Android tablets encircle iPad: Apple can no longer "win", AI has become the new focus

In 2024, tablets are getting more and more rolled-up. The older they get, the more excellent Android tablets they have. They are "encircling and suppressing" the "flat" iPads that have not been updated for more than a year.

Without updating for more than a year, why is the iPad “beating the market”?

In the past few years, the iPad has always been the best example in the tablet computer market, not only because of its huge market size, but also because of this product’s popularity among Apple ecological importance. However, Apple seems to have encountered some problems as to how the iPad can continue to lead the market, which may explain why Apple has not continued to launch new iPads after October 2022.

(Source: Apple)

But iPad It can still occupy a large enough market share of tablet computers.

According to data disclosed by Sigmaintell, global tablet shipments will be approximately 132 million units in 2023, down 18.2% year-on-year. In terms of market share, Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Huawei and Amazon ranked among the top five, with Apple taking 38.2% of the market share, far exceeding the top five. The second is Samsung's 18.7%.

In other words, if Apple does not update the iPad and "sells the old model", users will still pay for it. Why is it so weird? On the one hand, Apple's own ecological influence is far-reaching. On the other hand, the iPad has advantages in performance and was the first to establish the concept of "productivity tool."

However, the days of Apple’s iPad “simply winning” are probably coming to an end. As Android tablets continue to improve their performance and the ecological interconnection within brands gradually improves, the tablet market may usher in a huge change.

Updated one after another, Android flagship tablets besieged the iPad

The positive actions of Android tablets are in stark contrast to the fact that the iPad is not updated Compared.

Thanks to the rise of the concept of "ecological interconnection", various brands have begun to regard tablet computers as a must-win territory, such as Honor, vivo, and OPPO, all of which have suddenly emerged. important representatives. However, compared with the past two years, when various brands only positioned tablets as "an important part of ecological interconnection", as Xiaomi and Huawei improve their performance and peripheral configurations, tablets seem to be developing in a more comprehensive direction.

(Source: Xiaomi)

Not long ago, Xiaomi launched Xiaomi Mi Pad 6S Pro, its new generation tablet computer product, was launched. Although the "S" suffix means a half-generation upgrade, the emergence of this product undoubtedly sets the tone for the future development of the tablet computer market. The biggest surprise of Xiaomi Mi Pad 6S Pro comes from its "hard power": Snapdragon 8 Gen2 3K resolution screen and 120W fast charging. Even if it is placed on a flagship phone, this configuration is luxurious enough.

The tablet computer market has undergone some changes since last year. On the one hand, the concept of "productivity" has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. In addition to focusing on improving product performance, brands also More office-related features have been added, such as vivo, the new office suite and cross-screen interconnection have performed very well; on the other hand, they have worked hard on texture. Both Huawei and Honor have brought larger screens and more comfortable grips. Keep the experience.

#Although these products have developed in a versatile direction, there is still room for improvement, such as battery life, charging speed, or clearer display effects.

Judging from the leaked information, vivo is preparing to "shoot with two arrows" and release two products, vivo Pad3 and vivo Pad3 Pro in one go. The upgrade direction of this generation of vivo Pad is still to find and fill in the gaps. For example, the resolution is increased to 3K level, and the processors are equipped with Dimensity 9300 and Snapdragon 8S Gen3. As a user of vivo Pad2, Xiaolei experienced this product last year and could feel that the gap between its overall performance and the iPad was narrowing. However, due to the performance of the Dimensity 9000 mobile platform, it was still unable to perform large-scale games.

(Source: vivo)

It is worth noting that, The vivo Pad3 series will focus on batteries, such as increasing the battery capacity to 11500mA and fast charging power to 80W. It is not difficult to see that a major trend in the tablet computer market in 2024 is to focus on solving the problem of battery life performance. After all, tablet computers have been designated as "productivity tools", so how long they can be used for office work is also what consumers will pay attention to. question.

