Because 1000 is an average... And not the same, it can be much worse, actually. Most people, including you apparently, don't know how cycling works.
If you use your iPad, say, once every 2 month for 3 years leaving it on it will die after a few days and stay dead, until you charge it again after 2 months. Over those 3 years you'll have less than 20 cycles, wonderful right? Your battery should be like new, right? Wrong. You'll have destroyed the battery health of your device, which will probably be cut in half at best...
Same 3 years, someone using their iPad daily cycling them normally, avoiding going from 0 to 100% but charging before it goes too low and unplugging once it's charged, they'll have done around 1000 cycles and have a battery which is much healthier than the first scenario...
But, again, most people have no idea about this things and just assume that all cycles are equal...