Apple sold 10.9M iPads in Q3 2015, down 13% from previous quarter, 18% YoY, and a four year low
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / ZDNet :
Context & Ripple Effects
The Q3 2015 figure is one data point in a slide that was already underway: by the following quarter Apple reported that iPad sales had fallen another 19.5% even as iPhone shipments grew 22.1% to 48M, confirming the tablet was no longer Apple's growth engine. What makes this quarter notable is the depth — 10.9M units, down 13% sequentially and 18% YoY, the lowest in four years.
The wider market context matters too: IDC tracking through 2016 showed the global tablet market contracting double digits (down 12.3% YoY to 38.7M units) while low-cost detachables hit record volumes, so Apple's decline tracked an industry-wide cooling rather than a purely Apple-specific problem.
First-order effects
- Apple's hardware mix shifts further toward iPhone dependence — with iPad units at a four-year low, the next quarter's results showed iPhone growth of 22.1% carrying the portfolio while tablets shrank.
- Apple faces pricing and refresh pressure on the iPad line, since the decline spans both sequential and annual comparisons, signaling demand erosion rather than seasonal timing.
Second-order effects
- As the tablet market contracts, weaker vendors exit and share consolidates around Apple — IDC's later data showed Apple's share actually rising to 25.8% even while its own iPad sales declined 9.2% YoY, meaning competitors are losing faster than Apple is.
- The rise of record-selling low-cost detachables pushes the market toward keyboard-equipped form factors, pressuring Apple to respond in a segment where cheaper Android and Windows rivals compete on price.
Third-order effects
- Tablets appear to be settling into a mature, PC-like replacement-cycle category rather than a growth one — a pattern visible across the corpus from 2015's unit lows to 2020's iPad revenue rebound ($6.8B vs $4.66B) and renewed decline in 2023 (-19.8%).
- Apple's tolerance for a persistently declining iPad line implies a structural bet that iPhone and the broader ecosystem absorb the loss, making iPad performance a lagging indicator rather than a strategic driver.
The trend: Tablets are maturing into a slow-replacement hardware category where Apple retains dominant share even as overall unit volumes contract.