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Tablet Shipments Decline For 13th Straight Quarter (venturebeat.com) 149

Posted by msmash from the dead-beat dept.
The tablet market has now declined year-over-year for 13 quarters straight. From a report: Q4 2017 saw a 7.9 percent year-over-year decline: 49.6 million units shipped worldwide, compared to 53.8 million units in the same quarter last year. The only silver lining is that declines for 2017 haven't been in the double-digits, like they were in 2016.
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Tablet Shipments Decline For 13th Straight Quarter More

Tablet Shipments Decline For 13th Straight Quarter

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  • What's a computer? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 05, 2018 @12:38PM (#56071429)

    Oh, that thing I have to use for anything more complicated than watching Youtube videos.

  • Ah, the memories (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 05, 2018 @12:39PM (#56071443)

    I remember the days when ./ headlines told me the PC was on the way out as tablets were the new thing to replace them. I remember getting modded as a Troll when I posted that PCs weren't going anywhere because tablets were a solution in search of a problem. Those were the days.

    • I was one of those who disagreed with your sentiment, back in the day. I saw a tablet as a more portable and intuitive way to get my work done, using hand motions rather than pounding a keyboard and scraping a rat. It really was going to change my workflow for the better.

      But then reality set in. The "minority report"-style interface never materialized, except in movies and hugely expensive low volume products which ... were primarily used in movies. In the consumer space, some companies repurposed their

    • Well, you were half right. It turned out we didn't need PCs either (or at least the majority of the population doesn't need one).

  • You don't replace a tablet like a phone (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    So it is no surprise that after the market became saturated that the annual shipments would decline. I've got a 2nd Gen iPad that works just fine, thanks. No need to get a new one. Sure the OS is out of date, however all the apps work and that is all I really care about.

  • Cue the " Tablet Computing is dying ! " claims . . . .

    Though I wouldn't worry about it, according to the media PC Computing has been dead or dying for years yet still seems to soldier on . . . . :|

    • Yeah it is just a saturated market. If it can stream Netflix and has a web browser then you're set for 99% of people, I'm sure.

      • "Yeah it is just a saturated market. If it can stream Netflix and has a web browser then you're set for 99% of people, I'm sure."

        And they just don't die, so they don't have to be replaced so soon.

  • Bit more than a fad (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Oswald McWeany ( 2428506 ) on Monday February 05, 2018 @12:44PM (#56071489)

    I remember when tablets started getting popular I thought they were just a fad.

    I think they lasted long enough to not be considered a fad, but I think the basic problem remains. They're not as convenient as a phone and they're not as usable as a laptop. Sure, helps if you have a keyboard case... but still a laptop will always do more. I think there will always be a demographic that likes tablets (children for one)... they're just not as useful for most things. They will have their niche.

    A tablet is after all just a clunky phone or a crippled laptop.

    How many people bought a tablet expecting to do great things with it and after a month or so barely used it, instead preferring their phone (or laptop)? I imagine most tablet buyers (at least that's how most people I know who have a tablet operated).

    • Re:Bit more than a fad (Score:5, Insightful)

      by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Monday February 05, 2018 @12:58PM (#56071609)
      I have a tablet and use it more than either my phone or laptop as I find it a good compromise in terms of usability and screen real estate. Granted, I'm not doing any development work or other work on it which is what the notebook is there for, but I tend not to use my phone for anything if I have any other option available.

      I think that the real problem for tablets is that there's no compelling reason to upgrade them as often as phones. The iPad Air 2 that I bought when it first came out is over 3 years old at this point and isn't showing any particular signs of aging. The browser is still plenty speedy and even if that started to suck, I can't see the Netflix app being too slow for it to be usable for that.

      I could easily see that thing lasting for another 3 years and Apple may well continue offering OS updates for it over that period as well. I think tablets have their uses over other devices, but I just don't think they need to be replaced very often.
      • Exactly. I had my first iPad (an iPad 2 I got on launch day) for over five years. It still works. The new one is much faster and nicer - but still similar. Much easier to use than the tiny screen on a phone.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by hipp5 ( 1635263 )

        I think that the real problem for tablets is that there's no compelling reason to upgrade them as often as phones. The iPad Air 2 that I bought when it first came out is over 3 years old at this point and isn't showing any particular signs of aging. The browser is still plenty speedy and even if that started to suck, I can't see the Netflix app being too slow for it to be usable for that.

