Booming iPhone sales were the driving force behind Apples record revenues in the final quarter of 2014, with its $18bn net profit the largest quarterly profit reported by any company.
Even so, one part of Apples business wasnt so positive: its iPad tablet. Apple sold 21.4m of them in the last three months of 2014 compared to 26m in the last quarter of 2013 a 17.7% drop.
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The upgrade cycle is longer, said Apple chief executive Tim Cook, in his last earnings call. Its longer than an iPhone, probably between an iPhone and a PC. We havent been in the business long enough to say that with certainty, but thats what we think.
I was considering an iPad mini, but I bought an HP Stream 7 to augment my iPhone 5c instead, so I don't know. It's mediocre, but not terrible.
Maybe other manufacturers are just finally getting around to making tablets that aren't total crap for less than $300.
iPads are much less expensive than subsidized phones. The subsidy lures in dumb Americans, but to the tune of ~ $2000 in service cost over the life of the contract. Sure, you'd have to pay for voice service anyway but that can be significantly less than the cost of a smartphone plan (not that anyone rocks a dumb phone these days).I'm not surprised to see phablets cannibalizing tablets in the 7-8'' range. It becomes a bit redundant to own a second device at that point. I prefer the 10-12'' form factor. Preferably with a 4:3 or 3:2 aspect ratio.
Tim Cook is also right about the longer upgrade cycle. iPads are more expensive than the (subsidized) phones. So people are going to keep them longer.
I like what Microsoft is doing with the Surface Pro 3. It's light enough to be used as a tablet, but it's still a powerful full computer. Meaning it's not just a media consumption device. In a lot of ways, it's superior to the MacBook Air. I'm really curious to see what Apple is cooking up for the rumoured 12'' iPad, because it will have to be something along those lines.
iPads are much less expensive than subsidized phones. The subsidy lures in dumb Americans, but to the tune of ~ $2000 in service cost over the life of the contract. Sure, you'd have to pay for voice service anyway but that can be significantly less than the cost of a smartphone plan (not that anyone rocks a dumb phone these days).
It's cannibalization or cannibalize, just saying.
Get rid of iPhone subsidy and you'll see longer upgrade cycle for iPhone too. The new phones and tablets are good enough now for people to hold on for longer than 2 years. Cellular subsidy model just forces/encourages early unnecessary phone upgrades.
iPads are much less expensive than subsidized phones. The subsidy lures in dumb Americans, but to the tune of ~ $2000 in service cost over the life of the contract. Sure, you'd have to pay for voice service anyway but that can be significantly less than the cost of a smartphone plan (not that anyone rocks a dumb phone these days).