iPad shipments expected to decline for first time ever in Q2

Shipments of Apple’s iPad line may soon see a year-over-year decline for the first time since Apple debuted the iPad in 2010. With Apple’s cheaper iPad mini just 6 months old, demand for Apple’s tablets is already taking a hit from increasingly competitive Android tablets, which now offer user vastly improved user experiences compared to the early days of the media tablet market. Apple is also being undercut on price by a number of 7-inch Android tablets and KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that as a result, combined shipments of Apple’s iPad and iPad mini will decline by between 10% and 15% in Q2 2013. AppleInsider reports that Kuo sees Apple selling between 14 million and 15 million tablets to end users during the quarter, and he expects both sales and shipments to pick up in the third quarter once Apple launches its completely redesigned fifth-generation iPad.

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