Apple Achieves Record‑Breaking Sales, Outshining 2014 Bests

Apple’s iPad Boom Amid the Great Lockdown

When the world hit pause in 2020, people needed a new way to work, study, and binge-watch shows. Enter the iPad—the Swiss Army knife of tablets that suddenly became everyone’s new best friend.

So, What Happened?

By the end of 2020, the demand for iPads shot up like a rocket that was secretly a family travel brochure.
Apple shipped more than 53 million iPads while the pandemic rolled on.
With that treat‑time sale frenzy, the company’s total lifetime sales hit a whopping 540 million units.

Why the Surge?

Think about it: every remote worker and home‑schooler suddenly needed a reliable screen. They turned to a gadget that combined incredibly sleek design with powerful performance. Apple’s “ecosystem magic” made upgrading from a basic laptop feel like stepping into a tech wonderland.

Life‑Changing Numbers

Those 540 million iPads aren’t just a statistic; they’re the size of an entire small country’s population—if that country were made entirely of slick, high‑resolution tablets. Needless to say, when the world shifted to staying inside, the Apple store stayed busy.

Quick Takeaway

Apple’s iPad sales didn’t just rise—they practically sprinted past the half‑billion mark, proving that sometimes, a pandemic can turn your “just for good measure” device into the biggest tech fad of the year.

The strongest sales year since 2014

Apple’s iPad Saga: From Startup Pioneer to Pandemic Powerhouse

Back in 2010, Apple stepped onto the tablet scene with the iPad, filling the sweet spot between a phone and a laptop. It was the first‑of‑its‑kind – a digital bridge that everyone seemed to need.

2013 – The Big Win

Revenue: $31.8 billion
Units shipped: 74 + million worldwide
Record holder for the most units sold in a single year.

2014 – A Slight Dip

Shipments fell to 63.4 million.
Revenue dipped a touch to $30.1 billion.

The Decline Continues

By 2018, shipments were down to 33.3 million – a nearly 50% drop.
At that point, Apple had sold almost 425 million iPads in total and had introduced eight different models.

2019 – A Sudden Bounce Back

Shipments jumped to just under 50 million after four years of decline.
Annual revenue returned to $21.1 billion.

2020 – The Pandemic Surge

With the world moving to home‑based work and learning, iPad sales exploded to 53.2 million units.
Revenue hit $23.5 billion – a 10% lift over 2019.
Q4 2020 (or Q1 FY 2021) alone brought in $8.4 billion, compared to $6 billion last year’s equivalent quarter.
Between October and December of that year, Apple shipped 19 million iPads worldwide – up 5.1 million from the previous quarter.

From a pioneering device to a staple of the new normal, the iPad’s journey shows how a tech icon can keep evolving, even in the toughest of times.

One-third of all shipped tablets in 2020 were iPads

Tablet Titans: Who’s Leading the Charge?

Snap! In 2020, the global tablet market rolled out more than 163 million devices. Apple’s iPad dominated with roughly a third of those numbers, claiming 32.5% of the pie—slightly shy of its 34.6% share in 2019.

Samsung: The Big Two in the Tech Arena

Ranked #2 worldwide.
Shipments jumped 44% last year.
From 21.7 million in 2019 to a whopping 31.3 million in 2020—thanks, COVID‑19 boost!

Huawei’s Steady Rise

Market share hit 9.8% this year.
Growth from 14.8 million to 16 million units.

Lenovo: The Notebook Giant Goes Tablet‑Crazy

Validated its fourth‑place spot globally.
14.1 million tablets shipped in 2020—up a colossal 66% from the previous year.
Market share leaped from 5.9% to 8.6%.