        I'd say this is a big part of the "PC is dying" thing too. Used to be you needed a new PC every 3 years. Then 5. And now my PC is going on 6 years (other than an upgrade from HDD to SDD) and is still way more than enough for absolutely everything other than VR (which would be doable with a video card upgrade). I fully expect it to be good for another 2 or 3 years.

        To be honest, I think we'll be seeing similar trends with phones soon. They're at the point where they're "good enough" for much longer. Unless yo

      • I think that the real problem for tablets is that there's no compelling reason to upgrade them as often as phones. The iPad Air 2 that I bought when it first came out is over 3 years old at this point and isn't showing any particular signs of aging. The browser is still plenty speedy and even if that started to suck, I can't see the Netflix app being too slow for it to be usable for that.

        This is definitely the answer for me. I bought an original iPad when it came out. Use it for light reading and just a couple years ago gave it to my mother in law, who uses it to look at pictures of our family (she lives on the other side of the world) and sudoku.

        I've had my iPad Air when it came out (i got it because the original iPad screen is difficult to read in sunlight) and see no reason to get a new one. You can read books outdoors and the storage holds my entire music collection, over a hundred c

      • Similar but different take. At home, I surprised myself by using the tablets a ton more than anything else. Well I never use my phone for anything unless nothing else is available, like you said. But the one difference is my 3ish year old iPad Air 2 has performance problems. I was thinking of getting a new battery after all the press on the built-in slow downs. But I have another iPad I end up using instead.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by antdude ( 79039 )

        Who upgrades phones that often? I am still using an iPhone 4S. :P

        • > Who upgrades phones that often? I am still using an iPhone 4S. :P

          And I'm still on my Nokia 6015i that I got in March 2006 http://nokiamuseum.info/wp-con... [nokiamuseum.info] Still works fine... for now. But 2G is being phased out in Canada by April, so I'll have to get something newer... mumble, grumble.

    • It's about the use case (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sjbe ( 173966 ) on Monday February 05, 2018 @01:11PM (#56071685)

      I remember when tablets started getting popular I thought they were just a fad.

      Really? It seemed clear enough to me right away that they were going to be a strong market segment for a long time.

      I think they lasted long enough to not be considered a fad, but I think the basic problem remains. They're not as convenient as a phone and they're not as usable as a laptop.

      That depends entirely on what you are doing. A tablet is most useful for things where you might have used a clipboard or binder for previously. Think stuff like doctor's offices using them in patient rooms to record data. A phone doesn't have enough screen size and a laptop is too cumbersome. Tablets hit a nice form factor for tasks like that.

      They also are nice for people who don't need all the bells and whistles of a laptop but for whom a phone is too small. My grandmother uses an iPad to do various tasks. She can't handle the complexity of a laptop and a phone is too small for her to see or use efficiently. The young and the elderly as well as the (ahem) technologically impaired tend to fall into this category.

      A lot of sales people that come to my office these days use tablets and it's a good fit. A laptop is overkill and presents the company a needless administrative burden (read $$$) and security risk.

      Short version is that there are a ton of non-trivial use cases where tablets are the best option.

      A tablet is after all just a clunky phone or a crippled laptop.

      Only if you are using it wrong. It's all about the use case. There are things you can do on a tablet that are awkward to impossible on a phone because of the screen size difference. There are tasks where using a mouse/keyboard is inefficient or unnecessary. Sometimes people don't need the extra complexity of a full blown PC because they are just doing some light web browsing or email or watching some videos.

    • I bought one to browse, watch youtube and twitch , browse email, and such stuff, while travelling or in public transport. This is far more protable than a laptop for such action (too heavy not portable enough - lower battery time), and far more convenient than a phone (too small). This fill the niche the portable netbook were about but with even more convenience. Again it depends on what are your expectation comapred to the tablet power.

    • I remember when tablets started getting popular I thought they were just a fad.

      I think they lasted long enough to not be considered a fad, but I think the basic problem remains. They're not as convenient as a phone and they're not as usable as a laptop. Sure, helps if you have a keyboard case... but still a laptop will always do more. I think there will always be a demographic that likes tablets (children for one)... they're just not as useful for most things. They will have their niche.

