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9.7-Inch iPad Pro Is Apple's Last Chance To Save the iPad Line (bgr.com)
An anonymous reader writes from an article written by Yoni Heisler on BGR: The iPad occupies a unique place in the annals of tech history. Upon its release in 2010, Apple's first stab at a tablet quickly set sales records. Not only did early iPad sales outpace early iPhone sales, but the iPad quickly became one of the fastest selling consumer electronics products of all time. The iPad's once-auspicious journey, however, would eventually take an unexpected detour. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, soaring sales began to taper off, even as Apple began to introduce newer and more advanced models. Today, iPad sales are still slumping. During Apple's most recent earnings report, the company revealed that year over year iPad sales fell by 25% while iPad related revenue dropped by 20%. Hardly an aberration, iPad sales have been dropping for well over two years at this point. And whereas Tim Cook once took to earnings conference calls to praise the iPad, he now finds himself forced to defend the iPad against a barrage of analyst questions. Yesterday, Apple released a new 9.7-inch iPad Pro and it stands to reason that this is Apple's last chance to truly inject a bit of life into a faltering product line.
Revenue on ipads is 7 billion and that's just last quarter. So yeah it's down from 8 billion. boo hoo. It's only several times Tesla's revenue. The difference being it's profitable and Tesla isn't.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
A styrofoam cup is as good a beer vessel as a ceramic stein or a pub glass but which one feels nicer in your hand and do you enjoy more. Since enjoyment is what you seek, sometime luxury goods are not about optimizing cheapness. I was passing through the electronics store the other day and fiddled with the pads they had on display. The ipad was clearly the smoothest and most beautiful interface. it just lept out of the line of generic looking rectangles. touch it and the response just seemed lively.
If I were buying a dozen then price would matter. but i'm buying one. Why would I not want the funnest one for an extra couple hundred? It's a nice thing.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
I think that the answer is "market saturation". There's only so much call for tablets, period. They're a semi-durable good, so if you introduce it fast enough, it's entirely possible to get one into the hands of 'everybody' wanting and able to afford it relatively quickly. Now that 'everybody' has one, you're reduced to selling replacements, which means that, roughly speaking 20% of current owners will buy a new one each year, with another 5% or so of 'new participants', while you loose 5% or so due to competitors, changing interests, even things like deaths.
I don't read AC A human right
Because the dramatic title create analytic data -> ad revenue for the publication that publish it....
I using the ipad for music (daw / synths) and graphics, and there is no alternative to the ecosystem around synths on a tablet device, that has this smooth GUI...
I was tempted by the 12" iPad Pro due to its Pencil support, but went to a store and tried one and the silly thing was just too big for the majority of my use cases (reading, news, documentation). The new 9.7" version, however, may be just the ticket.
I also just checked and I can sell my current Air 2 model for about 80% of the original purchase price on Amazon.
Which is another thing with iPads: Not only do many of the original models work just fine, but every user that upgrades essentially puts another one on the market and takes out another potential buyer.
IMHO THAT"S a major, major factor in regard to flattened sales in the tablet market. And as you pointed out, that's why Apple is pushing keyboards and pencils and other accessories to the niches that might need (or simply want) them.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.