6 ms·

Android overtakes iPad in tablet race

49 points by dataminer 13y ago

caycep 13y ago
that being said, it's a rare occasion I actually see an android tablet in "the field"...
- bane 13y ago
  My anecdote, I know lots of people who own some kind of Android tablet but no iOS device and lots of people who own iOS devices who own at least one Android tablet.
- bdcravens 13y ago
  Keep in mind that the high end Nooks and Kindles are Android tablets.
lobotryas 13y ago
I never understood these comparisons. How can we reasonably compare a hardware product (iPad) with an operating system that runs on a large number of other tablets? I understand that it's a convenient "us vs them" analogy, but it makes no sense at closer examination.
- spot 13y ago
  it makes sense if you think of them as software ecosystems.
- bane 13y ago
  Because iOS is just a an OS that runs on a very limited number of tablets because of a decision by iOS's owners. There's absolutely no reason that iOS couldn't be just another tablet OS.
  - enraged_camel 13y ago
    >>There's absolutely no reason that iOS couldn't be just another tablet OS. There are many reasons. The primary one is that having the OS run on your own hardware allows you to have much tighter control over the user experience. After all, user experience is one area where iOS has always dominated Android.
    - w1ntermute 13y ago
      > After all, user experience is one area where iOS has always dominated Android. I don't think that's true at all. As of ICS, Android is much better. Especially considering the horrible state of notifications on iOS and the siloed nature of apps. And usability took a serious hit in the move from iOS 6 to 7.
    - bane 13y ago
      No disagreement about user experience, but this constant goal post moving "it's total numbers!" then when that shifts it's suddenly "this is comparing OSs to devices!" is unbelievably tiresome to see played out over and over again. Next up will be some other metric that will be overcome like profitability, or total apps purchased or app store size or whatever. Apple has simply made a decision and stuck with it and the result is that it limits their share of the market over a more versatile platform.
    - jmduke 13y ago
      I think the parent's comment is better phrased as "There's no constraint preventing iOS from being just another tablet OS." Apple consciously refuses to decouple their hardware from their software (and I agree with you that the iOS experience is better than the Android one, although I don't think it's an objective truth). Comparing iOS adoption to Android adoption is not some universally indicative metric (I'll bet all the money in my pockets that many more iPad owners know what "iOS" means than Android tablets know what "Android" means, which is incredibly important when you're, say, trying to build an ecosystem) but it is still important (I'm a developer with limited time resources! Do I spend X hours building an Android port?)
- AnthonyMouse 13y ago
  The comparison isn't of the hardware product, it's of the operating systems. Developers want to know what the installed base and rate of change for users of each OS is so they know the target market size to make decisions like which OS to develop an app for first. Consumers want to know what other consumers are doing because they don't want to get stuck with a device (like a Blackberry) that the market is abandoning and no one is making third party apps for.
  - h4wker 13y ago
    If that's the case, then should we be including Kindle in the Android basket? Amazon pretty much owns its own fork, and is substantially different.
    - wiredfool 13y ago
      Probably, but good luck breaking out the numbers on those.
    - AnthonyMouse 13y ago
      Maybe. It's still a lot easier to get an existing Android app to run on a Kindle than it is to get it to run on an iPad. It seems like kind of a moot point anyway. The Kindle has less than 5% market share. Even if you take it out, what really changes?
  - YOSPOS 13y ago
    These numbers are kind of useless when Apple is weeks away from refreshing their iPad line-up. You'll see Apple back in the lead in market share after that. Developers will continue to target iOS first because of that and because iOS users pay for apps.
    - AnthonyMouse 13y ago
