The iPad is a much bigger hit than you probably thought, new data reveals

1 month ago 2

Everyone knows the iPhone is Apple’s most popular product. But per a newly published study, what you might not have known is how well the iPad stacks up to Apple’s top seller, and laps the Mac’s popularity at the same time.

iPad users are almost as common as iPhone users, and more than double the Mac

CIRP recently performed a survey of Apple customers to get a sense of how the company’s three tentpole products—iPhone, iPad, and Mac—are performing.

One focus was on understanding the power of Apple’s ecosystem, as determined by customers who own multiple products.

Michael Levin and Josh Lowitz write at CIRP:

iPhone remains the most dominant product, with 94% of recent Apple customers owning one…iPads are next, with 78% owning one. Mac computers have much smaller penetration, at 36% of recent customers…

74% of customers, virtually all iPad owners, own an iPad and an iPhone. Only 30% own all three, as that number is limited by Apple customers’ relative lack of Macs.

Different people may draw their own conclusions on the data, but for me, the most interesting element is easily the iPad’s popularity.

Its success is undoubtedly related to it being the most affordable of the three Apple products. Revenue gaps are clear.

Nonetheless, 78% of Apple’s customers owning one—compared to 94% for iPhone—is a staggering number.

It’s more than double the number of Mac users, and a clear success story for Apple.

I’d love to find out how many of those iPads are in active use, as I suspect a decent portion go neglected in everyday use. Then again, with iPad being Apple’s most versatile device, it can also be put to good use in a wide variety of ways—likely contributing to its popularity.

Perhaps iPad usage patterns will be the subject of a future CIRP survey.

Are you surprised by the iPad’s popularity, or anything else from the survey? Let us know in the comments.