Xiaomi’s iterative products have long been exposed. Although Xiaomi just released the Mi Pad 6S Pro not long ago, the “S” suffix has made it clear that it is positioned as a half-generation product. Upgraded model, many new features are not available. The most important change in the Xiaomi Mi Pad 7 series is the design change. As the only flagship tablet product last year that still uses plastic frames and screen brackets, it still needs to work hard on the styling.

In addition to vivo and Xiaomi, flagship tablets from OPPO and Honor are also on the way. The most important thing for these products is to improve performance and battery life, especially the latter. The importance for this type of product is self-evident.

(Source: Honor)

In the absence of iPad In the past year, the progress of tablet computer products can be described as rapid. Whether it is ecological improvement or performance improvement, people can feel the enthusiasm of various brands on this track. However, how to completely break through Apple's long-standing market position requires finding a more grounded direction.

#AI mobile phones and AI PCs are already available, will AI tablets come?

Although each brand has established its status as a flagship tablet product, if you look closely at the direction of its focus, it is really different.

As the only brand in the tablet market that maintains growth momentum, Huawei’s direction is more like a “science student”. Take the Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 that was unveiled last year as an example. It is not only the largest OLED panel tablet product currently, but it also debuted star flash technology. Both hardware and software are excellent enough. It is foreseeable that StarLight technology will be gradually decentralized to other Huawei tablet products in the future. The main purpose of this technology is to solve the delay in wireless transmission/connection. For tablets with many accessories, it is undoubtedly a huge advantage.

(Source: Huawei)

Xiaomi implements the ecological concept of "people's cars". For example, at the launch of Xiaomi Tablet 6S Pro, it focused on the ecological interconnection with Xiaomi Automobile SU7. Of course, after switching to ThePaper OS, Xiaomi will pay more attention to the linkage between products. As one of the most important devices in its ecosystem, Xiaomi's tablet will also get more new features.

#On the other hand, thanks to the popularization of the concept of "productivity", the competition between brands has also changed from a simple performance competition to an application ecological duel . vivo has brought desktop-level multitasking to vivo Pad2, especially WPS document multi-opening, which allows users to make modifications while checking documents; Huawei's PC-level WPS and support for CAJViewer are also a major advantage.

# When talking about "productivity", it is natural to mention the use of large AI models. Currently, in terms of how tablet computers can improve office efficiency, most manufacturers operate according to the PC model, and the PC field has moved closer to the direction of AI PC. It is not difficult to see that this will also be the future development trend of tablet computers.

(Source: Huawei)

Compared to smartphones , the implementation of large AI models on tablets is even more exciting, such as natural language dialogue, AI search, or content generation based on AIGC, which are all excellent tools for improving office efficiency. Earlier, it was revealed that Honor will be equipped with MagicOS 8.0 on the next generation tablet computer. Its built-in magic large model has also been affirmed by Xiao Lei’s previous in-depth experience of Magic6 Pro with “significant improvement in efficiency”.

Whether it is the improvement of product power based on performance, or the efficient office collaboration tools provided by generative AI, this is foreseeable in the tablet computer track future. Therefore, Lei Technology foresees that emerging products such as "the first AI tablet" and "real AI tablet" will soon appear on the market in 2024. AI tablets will also become a dazzling wave in the wave of AI hardware, just like AI mobile phones, AI PCs, and AI home appliances.

Written at the end

Compared with a few years ago, the tablet products of the Android camp are not as good as those of a few years ago. The iPad has opened up a larger gap, and at the same time, it has even more advantages in ecological interconnection, office work, and audio-visual entertainment. During the time when Apple was "bad", the tablet market has quietly changed.

Smartphones are making rapid progress. AI phones, imaging phones, foldable phones, etc. are all constantly pushing users to change their phones. Similarly, as a practical tool, tablet computers must allow consumers to perceive improved efficiency and improved experience. If it is just a "drama-watching tool", people really will not have much motivation to replace it. As mentioned before, it will be a good development direction for AI large models to fall into the field of tablet computers, but which brand will be the first to eat the "AI tablet" crab? Maybe it’s Huawei, maybe it’s Honor, or maybe it’s Apple, which has been silent for a long time.

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