It seems like yesterday when Apple launched the market for tablets with its iPad, a type of device that some waited with open arms, while others wondered if it would have any use or meaning. And yes, I know that before the iPad, long before, there were tablet PCs (which fascinated me at the time) or even, if we want to make history, we can also remember the Cambridge Z88, which we told you about in the obituary of Sir Clave Sinclair . With all these antecedents, however, there is no doubt that It was Apple who defined the concept we currently have of tablets.
That sounded launch took place in 2010 and, although at that time it might seem that tablets were going to take over the world, the truth is that they have never managed to give the pull that so many expected. I remember hearing at that time some voices that suggested that tablets came to sign the death of the PC. However, more than a decade later, the PC is still quite alive and it is the tablet that has had to reinvent itself on more than one occasion to survive.
However, little by little it seems that there is a certain reversal in the trend, something that could already be seen timidly in 2020, in a slightly more pronounced way in 2021, and that according to some data will increase even more in 2022. And we can find some very interesting facts about it in this article from PhoneArena. Data among which we highlight that Samsung expects a 6% growth in tablet sales by 2022 compared to 2021. A growth that doubles what it has already experienced between 2020 and 2021, with a growth of 3%.
Apple has also experienced significant growth: during its second fiscal quarter 2021 has seen revenue from its iPads grow 79%, going from 4.37 million to 7.810 million dollars.
Many voices agree that the pandemic, lockdowns, teleworking and tele-training have been key factors in this growth. However, although this is obviously the main reason, we must not neglect another that also has a lot of weight, and it seems that finally the manufacturers have decided to bet stronger on the tablet market. And it is that, with honorable exceptions, the options that reached the market throughout the past decade were scarce and unattractive.
For a moment, it almost seemed that the market for tablets was divided between Apple, with its high-end devices, and later a plethora of entry-level or at most mid-range devices, with very little (if not say null) personality, so cloned to each other that on more than one occasion They made you doubt whether the only difference between one and the other was nothing more than the logo printed on them.
This market I had been in need of some oxygen for a long time, which could only come from the hand of the manufacturers, with new and attractive models that grew in functions and that stood up to the supremacy of those from Cupertino (something quite similar to what has been happening in the field of smartwatches). Now it seems that manufacturers have woken up and, consequently, tablets are attractive again. Good for them!
