In the third quarter of 2021, Apple saw impressive iPad sales in the recovering economy of Western Europe from the COVID-19 pandemic. Canalys reports that the Cupertino tech giant was the only tablet manufacture to experience growth while other competitors faces double-digit declines.
Because of the global health crisis and chip shortage, in July this year, Apple expected lower revenue growth in the September quarter than the $81.4 billion revenue in the June quarter. The company predicted that the supply constraints would impact iPhone and iPad sales. Fortunately for the tech giant, it recorded $83.4 billion in revenue with 29% Y-o-Y in Q4, 2021, and out of that iPad sales accounted for $8.3 billion in revenue because of the strong demand for the M1 powered devices. The new report credits iPad’s success in Western Europe to Apple’s versatile lineup catering to different demographics.
Apple dominated the tablet market while Samsung, Lenovo, Huawei, and Amazon saw a double-digit decline
Reporting that the Western European PC market (desktops, notebooks, and workstations) recorded 16.3 million unit shipments in Q3 2021, Canalys revealed that Apple was the only tablet manufacturer to enjoy growth.
Tablet shipments in Western Europe shrank 20%, with 6.9 million units shipped. “In Q3 2020, tablets had an extraordinary performance as they filled a gap created by PCs shortages. They are now seeing a corrective decline as penetration within the primary userbase saturates,” said Pham. Despite the contracting market, Apple appeared to be unaffected. In recent quarters, Apple has increasingly widened its leadership in the market with other tablet vendors. In Q3 2021, Apple saw a 33% year-on-year growth while the other top five vendors recorded double-digit declines.
Since 2020, the Cupertino tech giant has upgraded iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad models with advanced features and capabilities like the M1 chip and LiDAR scanner in iPad Pro, faster processors in other latest iPad models, and much more. And these upgrades drove iPad sales in the Western European market. The report states:
“The iPad’s consistent performance today is thanks to Apple’s dedicated focus on the tablet market. Apple continues to launch newer iPads throughout the year catering to more customer segments. Despite the crunch, Apple’s vertically integrated supply chain has insulated it well from bearing the brunt of the corrective decline,” said Pham.
