Neil Hughes
Charlie Wolf with Needham & Company said in a note to investors on Tuesday that PC education shipments fell by 265,000 units, or 13.9 percent, from the June quarter a year ago. Apple, meanwhile, sold nearly a million iPads in the K-12 market in June, which he said is "definitive evidence" that the iPad has been "cannibalizing" PC sales in the U.S. education market.
Apple's iPad sales in the June quarter were double what the company sold a year prior. The iPad also reached nearly double the number of Macs Apple sold to education buyers during the quarter.
"Clearly, a significant portion of iPad sales represented an expansion of the market," Wolf wrote. "But in view of the fact that Mac sales held steady at around 520,000 units but overall PC sales declined by 265,000 units from 1.90 million to 1.64 million units, we believe the inescapable conclusion is that the iPad is beginning to cannibalize a material portion of PC sales in this market."
In Wolf's view, sales of the iPad to the education market are only the beginning. He believes the iPad will begin to meaningfully chip away at PC sales in other, larger markets in the near future.
"In our view, the education market is the canary in the coal mine," Wolf wrote. "The next market the iPad is likely to impact is the much larger U.S. home market."
While the iPad had a strong June quarter, it was a mixed bag for the Mac. Sales of the Mac were strong in the U.S. business market, where it saw 56.6 percent year-over-year growth compared to an 8.8 percent decline in PC sales, but the worldwide home Mac sales fell 4.6 percent.
Apple reported in July that it had reached a new all-time quarterly record for iPad sales, reaching 17 million. Mac sales, however, grew only 2 percent year over year, but that was still enough for a new June quarter record on sales of 4 million units.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
39 Comments
Sheez! What a horrible chart! Looks like an excel creation....ever heard of Pages?
I sure hope this dude knows what he's talking about and this really is happening. After all the negative things I've heard about how useless iPads are for everything, I was beginning to wonder if it was actually going to replace low-end PCs. I had recently heard a few back-to-school spots saying that Windows netbooks were gaining traction at the low-end for students not wanting to pay for even $399 tablets (iPad). I wasn't entirely sure a tablet could replace a computer with a keyboard for students and that students would need to buy some Bluetooth keyboard to do any decent typing. The one problem remains is whether the lower cost alone of a Windows netbook would win out over the iPad with all things being considered. If the iPad becomes the student's choice in education, Apple will really have control that sector unless the warnings of iPad commoditization come true. I wonder if Apple can evolve the iPad into something even more powerful to fully take the place of low-end computing. I also hope that Apple will be able to meet iPad demand if tablet numbers in education suddenly explodes. Apple can certainly use two solid revenue drivers to boost revenue and hopefully, the share price will follow.
My GF teaches at a Charter School and they just bought all new iMacs for the teachers...one iMac per classroom. My GF also got an iPad which, for the most part, has replaced her old Dell POS laptop. The iPad has not quite replaced the laptop yet. She could do with an MBA as well. But fortunately we have an iMac at home. But she does all her email on the iPad which is quite a considerable part of her job.
It just kills me though, they go to the expense of getting iMacs and they insist on using Google Gmail, Google Docs, and Firefox...what idiots! It's so fragmented and just doesn't work that well. She's have a tough time with it b/c she's used to Apple Mail, Safari and iWork.
It is amazing to me how many people still don't understand the Apple ecosystem. I see people with iPads and Android phones! Bought because the phone was cheap! Ugh!
Or worse no iPad and just an Android phone! :)
Home user here. I sold my MBP a couple of months after I got an iPad. We now have two iPads in the house. I believe that within two or three more years, I won't even have my iMacs any more. The future is calling..
[QUOTE][/QUOTE]One of the arguments in favour of an iPad Mini is that it's needed for the education market but the iPad 2 starting at $399 woukd appear to be serving that market well. Children, from what I've observed, have no problem with the current iPad. It's claimed they do but that complaint isn't coming from them. If price is the issue, keep the iPad 2 around for still another year and lower the price still further. It's a perfectly viable device in no need of a major upgrade as a budget option.