How Many iPads Have Been Sold?

After an early spike, the market for new iPads stabilized

By
Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations
Writer
  • University of Texas at Arlington
Daniel Nations has been a tech journalist since 1994. His work has appeared in Computer Currents, The Examiner, and other publications. He is a developer who has published apps in the Apple App Store, Google Play marketplace and Amazon Appstore; he also has worked as a data analyst and DB administrator.
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Updated on September 11, 2024

At the September 2020 Time Flies Event, Tim Cook confirmed that Apple had sold more than 500 million iPads since the original debuted in 2010.

The sales figures reported below include the original 9.7-inch iPad and the 7.9-inch iPad Mini, which was introduced in 2012 all the way through the introduction of the 6th generation iPad in 2018.

iPad Sales by Year

The original iPad sold 3.27 million units in its first quarter and was deemed a success.

Apple sold 16.12 million units in the first quarter of fiscal 2016, and this number was called a disappointment because it failed to surpass the 21.42 million sold in the first quarter of 2015 or the 26.04 million sold in the first quarter of 2014.

Apple's fiscal year starts in October, so Q1 sales account for the holiday season. While the original iPad debuted in March, the company switched to an October-November time frame with the 4th generation iPad.

In a phone call following the end of the fiscal fourth quarter in 2018, Tim Cook announced that Apple would no longer report quarterly iPhone and iPad sales.

Year Sales
2010 7.4 million
2011 32.3 million
2012 58.1 million
2013 73.9 million
2014 67.9 million
2015 53.8 million
2016 45.5 million
2017 43.7 million
2018 43.5 million

Are iPad Sales Declining?

In a word: Yes. But this is to be expected. If the computer were just now invented, it would have amazing sales for the first five years, but eventually, most people that wanted a computer would already have one.

New sales would have to come from some other avenue such as businesses, new markets where people couldn't originally afford a computer, or upgrades from people who thought their computer required replacement.

The upgrade cycle is what drives the industry. Most of us have a computer, and we only buy one when our old one breaks or becomes outdated.

The iPad has started that same cycle, with the iPad 2 and original iPad Mini—two of the best-selling iPads of all time—now among the best iPads that are obsolete.

Apple is also focusing more on the enterprise market with the release of the iPad Pro line of tablets, which rival laptop performance.

The M4-powered iPad Pros released in 2024 provided a long-awaited refresh to the iPad lineup after a release drought from 2022 to 2024.

And while the iPad may never again reach peak sales like the 26 million units sold in the first fiscal quarter of 2014, iPad sales have mostly stabilized. Through 2018, Apple reported an average of 10 million units sold per quarter.

Although tablet purchases have declined overall in recent years, according to findings by IDC, sales are increasing, and Apple is the leader of the pack, selling about 12.3 million units in the second quarter of 2024.

Steve Jobs holding up the original iPad in 2010

Matt Buchanan / Flickr / Wikimedia Commons
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