Tech:The great tablet gold rush is over

Last week, Dell announced it will no longer sell Android tablets and will focus on developing Windows-powered 2-in-1 machines — a category that includes the Microsoft Surface and Lenovo Yoga — instead.

"The slate tablet market is over-saturated and is experiencing declining demand from consumers, so we’ve decided to discontinue the Android-based Venue tablet line," a Dell spokesman told PCWorld.

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That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Tablets sales have fallen greatly in the last few years. According to IDC, when looking at sales in the first quarter of 2016, pretty much every major tablet maker's growth fell year-over-year. Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tabs, the two most popular brands of tablets, were down 18.8% and 28.1%, respectively.

The only two companies in the top five tablet vendors for Q1 2016 that saw growth were Amazon and Huawei. Amazon's tablet growth was up an incredible 5,421.7% and Huawei up by 82.2% compared to the same period last year. The reasons for those two brands' growth are very specific (more on them in a bit).

For Dell, killing its Android tablets is probably the right decision. Despite generally positive reviews for its Android-powered Venue 8 7000 tablet last year (including Mashable's) — it had a premium build quality, super thin design, and Intel RealSense 3D cameras — very few people actually bought it.

Dell, a PC company that dominated the '90s and early aughts (no doubt in part thanks to its memorable "Dell Dude" commercials) with its super-affordable build-to-order desktops, is not a brand many people associate with tablets.

My own anecdotal findings confirm as much. I asked friends and family, people who remember how great Dell used to be, if they knew the company made tablets and none did.

To make sure it wasn't just a fluke and my sample size too unsavvy, I asked several tech-savvy friends and coworkers (these are people who are aren't gadget nerds like me, but know of the trends happening in the tech industry) and they, too, didn't know Dell made tablets.

When I asked those same people which brands came to mind when they thought of tablets, the top responses I got were, of course, Apple's iPad, Samsung Galaxy "something" (most couldn't name a specific model) and Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets.

Even iPad sales are hurting

When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad as the future of computing in 2010, the world didn't take to it at first. Many, including myself, brushed it off as just a giant iPod touch.

But once iPad-optimized apps started hitting the App Store, iPad sales started to skyrocket, peaking in 2014 before its slow decline to today.

During growth years from 2011 to 2014, analysts and tech journalists alike thought the iPad would continue growing and surpass even iPhone growth.

That, of course, didn't happen. Tablets are more like PCs than iPhones. Most people are using their tablets at home. Unlike smartphones, which we take everywhere we go, tablets are less perishable. Because of how most people use them (on the sofa or in bed), they're less susceptible to breaking and needing replacing.

Not only that, but the things people are using them for — browsing the internet, reading e-books, playing games, and watching videos — are less performance-heavy and don't need upgrading every year or two.v