      A tablet is after all just a clunky phone or a crippled laptop.

      How many people bought a tablet expecting to do great things with it and after a month or so barely used it, instead preferring their phone (or laptop)? I imagine most tablet buyers (at least that's how most people I know who have a tablet operated).

      Tablets are still a fad.

      They didn't last long enough to be permanent. They've been in decline for 13 straight quarters which means we actually reached peak tablet in 2013.

      Phones are now large enough that tablets are redundant and feature wise cant compete with laptops. So they're in a niche that no longer exists. Add this to the fact that people are replacing things less frequently, the tablet I bought 4 years ago still does it's job (watching movies on the plane) and doesn't warrant replacing.

      So much for t

    • The tablet market just reached saturation rather quickly. Most of the new sales are replacing older tablets which broke or aren't powerful enough anymore.

      The phone market would've saturated quickly too, except every few years a new phone standard comes out (2G, 3G, 4G, now 5G). You pretty much have to upgrade your phone to get the new capability. That was the whole impetus behind Google's Project Ara (phone with upgradable parts).

      I find my tablet extremely useful for viewing documents, looking up t
    • Well a 10" tablet is quite silly. And here on /., we will call tablets "content sipping" devices in a way meant to be derogatory. Many of us consume content like the newspaper. And a 7" tablet really is the most convenient form factor. Also for personal move watching. Laptops only work if you have a flat surface. Good luck on an airplane (unless you're in first class) or by the pool or while you're waiting for your kid to finish swimming lessons. 2 in 1 convertibles are nice, but holding a 10" screen

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by innocent_white_lamb ( 151825 )

        a 10" tablet is quite silly.

        A 10" tablet is actually too damn small for what I want one for.

        Why don't they make one (for a reasonable price) that can show a 8.5x11 sheet of paper full size since most of the forms and stuff that you deal with physically is, guess what, 8.5x11.

        I've tried using a tablet for my sheet music and the concept is cool (especially with a bluetooth page turning pedal) but the screen is too small so I either have to show part of the page at a time and scroll co

        • It's probably a function of your definition of a "reasonable" price. The volume on such a thing is going to be low so the overhead has to be distributed among a smaller number of units. Samsung has quite a few larger format tablets.

        • The Chuwi Hi12 has a good 12.1" 2160x1440 display at a fairly sane price... but it's an older model, and its other specs aren't much to write home about (mediocre wifi, average battery life, and slow microUSB charging via a port that doesn't inspire much confidence in its likely longevity.

          That said, it's decent for 2-up ebook reading (a bit on the heavy side, but not unbearable).

          • The main problem with tablet-as-ebook-reader: they need bigger high-dpi screens (13-14" would be nice) AND fast primary storage & cpu. A tablet as aa ebook reader might spend 99% of its time doing nothing... but when you go to flip pages, it needs 10-20ms render time, MAX. Longer might be ok for things read serially (like fiction), but current ebook solutions SUCK for random-access reading, like technical manuals.

        • a 10" tablet is quite silly.

          A 10" tablet is actually too damn small for what I want one for.

          Why don't they make one (for a reasonable price) that can show a 8.5x11 sheet of paper full size since most of the forms and stuff that you deal with physically is, guess what, 8.5x11.

          I've tried using a tablet for my sheet music and the concept is cool (especially with a bluetooth page turning pedal) but the screen is too small so I either have to show part of the page at a time and scroll constantly, or it's too small to read and particularly too small to read quickly.

          You mean like THIS?

          https://www.apple.com/shop/buy... [apple.com]

          The actual screen is not EXACTLY 11 X 8.5 inches; but at 10.35 X 7.76 it is very close, especially considering that sheet music printed on 11 X 8.5 ALWAYS has at least a 1 inch margin all around.

          https://malcontentcomics.com/s... [malcontentcomics.com]

          Here's an EXHAUSTIVE review of using the 12.9" iPad Pro (and the Apple Pencil) for Sheet music applications:

          https://elisakoehler.com/2017/... [elisakoehler.com]

      • >"Well a 10" tablet is quite silly. [...] 2 in 1 convertibles are nice, but holding a 10" screen gets tiresome. "

        I disagree. For me, 10" is too small for desktop work, and 7" as a "tablet" is still too small to be worth not using a phone. 9-10" is a perfect compromise size. With a kickstand case, it holds itself fine, in most uses.

