Why Tablets Aren’t Dead

Contrary to public opinion, the iPad has a remarkably bright future. Here are three reasons why.

Abe Vigoda. Dead.

The Chicago Cubs’ playoff chances. Likely dead, even before the season has begun.

Tablets. Not dead.

Not by a long shot, despite what Romain Dillet of TechCrunch wrote last month in his report from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

“It’s time to face the truth,” Dillet said. “Tablets had a good run, but won’t be around for much longer.”

He cites three factors: cheaper-than-ever Android tablets, longer-than-ever replacement cycles and bigger-than-ever phones. Consequently, manufacturers are focusing their attention elsewhere. As for the iPad, Dillet prefers it to an Android tablet but finds it largely redundant with the iPhone.

And for those reasons, he writes, “Companies and consumers have moved on. Tablets are dead.”

Not so fast.

Android tablets may be going away, but the iPad isn’t. And won’t be.

Yes, Apple has experienced declining iPad sales (eight consecutive quarters year-over-year) and reduced worldwide market share (23.1 percent of global shipments in 2015, down from 27.3 percent in 2014). But the installed base is large and active. Apple has sold nearly 300 million iPads since launching the device in 2010, and however many remain in circulation account for nearly 80 percent of all web traffic from tablets today.

Three reasons to bet on the tablet; in particular, the iPad:

Apps

It’s no wonder businesses have been reluctant to buy iPads — there weren’t apps to show them what was possible. Now that Apple has beefed up its hardware with faster processors and detachable keyboards, and its operating system with enterprise-grade security and multitasking capabilities, next come apps — apps that connect business problems with solutions.

Apple has teamed with IBM to create more than 100 MobileFirst apps across 14 industries to inspire the enterprise. Next, it created a mobility partner program that now includes more than 90 companies, including ScrollMotion. These companies are working with Apple to turn their standalone apps into interconnected solutions for businesses.

A video on Apple’s website shows how a retailer can connect point of sale, accounting and scheduling into one seamless process using iPad apps from mobility partners Vend, Xero and Deputy.

Many businesses have taken the first step toward business transformation by using iPads as cash registers. Think about what happens when those iPads are untethered from the checkout counter and used to engage customers, manage operations and train employees. Connected apps change the way managers manage, salespeople sell and shoppers shop. As that happens, iPads become indispensable.

In December 2015, Business was the second-most popular category in the App Store, trailing only Games. As business apps proliferate, particularly apps that businesses can customize themselves, iPad sales to businesses will soar.

Mobility

Tablets give businesses the ability to deploy salespeople anywhere — in a coffee shop, a living room, even a bar stool — with interactive touchscreens that educate and excite consumers. That’s where the iPhone comes up short: too small to deliver presentations that a customer can tap or swipe, let alone see; too personal to hand over to a complete stranger.

Studies have demonstrated that iPads can help improve learning and comprehension among students. Those same characteristics make tablets an unparalleled sales tool. When a customer touches the screen, that person establishes a physical connection to the content that extends all the way from the finger to the brain — and very often, the wallet.

It’s not just big business but small ones, too. Think of them as businesses without walls — 23 million sole proprietorships that represent 82 percent of all small businesses in America. For these business owners, the iPad lets them bring a highly interactive customer experience anywhere they have the opportunity to sell.

It doesn’t stop there. Add to the equation 53 million freelancers in the U.S. alone, a number that keeps growing. That’s one-third of this country’s workforce, a number expected to climb to 40 percent by 2020. These freelancers, and those who go on to start their own businesses without walls, will drive increased demand for tablets that help them set up shop anywhere.

Darwinism

Funny that Dillet ruled out the iPad because he already has an iPhone. It’s the other device in his messenger bag that the iPad replaces: his laptop.

With more capable hardware, apps that do more, and more people who need to work anywhere, tablets will replace laptops. One out of five tablets sold in 2015 had a detachable keyboard, including 2 million new iPad Pros. Apple outsold Microsoft (1.6 million Surface devices) in the fourth quarter, even though the Pro wasn’t available for sale until November 11.

Evolution has already begun. Eli Lilly and Co. bought iPads last month for 15,000 employees, including sales representatives and district sales managers. “Lilly has eliminated laptops in the field and is upgrading its U.S. field sales team to iPad Pro,” Apple CFO Luca Maestri said in a January 26 earnings call. Lilly cited three goals: to “enhance interactions with health care providers, improve sales representative productivity and reduce costs.”

The enormous iPad Pro isn’t for everyone. A smaller version is rumored to be coming March 21. A Pencil-friendly screen, A9X processor and Smart Connector would help make iPads even more attractive to businesses. So far we’ve only seen keyboards use the new magnetic port. More accessories would further push adoption, providing the nudge Apple needs to get existing owners to upgrade their iPads.

Vital signs abound for the iPad, even as sales reports suggest otherwise. As for the grim prognosis put forth by TechCrunch, it’s worth noting that six years ago that same website declared “The Mouse Is Dead” and followed up a year later with an article headlined “Still Think The Mouse Isn’t Dead?”

Eventually they may be right, that the mouse really will be dead, trumped by technology far superior:

Tablets.

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Joe Zeff is Vice President/Executive Creative Director at ScrollMotion in New York City. Follow him at @joezeffdesign.