      Notice that the post I was originally responding to was questioning why this information was useful. The answer is that some people rely on data in preference to speculative assumptions. >These numbers are kind of useless when Apple is weeks away from refreshing their iPad line-up. These numbers are the latest numbers. If you think they'll turn around then you can feel vindicated if they do, but for now the facts are the facts.
- rdtsc 13y ago
  What's to understand? How many other companies make tablets with iOS?
enraged_camel 13y ago
Look at all these Android fanboys upvoting a nonsense article to the front-page. tsk tsk... >>The iPad, long the best-selling tablet in the world, has received a check to its dominance: Android has taken the lead in both tablets sold and in the money people paid for them. Yea, when you flood the market with cheap, shitty tablets it's easy to "take the lead." The thing that is often forgotten is that the money made from iPad sales goes directly into Apple's coffers, whereas Android sales benefit mostly the manufacturers. And just like with iPhone vs. Android, we see which devices are actually used: http://chitika.com/files/Android%20vs%20iOs%20Overall%20Share%20of%20Web%20Traffic.png http://chitika.com/files/Android%20vs%20iOs%20Overall%20Shar...
- saiko-chriskun 13y ago
  easy to take the lead with cheap, shitty tablets? why don't you put out a cheap, shitty product and tell me how that goes.
moca 13y ago
In term of global sales, Android tablet could be more than iPad these days. In term of usage, iPad would be much more than all Android tablets [1]. Additionally, an iPad has 2-3x life span than Android tablet on average (I has used over a dozen tablets). I seriously don't like to see so many low-quality tablets thrown into market. You are much better of buying second hand iPad. [1] http://www.cultofmac.com/233063/ipads-web-usage-share-hits-5-month-high/ http://www.cultofmac.com/233063/ipads-web-usage-share-hits-5...
beloch 13y ago
It's hard to find good sales numbers on specific tablets. 4.6 million Nexus 7's were sold[1] in 2012, but I haven't found data on how many of the 2012 model sold in 2013, or how many of the 2013 model have sold so far. Still, this is one model that appears to be selling in numbers nobody would have predicted for an Android tablet at the beginning of 2012. The iPad mini, however, is more difficult to judge. Apple hasn't released sales numbers that don't lump the mini in with other models, suggesting it's been a failure and they're afraid to reveal how few have actually sold[2]. A failure by Apple's standards might be a runaway success by most other's standards, but the mini clearly isn't flying off the shelves the way an Apple device in a new form-factor should. It's specs were disappointing and it offered questionable value, so this isn't a huge surprise. I would bet good money that the next gen mini will treat the form-factor properly instead of giving it sloppy seconds, but consumers may have negative associations with the iPad mini brand that need to be overcome. Personally, I think Apple really underestimated the appeal of the 7" tablet. A bigger screen is certainly nicer for some things, but 7" is perfect for reading ebooks and the smaller size of 7" tablets make them truly portable and comfortable to use hand-held. I'd love to see good sales numbers to see if it really is 7" tablets that are boosting Android sales and dragging down Apple's sales. If so, this might be a situation where an under-served market allowed an agile opponent to bust into a market firmly held by a single dominant incumbent! ----- [1]http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Google-Nexus-7-Tablet-Sales,21179.html http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Google-Nexus-7-Tablet-Sales... [2]http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-mini-sales-2012-11 http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-mini-sales-2012-11
- niels_olson 13y ago
  What's funny about the iPad mini, at least from my perspective, is that my daughter made that her first savings goal and achieved it with impressive speed. And she uses the device constantly. In fact among carrots and sticks with her, the most effective stick is to put the iPad in timeout. Her coaches use it to record video of her routines for instant feedback in practice. She checks for her homework on learning point (I do still have unfond memories of learningpoint/blackboard). We are military, and she keeps up with friends from all over the country. Via Wi-Fi she can call her Grammy, mom or me. In some ways it is more functional then my full-size retina iPad. Except I really like having a full-page PDF on the iPad.
