Categories: Apple iPad

iPad Life Cycle: Longer Than An iPhone, Close To Mac

iPad Life Cycle: Longer Than iPhone And Close To Mac

iPad Life Cycle: Longer Than An iPhone, Close To Mac

It sometimes seems like fans of the iPad are always looking forward to the next release of their favorite tablet, but a new study suggests that many iPad owners are more attached to their devices than many realized.

The study in question was performed by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, or CIRP. For this report, 2,000 U.S. customers who purchased an iPad, iPhone or Mac in 2013 were surveyed. It was suggested that while iPhone users tended to replace their devices with newer models every two years, the replacement cycle for the iPad is closer to the life cycle of the Mac, which is usually replaced by a new model after two to four years. Some users may even be willing to hold on to their iPads for up to ten years, which is closer to the ownership span of a modern television.

Furthermore, the study suggested that iPad owners were willing to wait a week or more to replace a broken or stolen device, and that they were twice as likely to give their old iPads to friends and family members after they upgraded to a newer model.

Industry analysts are concerned that the relatively low replacement rate of the iPad could affect future sales as the tablet market becomes saturated. The concern is that iPad users will be more likely to hold onto their old iPads instead of buying new models and that new users will just receive hand-me-down iPads as gifts.

On the other hand, sales figures suggest that Apple has little to fear from declining sales. The iPad is still the highest selling tablet on the market today, with a record of 26 million units sold in the first quarter of 2014.