Apple's iPad Remains No. 1 In Combined Worldwide PC And Tablet Sales

Apple’s iPad remained the top selling tablet or PC worldwide during the previous quarter. This came despite a 16 percent drop in iPad sales year over year, according to a new Canalys survey. Between January and March, tablet shipment growth slowed to 21 percent which translates to 50.8 million units. At the same time, PC shipments reached 123.7 million units, which was an increase of 5 percent from 2013. In the tablet market, the strongest growth occurred in the Middle East where shipments jumped 100 percent. This was followed by Greater China (74 percent), and Central and Eastern Europe (47 percent). North America was the only region in the world that saw negative growth during the quarter, where there was a 40 percent drop in iPad shipments in the United States. Says Canalys:

Despite this, Apple continued to lead the global PC market. Its share fell both sequentially and year on year from 20% to 17%, due chiefly to the increasingly competitive tablet market.

Moving forward, Canalys believes the iPad remains well positioned to remain the market leader, despite the results in the March quarter. Said Tim Coulling, a Canalys senior analyst:

Longer term, we do not believe Apple’s Q1 performance points to a decline in the tablet category, despite growing pressure from larger-screen smart phones. Consumers, and increasingly businesses, are continuing to adapt, with tablets acting as disruptors and finding their place as desktop and notebook replacements. Apple’s ecosystem and the recent launch of Office for iPad should ensure it is well placed to remain a leader for some time.

Last month, Apple reported revenue of $45.6 billion during the second fiscal quarter of 2014. During the time frame that ended on March 29, the company sold 43.7 million iPhones. That’s compared to 37.4 million handsets during the same time frame last year, or around a 16 percent increase. On the other side, iPad sales took a big dip with 16.35 million sold. That was down more than 15 percent from the year ago quarter. Apple is likely to unveil a second-generation iPad Air later this year, as well as a new iPad mini with Retina display. See also: Apple’s iPad Regains The Top Spot In J.D. Power's Latest Satisfaction Survey, and T-Mobile Continues Its Disruption By Announcing New Apple iPad Deals.

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