downandout 13y ago
Android will always have a larger install base than iOS. iPads are aimed at the upper end of the market, while Android is installed on a wide variety of tablets aimed at different budgets and form factors. This is far from an an apples-to-apples comparison. While the Android fanboys love numbers like this, it says exactly nothing about the advantages of either OS. Both platforms have enough market share that both must be targeted for apps to be successful anyway, so specific market share really doesn't matter.
- lokedhs 13y ago
  But it is important to mention these things. It's needed as a counter weight to the message that was spread not long ago by people like Gruber, "there is no tablet market, only the ipad market"
auctiontheory 13y ago
Much as I like my iPads, the lack of Flash support is still a problem. Steve made the wrong call there.
- cremnob 13y ago
  This is a joke right?
  - glhaynes 13y ago
    It's too bad @shit_hn_says on Twitter has apparently shut down.
- bdcravens 13y ago
  Adobe no longer (over a year now!) supports Flash for Android, so there's no Flash support there either.
kunai 13y ago
I hate these types of articles because they bring out the worst of HN. Accusations of fanboys and vitriol over both sides are spewed and incomprehensible arguments rule. It's like Slashdot all over again.
bdcravens 13y ago
I'd love to see this broken up by what I'd call "true tablets" (like the Nexus 7) and devices that are marketed primarily for media consumption by the media producers (Nook HD/Kindle Fire). In the wild (I'm talking Houston, not SF or NYC, so maybe it's a different story), I see very few non-iPad tablets. I can't honestly recall seeing more than maybe 1 out of 50 or 100. I do see tons of Android phones, however. (Maybe it can be explained that Android tablet users are less likely to show off, and keep the device in their home/office?)
nazgulnarsil 13y ago
When do we start counting phones? The galaxy mega is 6.3 inches.
jsemrau 13y ago
How can a software overtake a hardware ? Sensationalist headline.
jsz0 13y ago
I'm so tired of the horse race analogies. Competition in business is more like an elaborate multi decade gymnastics competition than a horse race. Both Google and Apple are doing a great job executing their different business models. It's like two gymnasts doing very different routine and ending up with close or tied scores even though their points on individual things may greatly differ.
notatoad 13y ago
It seems rather silly to report sales numbers in a market where nobody reports sales numbers. For an actual measurable statistic, we should look at usage numbers. And in that race, iOS tablets are far far ahead of android tablets.
eonil 13y ago
Overtakes in number. Wow that's really so impressive. And now show me how much people spend money on there.
- zmmmmm 13y ago
  I think you're supposed to have moved on to "But nobody uses their Android tablet, they are all sitting in closets" line.
alexeisadeski3 13y ago
These statistics are hard to square with the fact that I've observed a total of two Android tablets in the wild.
- pjmlp 13y ago
  Living in USA I assume.
darkchyld 13y ago
"To begin with, no single manufacturer of tablets comes close to Apple in terms of volume. Android as a whole may sell more devices than Apple, but the ecosystem is split between the likes of Samsung, Amazon, Asus and others. The full-size iPad and the iPad Mini are still the best-selling models out there. Android may have slightly more of the pie, it has to be split more ways." As usual the title implies one thing and the articles says another. The usual Apple is doomed story to gain some additional pageviews to sell ads. Same old same old.
mark_l_watson 13y ago
I love my Galaxy III Android phone. Incredibly nice as a phone, social media, games, and even has a neat little Java IDE to build apps right on the phone. I was waiting for the new Nexus 7 and when it was released I made a snap decision to stay with iPad, giving my iPad 2 to a family member and buying an iPad mini. For one thing, it is simply more fun to own one of each types of device. Way more fun. Secondly, I have workflows in place on my iPad (e.g., working on book manuscripts using leanpub + dropbox + IA Writer; ssh into my servers) that I can also do on My Android phone, but I like working on the iPad. For consumers, having both OS options can only be a good thing.

