Apple reported sales of iPads declined 25% during the last quarter and pundit’s everywhere are screaming the sky is falling.
No one can predict the future and all we have to go on is what is here and now. As an Apple fanboy here is my reason for the decline of iPad sales.
Toward the end of last year, Apple released the iPhone 6s and 6s plus and before the announcement I had been debating between getting a new phone or an iPad. I already had a phone and I didn’t need a new one so I leaned heavily toward the iPad, but the more I thought about it the more I came back to thinking the phone was the right choice.
I made up my mind and purchased a 6s plus. What pushed me toward it was the better camera. (My iPhone is my only camera) It’s always with me and it has cell service.
After using the new phone for a month, I knew I had made the right decision. The screen is smaller than the iPad mini but I can still do everything on it that I could with an iPad. I watch TV, read books, write blog posts, edit images, everything but software development, which you can’t really do on the iPad either.
The only thing I’ve found lacking is some professional apps are iPad only but I can’t fault Apple for that. I’m sure the developers had good reasons to only support the one device.
At the end of the day, iPad sales are declining because of the bigger screen on the iPhone plus model.
Eric L. Barnes 
I don’t disagree with your reasoning but did 6s Plus sales far and away surpass 6s? I purposely chose a 6s because a 6s Plus was too large to be comfortable for holding and putting in my pocket. For that reason I picked up an iPad Mini for to have a table for reading books or watch shows while cooking.
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Yeah makes sense. I am not sure the breakdown but wanted to share my reasoning.
I do believe your reason is touching on another issue and that is that iPads aren’t going to be replaced as soon as phones. As an example, my mom still has a first generation and has no plans of replacing it anytime soon.
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I’m in a similar position as Scott: I bought the 6S for the smaller form factor (more convenient in mobile use), and plan to get the iPad Pro to replace my aging iPad 2 (which is now so slow it really only works as a book reader and Netflix viewer). So expect iPad sales to go back up in first quarter 2016 when I get mine. 🙂 haha
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It sounds like I need to be enlightened on the iPad. 🙂 I gave mine to the wife because I honestly rarely used it. It’s been I guess three months now and I haven’t missed it once.
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I want to use the new one as a drafting tablet using the pen. I do use it alot while traveling. At home otherwise mostly for reading or watching movies.
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Drawing/Drafting is a great use case. But is it worth $1,000+ just do it? Versus say one that is desktop/laptop only?
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