Tablets may never again be the consumer sensation they once were, but they are finding new life among professionals.

Apple took aim at that market in announcing a
second iPad Pro model this week. Samsung started
selling the Windows-based Galaxy TabPro S last week,
while Microsoft doubled down on its Surface tablet
business last fall with Surface Book, a laptop whose
keyboard pops off to leave behind a tablet. Google has
its own using Android, the Pixel C.

Unlike early models, these tablets are meant to be
used with a physical keyboard and a stylus. That
makes them appealing to people looking to get stuff
done, whether that’s typing a report or drawing on a
graphics app.

“It’s no secret the tablet business has slowed down
overall except in places where there’s productivity,”
says Gary Riding, a senior vice president for mobile
computing marketing at Samsung. (“Productivity,” in
this case, being jargon for work as opposed to play.)
These new devices also have higher price tags. Many
sell for almost $1,000, or even more with accessories.
Companies market them as PC replacements rather
than devices for watching video, reading books and
playing games — that is, things you can already do
with your phone.

The Surface Pro 3 is “much thinner than a laptop,
and when you have the case with the keyboard, it’s
essentially a laptop,” says Ryan Hastman, who now
leaves his Mac laptop behind while traveling to raise
money for the University of Alberta in Canada.

Tablet shipments fell 10 percent to 207 million
worldwide last year and are projected to fall another
6 percent this year, according to IDC. But one subset
— tablets with detachable keyboards — more than
doubled to 17 million last year. It’s projected to grow
to 64 million in 2020 and represent 30 percent of the
overall tablet market, rather than 8 percent now.

“It’s not all doom and gloom,” IDC analyst Jitesh
Ubrani says. “Microsoft’s done a very good job at
marketing detachables. Everyone’s now jumping on
that bandwagon.”

In a sense, Apple was a victim of its own success
following the iPad’s debut in 2010. Tablets took off
with consumers who found them appealing
replacements for home laptops. But people haven’t
replaced them as often as phones. And as phones got
bigger, some people began wondering whether they
needed a tablet at all.

Enter Microsoft, long the king of “productivity”
software, which in 2012 designed a tablet that ran
Windows and targeted professionals. The Microsoft
Surface didn’t have the fun apps that iPads and
Android tablets had, but it had Word, Excel and
other Office apps long before entertainment-oriented
devices did. It also has a USB port and other
features missing in most tablets.

It took Microsoft two years to get it right, though.
The Pro 3 in 2014 was the first Surface with a fully
adjustable kickstand that mimicked the flexibility of
laptop screens. And last fall’s models were the first
Surface devices with Windows 10, which mirrored
traditional PCs much more than the Windows 8 it
replaced.

“Everyone wants a tablet, and everyone needs a
laptop,” says Brian Hall, Microsoft’s general manager
for Surface. “You can have an approach that says
people need to buy one of each, or you can have an
approach that says there’s a happy medium.”

The holiday quarter was the best yet for Surface,
with revenue increasing 29 percent to $1.35 billion.
But don’t count Apple out. IDC estimates that Apple
sold more than 2 million iPad Pros in the holiday
quarter when it launched, compared with 1.6 million
units for Surface. Apple’s advantage: apps designed
from the start for touch screens and battery
conservation, rather than ones adapted from the
mouse-and-keyboard world of plugged-in Windows
PCs.

Now, Apple is giving customers additional choice — a
9.7-inch iPad Pro that starts at $599, $200 cheaper
than the 12.9-inch original (add about $250 for the
keyboard and stylus). Just as Microsoft and Samsung
have done, Apple is targeting the hundreds of millions
of people whose Windows machines are at least five
years old. Apple says most iPad Pro customers are
coming from Windows.

Bryan Hughes, head of outreach for software maker
Adobe, says a faster processor and better graphics
make the Pro something people choose — rather than
settle for — when replacing PCs. Many professionals in
creative industries, he says, prefer tablets over laptops
for presentations, sketching and design.

Nicole Dalesio, an artist and teacher in San Jose,
California, says the iPad Pro’s stylus offers more
precision than other devices and “mimics the natural
effect of using things like brushes or pencils or
charcoal.”

That’s not to say PCs are going away. Hall
acknowledges that people have cheaper options with
traditional laptops. And while Dallas chef Nicholas
Harrison says his iPad Pro can do everything his
restaurants need, he has a PC at home for hard-
core games.

That’s not to say entertainment-focused tablets are
going away, either. Amazon has a healthy business
selling such devices for as low as $50 — creating its
own niche, just as Apple, Samsung and Microsoft are
with professionals.

“This is what happens as markets mature,” says Jan
Dawson, chief analyst with Jackdaw Research.
“There’s a lot more market that can only be served
with niche and segmented products.”