        Almost all convertibles are now "flip" types, which means I would have to worry constantly about putting an unprotected keyboard on wet, rough, and dirty surfaces- like at a

        • > 7" as a "tablet" is still too small to be worth not using a phone. Is this based on actually trying or just thinking about the problem? I bought a Nexus 6P phone at one point because I thought it would double as a phone and a tablet. For reading the newspaper and magazines, I found myself still using a 7" tablet. I can tolerate holding my 10" tablet (Lenovo Miix). It's relatively heavy but I can make it work. If nothing else I can cross my legs and rest one corner to take a bit of the weight off.

    • I wasn't sure how much I'd use the Tab S2 I got a few years ago...and I actually quite like it. Generally prefer using it over my phone, and definitely use it more than my phone (which is basically just calls and texts now, and music when I'm out).

      The tablet doesn't leave the house (I work from home), but I've found it helpful for a number of tasks... Keeping an eye on work responsibilities, updating social media and some light photo editing, and on a personal level reading longer stories, PDFs, magazines,

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I never use my phone when I am at home. No one in my family does. Phones are for when you leave the house. iPads everywhere inside the house, unless it's something that requires my fixed PC. Like Minecraft or Excel. And that PC is many years old too. The reality is that tech lasts much longer than it used to. There is no need to update, so the tablets I have now are good to go and I don't expect to upgrade them for a while.

    • One is seven years old and one is six years old.

      That's the thing. They last a lot longer than PCs used to for their intended use. There's no reason to replace one if it's still working well.

  • Have you got a tablet? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 05, 2018 @12:49PM (#56071535)

    If so, then what is the use case which is driving you to update it? What's that? Nothing?

    The thing with a tablet is it is stripped down to wifi and web connectivity. If you own one, what do you need a new one for?

    The problem is that modern companies and the stock market seem to think you're going to grow 10-15% .. every year .. forever, Since that is irrational and impossible, you have to accept that at a certain point the sale of products will plateau and likely drop off.

    So, it seems like very 6-12 months for the last bunch of years we decry that desktops/laptops/phones/tablets/widgets have declines in their sales. Of course they've fucking declined, everybody has one and there is no compelling reason to buy another one.

    It's terrible that corporations and the stock market are driven by irrational morons who think you can grow at a linear rate forever. It really is too bad that reality doesn't factor into growth projections.

    But at the end of the day, the answer to all of these things comes down to the same basic answer: compared to when nobody had one and everyone wanted one, far more people have them, far fewer people find themselves needing/wanting a new one, and far fewer of them will be sold. The market for these things hasn't died, but we're now at a sustaining level of ownership instead of a growing level. And the ones people already have still work, or get handed down -- which means you're never going to sell the same amount as when nobody had one.

    With luck, consumers as a group start to ask themselves the question "do I need this, or is this just more stuff they need me to buy to make their bottom line?" Me, I think it's about time we stopped all being told we need to buy something and rushing out and buying it.

    Because then maybe the idiotic corporations and the moronic stock market will stop living in a fantasy world where they actually have to take into account market saturation and realistic limitations on growth. Right now, so much of the stock market is predicated on wishful thinking and fantasy, and that's never a good sign.

    • FWIW, I did also play Civ5 in hex mode on my Windows tablet. (I bought a Windows table so I could VPN into my company when on premises but not at my desk, because lugging around a consultant-grade laptop to check and respond to emails while in meetings was overkill.)

      >> what is the use case which is driving you to update it?

      I just picked up Civ6 for $12 (via a one-day subscription to Humble) so I might get a new tablet for that. Because I do go to lots of meetings, you know.
    • If you own one, what do you need a new one for?

      Ticking boxes on website based forms. Much easier than ticking boxes on a paper form and then copying it onto the website with a computer.

      Also, quite good for showing products to customers in a sales presentation.

      With a suitable app, they can be used for gathering customer signatures, although I would not want to use one gathered that way in a court case.

      Obviously 1220 x 600 shape screen formats are not useful for anything at all*, so it is better to b

    • I use a 3 year old tablet as a portable TV screen. As long as Netflix and Uverse apps continue working, I see no reason to replace it.

