NEW YORK — With new iPhones, Apple Watches and MacBook Pros expected in the coming months, you'd be forgiven for forgetting about the iPad.
There may be good reason. Respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities says Apple may be waiting on upgrading its tablet line until next year.
In his latest report, first spotted by
MacRumors, Kuo says Apple plans to launch three new iPads next year. This will include a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro as well as a "low-cost" 9.7-inch iPad and 10.5-inch iPad Pro. The new 10.5-inch model is said to be better suited for education, a particular area of interest to Apple as it seeks to build out the iPad market.
Kuo, who studies Apple's supply chain, has a solid track record on gleaning the company's plans. Most recently, he accurately predicted the launch of the iPhone SE and was among the first to speculate that Apple will upgrade the MacBook Pro with a fingerprint sensor and touchscreen display bar, a rumor which picked up steam last week.
Both of the larger iPad Pros will run new Apple 10X processors, according to the report. Unlike the iPhone, which will reportedly see a major redesign next year to coincide with the smartphone's 10th anniversary, Kuo doesn't anticipate the iPad seeing a similar overhaul until 2018, where it may benefit from new features including a "flexible AMOLED" screen.
Once heralded by Steve Jobs as the beginning of the "post-PC era" Apple's tablet has struggled to become the runaway computing platform of the future. It has seen sales drop from its peak of 26.64 million sold in the first quarter of 2014, with only 9.95 million units sold in the company's most recent quarter according to data compiled by
Statista.
With no major upgrade anticipated this year, Kuo has lowered his expectations for Apple's tablets, cutting his total 2016 shipment forecast to 35 million to 40 million units from his previous expectation of 45 million to 50 million units.
Even the new 2017 models may not be enough to reverse tablet sales, with Kuo still expecting iPad shipments to fall 10% to 20% next year.