Andrew Orr
A new report claims that despite overall sales declining, Apple's iPad continues to sell steadily, and is second only to the iPhone.
While the iPad dominates the US market, overall it's sales have been declining, and the latest models reportedly failed to reverse that trend. Nonetheness, the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) says in a new report, that iPad sales are chiefly stable.
Apple does not release detailed sales data, so information such as CIRP's has to come from surveys. CIRP also does not give actual sales figures though, so its use solely of percentages is only illustrative of the differences between the iPad models.
It claims, for instance, that the iPad Pro is the dominant model within Apple's tablet lineup. Nearly 50% of all iPad units sold in the most recent quarter were iPad Pro models.
The base iPad saw strong demand as well, capturing roughly one-third of total iPad sales. However, the iPad Air has seen a noticeable decline in its market share. This model accounted for about 13% of unit sales, down from its previous performance a year earlier when it captured closer to a quarter of iPad sales.
Although CIRP's report lacks any actual figures, it is claimed to represent sales in the quarter up to the end of September.
Apple itself does say that Q4 2024 saw iPad sales revenue of $6.95 billion, marking a 7.9% increase from the same quarter in 2023.
Despite this increase, iPad revenue trails significantly behind the iPhone, which generated $43.81 billion in the same period. CIRP claims that it is, though, still ahead of the Mac.
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12 Comments
If true, amazed how much the Pro models sells. This is also true of surveys of MBP vs MBA models and desktops too.
Any time you make a list, one item will be at the top and one item will be at the bottom.
Long ago, before there was dirt, I was in a High School Latin class. My daily test scores put me 3rd from the bottom. Eventually, the two students below me dropped out. In the next test event, I appeared at the bottom of the list. The teacher asked why my performance had dropped. I told him my "level" had not changed. It was just that the two people below me had dropped out. The teacher didn't bother me again.
(Note - I had a profound hearing loss that no one told me about until I failed my Army Physical during the Viet Nam ... police action. Reading/writing different languages is a normal challenge. Hearing a foreign language is a no-go).
So it doesn't matter if items are at the top or bottom of a Gross Sales list. The important thing is they are selling. An iPad Mini may be at only 9%, but how is it doing compared to its competition. ... Oh, that's right, there is NO competition for that handy, very portable, device.
The thing is that iPads have gotten so good at what they do that they don’t need to be replaced every couple of years. I’m running an M1 iPP. Do I want to upgrade to the latest model? No, there’s no reason to. It runs and does everything I want. I got it planning on 5 years of use. Honestly right now I wouldn’t be surprised to get 10 out of it. It’s that solid. IPad sales trends may be more a reflection of them being exceedingly solid devices, market saturation, and Apple’s inability to position it as a laptop replacement.
Once again, too much fixation on raw revenue figures and unit sales.
Let's remind some people here why Apple stays in product categories:
GROSS MARGINS
As we know, Apple's gross margins are higher on pro-monikered products. If Average Sales Price (ASP) continues to climb, Apple will continue to pursue the market.
Remember that gross unit sales -- or the fact that any product generates revenue -- isn't a reason for Apple to stay in a market. Exhibit A: iPod.
It might be enough for other companies but not Apple. They didn't make it to a $3 trillion market capitalization by selling stuff at razor thin margins. Any American adult with a retirement account or pension plan should have some understanding of how Apple runs its business because your future retirement leans heavily on Apple's success in running a business with fat margins.