8 inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S II (still an annoying mouthful). I would mostly carry the iPad air for watching videos on the go as i much prefer a larger screen, and my Samsung Tab for reading ebooks. yes it could be done on the 9.7 inch Air, but it was a bit too big for reading comfortably over long periods of time.

I now have two tablets, The iPad Mini and the original 13 inch iPad Pro.

Why? Well, when carrying two tablets i would also carry a laptop with me sometimes In order to get some work done on the go. Most, sadly not all, of my work can now be done with the iPad Pro which is a lot smaller and a lot lighter than a laptop.

I sold my Samsung Tab around 12 months after getting it. It was an expensive e reader that wasn't getting used all that much so it was time to cut it out of my daily carry.

It won't be long before I am able to upgrade my iPad mini (which is on a 24 month contract) and i am confident that, unless Apple come out with an incredible new iteration) I will be passing on an upgrade and just canceling the contract all together. Possibly not even dropping down to a sim only.

So why the decline in tablet sales?

Well, there are two main contributing factors.

First of all, mobile phones (cell phones to my American counterparts). Yea I know they are not a replacement for tablets, and yes they have been around longer, but as phone screens are getting bigger, batteries are lasting longer, and the phones become ever more useful, there is little need for the every day man or woman to carry both devices with them.

Using my Note 8, I am perfectly comfortable reading ebooks on it's 6.3 inch screen (only marginally smaller than the 7.9 inch screen of my iPad mini). Sometimes, i may even work on spreadsheets and work documents on the move using Google Sheets and Google Docs. No, it wouldn't do as a full time work device but that is what i keep my iPad pro nearby for.

Larger screens and better speakers also make it an ideal drive for watching videos on youtube, Netflix or sport streaming apps at my desk.

The second biggest contribution to the rapid decline in tablet sales; lack of innovation.

This isn't to say that the tech industry doesn't know what they are doing or that they lack imagination. Simply that there is no where else for tablets to go. Tablet sales have declined year on year because there is no incentive for people to upgrade like they do with their mobile phones. each year phones get lighter, slimmer, smaller bezels, brighter displays, longer lasting battery life, better cameras, the list goes on, but these are not things that we look for in tablets. Tablet batteries can last days at a time and we tend to use them near a power supply as opposed to a phone which we use in the park or when walking down a street.

Tablets have great screens and great quality speakers. We can binge watch The End Of The F*cking World without a worry.

Where else is there for tablets to go? I won't be upgrading simply because my current tablets are enough, rather i won't upgrade because newer models won't add anything that i feel i am missing out on.

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