Posted on 02/12/2013 7:41:50 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The strength of Apple's iPad business is collapsing as lower priced, smaller tablets eat into sales, says Citi's Apple analysts in a new note this morning.
The 9.7-inch iPad's unit sales were only up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis in the fourth quarter, says Citi, citing IDC data. In developed markets like the U.S. and Japan, unit sales were actually down quite a bit.
The bigger iPad is being replaced by Apple's iPad Mini, as well as the 7-inch tablets sold by Samsung and Amazon. According to IDC, Apple has 38.8% of the tablet market, which is industry leading, but is down from its peak of 56.8% in the second quarter of last year. Amazon has 15.5% of the market, and Samsung has 13.1% of the market.
As the smaller tablets take share, the average selling price of a tablet is going to fall. We saw this last quarter for Apple as the average selling price for the iPad was $467 compared to $535 the quarter before.
As the selling price collapses, Apple's profits are going to fall. And therefore, Apple's spectacular revenue and EPS growth of the last few years are going to slow down considerably.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I agree- bring back US Jobs. But that won’t happen so long as it is cost-wise and regulatory-wise prohibitive.
As much as the Cult of Apple irritates me, an increase in sales, even if it’s “only 1.8%” is not exactly a state of “collapsing.”
“which is the vision of a man who was IMHO essentially his soulmate, although from a different generation.”
Jobs’ claim to fame was creating devices that dumbed down the experience of using technology while making the person using it feel smart.
Disney was an adult who never forgot how to play, and he showed the world you didn’t have to stop playing, or dreaming, or that there was little difference between the two.
Disney remained an adult his entire life, and the core values he installed at Disney enabled the company to withstand 20 years of Michael Eisner.
The means each man took to achieve their visions couldn’t have been more different.
They were both visionary. I think the comparison ends about there.
Jobs never came up with any of the stories at Pixar, he just helped create the systems required to apply factor-scale automation to the animation business.
And here’s the bottom line: What happens when you have $169B in the bank and nothing left in the pipeline?
You give it back to the investors. It’s when you know the party is over.
They’ll die a gilded death like Microsoft, unless MS can make their investments in quantum computing pay off.
Job’s genius was making ordinary people do extraordinary things. Tim Cook isn’t Steve Jobs, or Wozniak, for that matter.
RE: As much as the Cult of Apple irritates me
So, who do people hate more now — Apple or Microsoft?
Enter the iWatch, etc.
Apple still has something special to offer over the Android competitors: tighter hardware/software integration, a bit more simplicity, greater stability, and above all, greater security. Some of the anti-virus companies are offering Android products, if that tells you anything. Apple has tight control over the contents of their store and what can be installed on their products.
When I decided to buy a smart phone, I did a LOT of reading and then “kicked the tires” for hours at the local retail store before settling for the iPhone 4S. I had initially been inclined to go with Android, because as a Linux user, I prefer open source instead of proprietary systems. I certainly don’t like the iTunes interface. In spite of all that, I finally concluded that the iPhone and iOS were the best bet. A year later, I still have no regrets. I will always sacrifice some glitz and pizzazz for a solid product.
Exactly.
He isn't Roy Disney either. Roy wasn't Walt, but he appreciated him and tried to figure out how to emulate him.
A committee can't be a visionary.
A committee of eight half-Jobses won't even equal a one tenth of a Jobs.
I guess sometimes a partnership can (I'm thinking here of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, or Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore) because technical excellence is (in some ways) orthogonal to business and managerial excellence.
The next Steve Jobs is out there, but he doesn't look anything like Steve Jobs.
That "tight integration" was the direct result of strong leadership that was pursuing an integrated vision, coherent at over a wide range of abstractness.
The strong leader was Jobs, who - when he heard a proposal or saw a new technology - knew instinctively whether it would or would not "work" within his framework.
I owned a second generation iPod Touch. Apple supported it for two years with updates.
I now own 2 Kindle Fires. First and second generation. I have received updates for both.
“Apple has tight control over the contents of their store and what can be installed on their products.”
I’ve bought and replaced 2x as much apple gear as I have for myself, in presents and gifts for family.
“The tablet market is still expanding. The key is - continued growth for Apple overall.”
Indeed, the tablet market is expanding, everywhere except Apple. Apple has decided (perhaps rightly), that it’s customers are not interested in full scale machines that can do whatever you ask of it, preferring the ‘managed experience’, so that the majority of users can meet the majority of their needs, all while charging a premium. It’s a good business plan.
Can I browse FR on that? :-)
Most people who bought the first-generation iPads are still very happy with them....there’s really no need to upgrade, who is going to use them for a camera anyway?
The next game changer will come from improved battery life....give me a device that I won’t have to constantly charge...now that would add some serious value.
Can I browse FR on that? :-)
BTW, when they WERE $249, that was two months rent for most people. Might have even gotten you a fairly decent used car.
The way I see it is, apple has to keep coming up with something revolutionary every two years, as it did under jobs. Can it?
I love my ipad. However, the newer tablets have keyboards in their free covers as well as touch screens. They have USB ports! If apple doesn’t eclipse these tablets soon with a whole new dimension, they they will have to add these functions and they will be FOLLOWING, not leading.
We will see.
Silly article. OMG the iPad is going down!!!! OMG the iPad mini is soaring
Any tablets with FULL size USB (A) ports?
Not the mini or micro USB.
Thanks in advance!
With the marxists regimes taking over the mindshare in this Country....
You must be kidding that a sane businessman would move stuff back here.
The mini-pad market has been saturated for years.
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