Apple Inc.’s iPad Pro Holiday Shipments Top Microsoft Surface Lineup As Tablet Slump Continues

While Apple’s tablet business continues its slide, Microsoft still has a way to go before it can claim the title as reigning champ in the market. Not only did Apple continue to hold the top slot of global tablet sales during the holiday quarter, but its 12.9-inch iPad Pro accounted for 2 million units sold during the period — 400,000 units more than Microsoft’s entire Surface tablet lineup, according to IDC.

That’s despite the continuing slide of the global tablet market, which fell to 65.9 million units shipped, down 13.7 percent from the 76.4 million units shipped a year prior. "This quarter was unique as we had new detachables in the market from all three of the major platform players," Jitesh Ubrani, IDC senior research analyst, said in a statement. "Despite lukewarm reviews, the iPad Pro was the clear winner this season as it was the top-selling detachable, surpassing notable entries from Microsoft and other PC vendors.”

While the iPad Pro is estimated to have raked in a couple of million shipments for Apple, it was far from enough to reverse its eighth consecutive quarterly year-over-year decline of iPad unit sales.

Samsung came in second with 9 million units shipped, down 18.1 percent from the 11 million shipped last year. Amazon tablet shipments nearly tripled to 5.2 million units, up from 1.9 million shipped during the same period last year, driven by its budget-friendly $50 Fire tablets. While it was the largest percentage growth among the top tablet companies recorded, Amazon is not expected to continue its success in the coming quarters, according to IDC.