Smartphones are said to have spread to about 60% in Japan. On the other hand, the genre that continues to receive a delicate evaluation is the tablet.
Needless to say, smartphones can be used for various purposes such as voice calls, the Internet, and apps, and are tools that are always carried around, but tablets can be used instead of omitting functions such as voice calls (some products can make calls). However ...), it is equipped with a larger screen and is made as a tool that allows you to use the Internet, content browsing, and applications. In recent years, it has been widely used in educational settings, and it is said that it is often used as a digital tool shared by families at home.
There are several product groups for tablets depending on the platform, but basically the same platform as smartphones is Apple's "iPad" series and Android tablets that adopt Google's Android platform. .. The other is a Windows tablet that was born from a personal computer, and products that can be used in 2in1 style such as Microsoft's Surface series are gaining popularity, but now that Windows smartphones have virtually disappeared, Windows 10 has iPhone and Android. The function of linking with smartphones has been strengthened.
The first model of the "iPad" was announced in January 2010, and in May of the same year, the "Wi-Fi + 3G model" was released by Softbank, which was the only iPhone sold in Japan at that time.
From the following year, a new product equipped with the same 9.7-inch display as the first model was introduced almost every year at a pace of one model, but in October 2012, it was equipped with a 7.9-inch display and finished in a slightly more compact design. The "iPad mini" series was announced and launched in the domestic market from November 2012.
The iPad mini series has been introduced with new products in parallel with the iPad series. In October 2013, the second-generation model "iPad mini Retina display model" (later "iPad mini") was equipped with a high-resolution display capable of displaying 1536 x 2048 dots, changing the display that was not well received in the first iPad mini. Renamed to 2 ") announced. After that, the third generation model "iPad mini 3" was announced in October 2014, and the "iPad mini 4" was announced in October 2015, but the iPad mini series was not remodeled for a while at the end.
On the other hand, the standard model iPad series has been steadily increasing to "iPad 2" in March 2011, "New iPad (3rd generation)" in March 2012, and "iPad (4th generation)" in October 2012. Despite repeated generations, the name will be changed to the thin "iPad Air (1st generation)" in October 2013 and the "iPad Air 2" in October 2014.
In 2015, it was equipped with a 12.9-inch display, and the variation was expanded to "iPad Pro 12.9" compatible with Apple Pencil, and in March 2016, "iPad Pro 9.7" equipped with a 9.7-inch display. After that, in March 2017, "iPad Pro 10.5" was added, and in 2018, the redesigned "iPad Pro 11" and "iPad Pro 12.9" were added to further expand the lineup.
I've been using the iPad since the first model and replaced it with a new product almost every year, but I've been using the iPad mini series for business trips, travel, and outings, and I've been using the iPad mini 4 for the last few years. However, there have been no model changes for more than three years, and I liked the iPad Pro 11 released last year, so the iPad mini 4 has almost disappeared recently.
The "iPad mini" featured this time was announced in March this year as a new product for the first time in about three and a half years. It will be positioned as the 5th generation for the iPad mini. While the iPad series has expanded, there have been no announcements of new products for more than three years, and it seems that the iPad mini series, which has been completely left behind, has finally returned.
Unlike the iPad mini 4 this time, the iPad mini (5th generation) has stopped numbering the model name, and even on Apple's Web page, it is only written as "iPad mini".
The standard iPad series has also stopped numbering the model name in the middle, but this time it has adopted the naming of "iPad Air" which is the same name as the product released in 2013, and the naming that seems to confuse users continues. ..
By the way, although the model name of the "iPad Air (3rd generation)" announced at the same time is the iPad Air, considering the display size and support for Apple Pencil, the iPad released in 2017 is practically Positioned as the successor model of Pro 10.5, it will be a product of a slightly different generation including the chip set etc. from the iPad (6th generation) sold together.
