Apple iPads Losing Market Share To Microsoft Surface Series Specific To Federal Purchases: Report

Right after Apple introduced the iPad lineup, other OEMs especially the Android ones started releasing a slew of inexpensive tablets with truckload of features onboard. Naturally, the iPad market share has waned due to strong competition. Following which, Microsoft came up with the concept of 2-in-1 tablets and invaded the tech world with its Surface lineup.

Apple’s iPads got a strong competition in the Microsoft Surface series, thanks to the spectacular reception of the Surface Pro 3. Since then, Microsoft has released the successor Surface Pro 4, Surface 3 and Surface Book. Apple, on the other hand, released the gigantic iPad Pro to take on the Surface lineup.

As far as the tablets sale specific to federal government goes, Apple’s iPad series has steadily been losing market share to the Windows counterpart, according to research firm Govini. In 2012, the iPads apparently had 98 percent market share among the tablets sold to the federal government. By 2015, the percentage had dropped to 61 percent.

In the same time period, the market share of Surface tablets jumped from virtually 0 percent in 2012 to 25 percent in 2015, thanks to federal government’s purchases. Android powered tablets, on the other hand, jumped from 4 percent in 2014 to 11 percent of the market share last year.

“The first-to-market may have initial success, but maintaining market leadership requires adapting the product to meet customer needs,” the Giovini report said. The capability of Microsoft Surface tablets to integrate with Windows PCs is apparently one of the main reasons for federal governments picking the Surface/Windows tablets, Phone Arena noted. To top it off, Windows offers more customization and adaptability when compared to Apple iOS.

As it turns out, a total of 10 government agencies made 88 percent of all federal tablet purchases last year. To be specific, the Army reportedly paid $22 million last year for iPads, $2 million on Surface/Windows tablets and another $2 million on Android powered slates. The dirt cheap custom-Android powered Amazon tablet is reportedly the preferred device of buyers from NASA.