      The corporations have already got the memo that tablet market is not growing. Samsung used to be the most aggressive Android tablet vendor often selling three or for tablet lines at once. Now they offer only two tablet models and take forever to update them. Other vendors have either abandoned tablets or slowed down the release cycle.

  • What qualifies (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ArhcAngel ( 247594 ) on Monday February 05, 2018 @12:51PM (#56071551)
    What are they qualifying as a tablet? I didn't see any mention of the Microsoft Surface line so I'm assuming Android/iPad. One of the reasons for the decline is Windows tablets are getting good enough to replace traditional laptops negating the need for a laptop for work and an additional tablet for lighter activities. I suspect Chromebooks are also eroding the tablet space at the low end for those who need a keyboard. I have stopped using all my tablets since acquiring a 10" Windows tablet a few years ago. I was shocked (not really) when Apple finally released the iPad Pro and gimped it with iOS.

    • There are tablets in form, and tablets in a role. However, a good tablet in form (The Microsoft Surface, or the Dell equivalent) can work as a tablet role (tapping on the screen for media consuming), as well as a desktop role (especially with USB-C and external GPUs allowing for relatively easy docking.) Even low to midrange laptops are being offered with a "tent mode", or some way to fold the keyboard back so they can be used as a tablet.

      With so much gray area between the old Android/iOS tablet and a ful

    • I don't know the exact numbers, probably still small in absolute terms, but the Surface and similar devices have been growing pretty strongly just based on MS's financial reporting.

      I got a Cube Mix Plus [banggood.com] a few months ago to take travelling. It's powerful enough to Photoshop my vacation photos or play games, yet small and cheap enough that I can throw it in my backpack without worrying about it. It's been absolutely great for this and I'm using it back home now too.

      Yet what I've noticed is that I used it with

      • I've been looking at a few of the Chinese models as a replacement for my aging WinBook TW100. It's been a solid device but the folio keyboard no longer works. Now that you've had the Cube Mix Plus a few months would you recommend it?

        • Yes, I really like it, and I think it would be an order of magnitude better than the WinBook by any measure. The Core-M 7Y30 is waaay faster than any Atom, and it has a proper 128GB SSD. 4GB of memory is on the lower end but still better than 2 and perfectly fine for tabletly work. The screen is 1080p IPS and supports Wacom EMR pens which is pretty awesome, though unfortunately it isn't fully laminated. Also has Intel AC wireless. All of this works well and I'm very happy that I found something with this co

    • Windows tablets are getting good enough to replace traditional laptops

      Do you mean "good enough to run Linux"?

  • The tablet market lack serious improvements from model year to model year. Samsung in particular I bought 7 inch tablet 5 or 6 years ago (still works) , but the one I got 3 years ago for free has been barely upgraded, slightly faster processor a smaller bezel and the same lack of maintaining the OS from Samsung.

  • Device support (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I have been on the lookout for a tablet for a while. I feel like I can't buy one because I want it to be supported and on recent builds of the OS with regular security patching. My local brick and mortars still have tablets with Android 4.4.4 on them.

    If I buy a PC I can make that work for 5 years with little trouble. Why is it that my android-powered device is only expected to get software updates for two to three years since it's day-one launch?

    I have a similar problem in android phones. I'm not going to s

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Also, when can I get airbags in my Information Stuperhighway Steering Wheel? I hear it will protect me from loss after inevitable crashes.

  • My Nexus 7 2012 that I paid less than $200 for is still going damn strong these days. It does exactly what it was intended to do. It can stream videos at 1080p. It can play music. It can run every social media app. It can browse the web. It can act as a Chromecast remote. There is no "killer app" to force an upgrade at all.

    I keep pondering the Microsoft Surface tablets due to my multimedia production work (primarily Lightroom and Photoshop), but honestly cannot justify the $1000 of a "tablet" that has simil

    • I hate to break it to you, but the display in the 2012 Nexus 7 was 1280 x 800. You may be streaming 1080p video but you're watching 800p (or maybe 720p).

      I have one of those and it is so slow it is barely functional any more- I probably need to put a different OS on it.