49 points by dataminer 13y ago

caycep 13y ago

that being said, it's a rare occasion I actually see an android tablet in "the field"...

bane 13y ago
My anecdote, I know lots of people who own some kind of Android tablet but no iOS device and lots of people who own iOS devices who own at least one Android tablet.
bdcravens 13y ago
Keep in mind that the high end Nooks and Kindles are Android tablets.

lobotryas 13y ago

I never understood these comparisons. How can we reasonably compare a hardware product (iPad) with an operating system that runs on a large number of other tablets? I understand that it's a convenient "us vs them" analogy, but it makes no sense at closer examination.

spot 13y ago
it makes sense if you think of them as software ecosystems.
bane 13y ago
Because iOS is just a an OS that runs on a very limited number of tablets because of a decision by iOS's owners. There's absolutely no reason that iOS couldn't be just another tablet OS.
- enraged_camel 13y ago
  >>There's absolutely no reason that iOS couldn't be just another tablet OS. There are many reasons. The primary one is that having the OS run on your own hardware allows you to have much tighter control over the user experience. After all, user experience is one area where iOS has always dominated Android.
  - w1ntermute 13y ago
    > After all, user experience is one area where iOS has always dominated Android. I don't think that's true at all. As of ICS, Android is much better. Especially considering the horrible state of notifications on iOS and the siloed nature of apps. And usability took a serious hit in the move from iOS 6 to 7.
  - bane 13y ago
    No disagreement about user experience, but this constant goal post moving "it's total numbers!" then when that shifts it's suddenly "this is comparing OSs to devices!" is unbelievably tiresome to see played out over and over again. Next up will be some other metric that will be overcome like profitability, or total apps purchased or app store size or whatever. Apple has simply made a decision and stuck with it and the result is that it limits their share of the market over a more versatile platform.
  - jmduke 13y ago
    I think the parent's comment is better phrased as "There's no constraint preventing iOS from being just another tablet OS." Apple consciously refuses to decouple their hardware from their software (and I agree with you that the iOS experience is better than the Android one, although I don't think it's an objective truth). Comparing iOS adoption to Android adoption is not some universally indicative metric (I'll bet all the money in my pockets that many more iPad owners know what "iOS" means than Android tablets know what "Android" means, which is incredibly important when you're, say, trying to build an ecosystem) but it is still important (I'm a developer with limited time resources! Do I spend X hours building an Android port?)
AnthonyMouse 13y ago
The comparison isn't of the hardware product, it's of the operating systems. Developers want to know what the installed base and rate of change for users of each OS is so they know the target market size to make decisions like which OS to develop an app for first. Consumers want to know what other consumers are doing because they don't want to get stuck with a device (like a Blackberry) that the market is abandoning and no one is making third party apps for.
- h4wker 13y ago
  If that's the case, then should we be including Kindle in the Android basket? Amazon pretty much owns its own fork, and is substantially different.
  - wiredfool 13y ago
    Probably, but good luck breaking out the numbers on those.
  - AnthonyMouse 13y ago
    Maybe. It's still a lot easier to get an existing Android app to run on a Kindle than it is to get it to run on an iPad. It seems like kind of a moot point anyway. The Kindle has less than 5% market share. Even if you take it out, what really changes?
- YOSPOS 13y ago
  These numbers are kind of useless when Apple is weeks away from refreshing their iPad line-up. You'll see Apple back in the lead in market share after that. Developers will continue to target iOS first because of that and because iOS users pay for apps.
  - AnthonyMouse 13y ago
    Notice that the post I was originally responding to was questioning why this information was useful. The answer is that some people rely on data in preference to speculative assumptions. >These numbers are kind of useless when Apple is weeks away from refreshing their iPad line-up. These numbers are the latest numbers. If you think they'll turn around then you can feel vindicated if they do, but for now the facts are the facts.
rdtsc 13y ago
What's to understand? How many other companies make tablets with iOS?

enraged_camel 13y ago

Look at all these Android fanboys upvoting a nonsense article to the front-page. tsk tsk... >>The iPad, long the best-selling tablet in the world, has received a check to its dominance: Android has taken the lead in both tablets sold and in the money people paid for them. Yea, when you flood the market with cheap, shitty tablets it's easy to "take the lead." The thing that is often forgotten is that the money made from iPad sales goes directly into Apple's coffers, whereas Android sales benefit mostly the manufacturers. And just like with iPhone vs. Android, we see which devices are actually used: http://chitika.com/files/Android%20vs%20iOs%20Overall%20Share%20of%20Web%20Traffic.png http://chitika.com/files/Android%20vs%20iOs%20Overall%20Shar...

saiko-chriskun 13y ago
easy to take the lead with cheap, shitty tablets? why don't you put out a cheap, shitty product and tell me how that goes.

moca 13y ago

In term of global sales, Android tablet could be more than iPad these days. In term of usage, iPad would be much more than all Android tablets [1]. Additionally, an iPad has 2-3x life span than Android tablet on average (I has used over a dozen tablets). I seriously don't like to see so many low-quality tablets thrown into market. You are much better of buying second hand iPad. [1] http://www.cultofmac.com/233063/ipads-web-usage-share-hits-5-month-high/ http://www.cultofmac.com/233063/ipads-web-usage-share-hits-5...

beloch 13y ago

It's hard to find good sales numbers on specific tablets. 4.6 million Nexus 7's were sold[1] in 2012, but I haven't found data on how many of the 2012 model sold in 2013, or how many of the 2013 model have sold so far. Still, this is one model that appears to be selling in numbers nobody would have predicted for an Android tablet at the beginning of 2012. The iPad mini, however, is more difficult to judge. Apple hasn't released sales numbers that don't lump the mini in with other models, suggesting it's been a failure and they're afraid to reveal how few have actually sold[2]. A failure by Apple's standards might be a runaway success by most other's standards, but the mini clearly isn't flying off the shelves the way an Apple device in a new form-factor should. It's specs were disappointing and it offered questionable value, so this isn't a huge surprise. I would bet good money that the next gen mini will treat the form-factor properly instead of giving it sloppy seconds, but consumers may have negative associations with the iPad mini brand that need to be overcome. Personally, I think Apple really underestimated the appeal of the 7" tablet. A bigger screen is certainly nicer for some things, but 7" is perfect for reading ebooks and the smaller size of 7" tablets make them truly portable and comfortable to use hand-held. I'd love to see good sales numbers to see if it really is 7" tablets that are boosting Android sales and dragging down Apple's sales. If so, this might be a situation where an under-served market allowed an agile opponent to bust into a market firmly held by a single dominant incumbent! ----- [1]http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Google-Nexus-7-Tablet-Sales,21179.html http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Google-Nexus-7-Tablet-Sales... [2]http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-mini-sales-2012-11 http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-mini-sales-2012-11

