This week brought us Apple’s investor call, where the results of the Q4 2014 were revealed. For Apple it was actually fiscal quarter 1 of 2015, but let’s see how the iPad did. Apparently, its sales were down 18% from the past year’s last quarter.
Still, Tim Cook remains optimistic for the following period’s sales. iPad shipments were at 21.4 million units for the last 3 months of 2014, quite a bit less than the 26 million units sold over the same period last year. The sales took a dip of 22% in year over year revenue, reaching $9 billion, compared to the end of 2013 $11.5 billion. Cook is upbeat with predictions, but only in the long term.
Short term, he says that he doesn’t expect the next quarter to very different or the one after that. That leaves us with 6 months with no innovation, at least in the iPad field. And this comes in a period of strong rumors and leaks about the iPad Pro, the 12 inch Apple tablet that may end up being unveiled in the fall. There’s still a silver lining here, as Cook says that the iPad is still a hot item for first time buyers.
Apparently, 50% of iPad buyers in the US, UK and Japan were new to the Apple tablet. In China, that jumps up to an impressive 70%. iPad usage rates are up six times from Apple’s nearest rival, apparently. So, don’t worry, the iPad is till hot, everywhere in the world.