  • I don't think I ever saw tablets being particularly useful for tasks other than web browsing, but early-on, they were fantastic for that. I can't put my finger on all the reasons, but modern pages just don't seem to work as well on the tablet format. Part of it is that advertisers have adapted to intrusively grab your attention with slide-overs, and delayed pop-overs. Another might be a departure from columniation. Whatever the reasons, the convenience is gone, readability is down, and the whole experience

  • Overpriced, 4:3 or both... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rklrkl ( 554527 ) on Monday February 05, 2018 @02:08PM (#56072119) Homepage

    I'm sure there's a bunch of reasons that tablet sales have been declining in recent years. Here's some of the ones I can think of:

    * A tablet with a decent spec can be pricey (not as mad as the high-end phone market though!).
    * There's been a move away from widescreen to 4:3 with Android tablets for absolutely no good reason (don't quote the iPad to me - that's got it wrong all these years!). Since a tablet is primarily a media consumption device, the aspect ratio has to be close to common video aspect ratios (so 16:9 and 16:10 are fine, 4:3 most definitely is not). It's put me (and I suspect many others) right off buying recent tablets.
    * People don't have SIM contracts with tablets as a rule, so they don't need to go into that "replace every 1-2 years" cycle that contracrts tend to suck you into.

    I've got a Nexus 7 and 10, but refused to buy the Nexus 9 (too expensive, 4:3). I've got a Samsung S 8.4" and 10.5", but refused to buy *any* of the S2 or S3 variants (again, too expensive, 4:3). Eventually found a 10" tablet released last year that a) was cheap (under $250), b) had decent specs and c) was 16:10. It's the Teclast T10 - had to be bought from a Chinese site, but it's a sweet tablet for the price.

    The currently available tablets have pretty well plateaued (if not regressed in some cases!) in terms of specs and prices - it's no wonder people are hanging onto their existing tablets for longer. As for some posters dissing tablets - I *much* prefer to use a 10" tablet screen than one half the diagonal on a phone. Just the onscreen keyboard alone is so much better on a tablet, never mind reading Web sites or watching videos.

    • 16:9 is great for *most* video. It's terrible for almost every other form of media.

    • For ebook-reading, 4:3 is actually a superior aspect ratio for most content. If you're scaling to fit 1 page on the screen, a 9" 4:3 is like a 10-11" 16:9.

      For ebook-reading TWO pages side by side, a landscape 3:2 aspect ratio is ideal, because it's like two 4:3 (3:4) portrait displays side by side.

      In any case, high-dpi (200ppi or better) is important... reading text on a 18" 1920x1080 display is like trying to read 1024x768 text on a shit 15" Packard-Bell CRT with .39mm dot pitch circa 1998. For all intents

  • Of course it would. when the price spikes... (Score:5, Funny)

    by 140Mandak262Jamuna ( 970587 ) on Monday February 05, 2018 @02:08PM (#56072127) Journal
    Yeah, it is bound to happen. Vulture capitalists, like Martin Shkreli, find tablets that are made by just one factory, buy the factory and jack up the price 800%. So many people can not afford the tablets, they buy less.

    Wait...

    This is not that kind of tablets, isn't it?

  • I have been wanting a new tablet for years, but no one is making decent 7" tablets. Tablet market has been ruined by Zack Morris sized smart phones and poor people who would rather buy a giant phone than a reasonably sized phone AND a tablet.

  • Outmoded (Score:3)

    by amiga3D ( 567632 ) on Monday February 05, 2018 @02:52PM (#56072409)

    I used tablets until my phone eventually replaced it. My LG V30 is big enough that it's just not worthwhile to use a 7" tablet too and my laptop is now light enough that I have no use for a 10 inch or bigger one either. Tablets will survive for those that feel 7-10 inch devices are their sweet spot device but that market will be a lot smaller now.

  • Maybe if there were decent tablets at a good price (Score:3)

    by barc0001 ( 173002 ) on Monday February 05, 2018 @03:29PM (#56072647)

    I'd buy another. I remember buying the 2012 Nexus 7 for around $300 CDN thinking I wasn't sure what I'd use it for but it would be neat to have an Android device. Maybe use it for books. I ended up using that tablet nonstop on commutes, reading, watching videos and a ton of other activities. I had no idea how useful a tablet that size could be. Then 18 months later the 2013 Nexus was out and even better. I sold my 2012 Nexus to a coworker and bought the 2013 version - also for around $300, less then $175 I got selling the 2012 version made it a decently affordable upgrade.