niels_olson 13y ago
What's funny about the iPad mini, at least from my perspective, is that my daughter made that her first savings goal and achieved it with impressive speed. And she uses the device constantly. In fact among carrots and sticks with her, the most effective stick is to put the iPad in timeout. Her coaches use it to record video of her routines for instant feedback in practice. She checks for her homework on learning point (I do still have unfond memories of learningpoint/blackboard). We are military, and she keeps up with friends from all over the country. Via Wi-Fi she can call her Grammy, mom or me. In some ways it is more functional then my full-size retina iPad. Except I really like having a full-page PDF on the iPad.

downandout 13y ago

Android will always have a larger install base than iOS. iPads are aimed at the upper end of the market, while Android is installed on a wide variety of tablets aimed at different budgets and form factors. This is far from an an apples-to-apples comparison. While the Android fanboys love numbers like this, it says exactly nothing about the advantages of either OS. Both platforms have enough market share that both must be targeted for apps to be successful anyway, so specific market share really doesn't matter.

lokedhs 13y ago
But it is important to mention these things. It's needed as a counter weight to the message that was spread not long ago by people like Gruber, "there is no tablet market, only the ipad market"

auctiontheory 13y ago

Much as I like my iPads, the lack of Flash support is still a problem. Steve made the wrong call there.

cremnob 13y ago
This is a joke right?
- glhaynes 13y ago
  It's too bad @shit_hn_says on Twitter has apparently shut down.
bdcravens 13y ago
Adobe no longer (over a year now!) supports Flash for Android, so there's no Flash support there either.

kunai 13y ago

I hate these types of articles because they bring out the worst of HN. Accusations of fanboys and vitriol over both sides are spewed and incomprehensible arguments rule. It's like Slashdot all over again.

bdcravens 13y ago

I'd love to see this broken up by what I'd call "true tablets" (like the Nexus 7) and devices that are marketed primarily for media consumption by the media producers (Nook HD/Kindle Fire). In the wild (I'm talking Houston, not SF or NYC, so maybe it's a different story), I see very few non-iPad tablets. I can't honestly recall seeing more than maybe 1 out of 50 or 100. I do see tons of Android phones, however. (Maybe it can be explained that Android tablet users are less likely to show off, and keep the device in their home/office?)

nazgulnarsil 13y ago

When do we start counting phones? The galaxy mega is 6.3 inches.

jsemrau 13y ago

How can a software overtake a hardware ? Sensationalist headline.

jsz0 13y ago

I'm so tired of the horse race analogies. Competition in business is more like an elaborate multi decade gymnastics competition than a horse race. Both Google and Apple are doing a great job executing their different business models. It's like two gymnasts doing very different routine and ending up with close or tied scores even though their points on individual things may greatly differ.

notatoad 13y ago

It seems rather silly to report sales numbers in a market where nobody reports sales numbers. For an actual measurable statistic, we should look at usage numbers. And in that race, iOS tablets are far far ahead of android tablets.

eonil 13y ago

Overtakes in number. Wow that's really so impressive. And now show me how much people spend money on there.

zmmmmm 13y ago
I think you're supposed to have moved on to "But nobody uses their Android tablet, they are all sitting in closets" line.

alexeisadeski3 13y ago

These statistics are hard to square with the fact that I've observed a total of two Android tablets in the wild.

pjmlp 13y ago
Living in USA I assume.

darkchyld 13y ago

"To begin with, no single manufacturer of tablets comes close to Apple in terms of volume. Android as a whole may sell more devices than Apple, but the ecosystem is split between the likes of Samsung, Amazon, Asus and others. The full-size iPad and the iPad Mini are still the best-selling models out there. Android may have slightly more of the pie, it has to be split more ways." As usual the title implies one thing and the articles says another. The usual Apple is doomed story to gain some additional pageviews to sell ads. Same old same old.

mark_l_watson 13y ago

I love my Galaxy III Android phone. Incredibly nice as a phone, social media, games, and even has a neat little Java IDE to build apps right on the phone. I was waiting for the new Nexus 7 and when it was released I made a snap decision to stay with iPad, giving my iPad 2 to a family member and buying an iPad mini. For one thing, it is simply more fun to own one of each types of device. Way more fun. Secondly, I have workflows in place on my iPad (e.g., working on book manuscripts using leanpub + dropbox + IA Writer; ssh into my servers) that I can also do on My Android phone, but I like working on the iPad. For consumers, having both OS options can only be a good thing.