Shipments of Apple’s iPad fell in Q4 of 2021, according to a new report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), falling in line with the company’s recently released quality results.
The IDC report shows Apple shipped 17.5 million units in Q4 2021, an 8.6 percent decrease compared to Q4 2020.
Apple’s Q1 2022 earnings show sales grew by 11 percent to hit $123.9 billion USD (roughly $157 billion CAD), but the iPad was not a helping factor.
The report shows iPad sales resulted in $7.25 billion (roughly $9.2 billion CAD) worth of revenue, a 14 percent downturn year-over-year.
The iPhone 13 contributed to a revenue increase of 9.2 percent, its accessories division contributed to a rise of 13 percent, and its Mac division contributed to a 24 percent increase in sales.
Apple wasn’t alone in experiencing the decline. According to the IDC, 46 million tablets shipped in Q4 2021, representing the second decline since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Despite the decline, the tech giant still led the pack in sales. Apple was far ahead with its 17.5 million unit shipment, compared to Samsung, which trailed behind at second. The company shipped 7.3 million units, a 21.6 year-over-year decline.
Tablet shipments of the top five companies. Credit: IDC
Lenovo saw a 25.4 percent decrease, and Chromebooks declined by nearly 64 percent.
Tablets from Amazon saw an increase with 1.3 percent growth. But with only 3.6 million units shipped, it was far behind Apple, Samsung and Lenovo.
Disappointing quarter aside, the yearly growth numbers were much more substantial, with an overall increase of 3.2 percent among the top five companies, the highest level seen since 2016.
Apple saw an 8.4 percent growth in shipments in 2021 compared to 2020, with 57.8 million units shipped compared to 53.3.
Senior research analyst Anuroopa Natarah says the Q4 decline is because many areas have moved past their peak demand. However, shipments will stay above pre-pandemic levels because of the need to work remotely, virtual learning, and media consumption.
Image credit: ShutterStock
Source: IDC