    The 2013 Nexus was great and worked well. I'd thought I'd do another sell/upgrade with the next Nexus to come out, but that wasn't to be. The new Nexus - the Nexus 9 when it came out was over $500 CDN and considerably larger. I wanted a pocket tablet, not that monstrosity. So I looked around and saw nothing compelling. There were some 7" - 8" Samsung tablets and other Asus tablets but their spec was hardly better than (or in some cases worse) than the 2013 Nexus I already had and their prices were more than what I paid for the Nexus so I stuck with that.

    Eventually in early 2017 the flip sensor in the Nexus 2013 went on me and I had to flip orientation with an app. Annoying but not the end of the world. But it also made me look around for another tablet after another couple of years and to my surprise there *still* wasn't anything on the market that would replace the 2013 Nexus at anywhere close to a similar price point. Practically everything in the sub $300 CDN price range was STILL no better than the Nexus 7 and usually also had 16GB of storage to boot (compared to the Nexus 7's 32GB). I ended up getting an LG G pad III 8.0 because the phone carrier I am with has a "dollars" credit that accumulates and at the time they were planning on ending the program and said you needed to spend your dollars with them. I had no interest in a new phone or (another) case but they had the 8" LG G Pad III for $240 and with the credit I had I ended up getting it for $50 out of pocket. I've been using it now for about 6 months and while it has more oomph than the old Nexus by about 20%, and a brighter screen, it also is hampered by only having 16GB of storage. I have a MicroSD card in it but it still wants to run all apps off internal storage so that's always tight and causes issues.

    The problems with the G Pad have had me looking around again, and there's just not much out there other than the Asus Zenpad lines but again, the price isn't commensurate with what it should be for the incremental bump in spec. So unless specs get a boost or prices get a chop I'm sticking with what I have.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by AvitarX ( 172628 )

      I find that none of the 7 or 8 inch tablets have 1080p screens anymore.

      The nexus 7 (2013) was perfect for me too. in portrait mode it was crisp enough for easy reading of comic books 1 page at a time. I played Xcom and Bauldars Gate on it, it wasn't ideal, but passable while flying. I preferred to use it while noodling around on the internet at home (over a computer or a phone).

      I've contemplated getting an older Note/other phablet, but they just aren't quite big enough, and I would never use one as a phone

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rklrkl ( 554527 )

      If you're after a good 8" Android tablet, there aren't that many of them around worth looking at nowadays. I liked my LG G Pad 8.3 (the later LG models like the one you got weren't as good), but that had issues with a yellow tinge (fiddling with the RGB settings fixed that). I have a Samsung S 8.4" - very nice, but a bit expensive and no longer sold (don't get the S2/S3 versions - they're awful 4:3).

      If you're willing to risk buying from a Chinese site, perhaps the Teclast T8 [gearbest.com] is something to consider. I have

      • > I liked my LG G Pad 8.3 (the later LG models like the one you got weren't as good)

        Honestly, my main bitch with my LG G pad III is the 16GB. If they'd offered a 32GB model I'd probably be happy as a clam with it. The screen is quite vibrant, and the full size USB slot at the top is an interesting gimmick that I've made use of a surprising number of times. Plus I've got an LG phone so being able to use the double tap on the screen to wake both of them up is nice.

        > If you're willing to risk buying f

  • With a screen close to 6 inches, a smartphone is pretty much a tablet with benefits. If you're into that sort of thing.

  • Desktop is not dead

  • ... sold 1% more iPads in Q1 2018 then they did in Q1 2017.

    https://www.macworld.co.uk/new... [macworld.co.uk]

  • I have had a Nexus 7 since 2012, that started to have a lot of problem with recharging and eventually stopped to switch on.
    The OS version installed was 5.1 and was slow as hell, so i downgraded to 4.3.
    Now I have bought an 11" Windows 10 laptop/covertible. It has a touch screen and a keyboard. And runs Linux too, in dual boot
    I suppose that I'll receive software updates on both OS, I have full-fledged browsers and so on. The only downside is that I have to use it's 24V charger an not a random USB one.
    And

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