Comments on: Apple iPad up 8 percentage points to 68% of global tablet shipments in Q212

By: ken1w

ken1w — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 23:21:12 +0000

Those competing tablets might sit in inventory for a while, but they are produced by the millions and will eventually get sold to some “sucker” when the price goes low enough (often during the desperation “fire sale”). So it eventually counts as a “unit sale,” just like an iPad sold at full retail price less than one week after manufacturing.

> I hardly ever see a tablet that isn’t an iPad.

That’s because something that is “sold” doesn’t necessarily get “used.”

By: Cubert

Cubert — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:39:31 +0000

I’m shocked it’s only 68%, although these are worldwide. I hardly ever see a tablet that isn’t an iPad.

By: Cubert

Cubert — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:37:26 +0000

+1.

By: AlanAudio

AlanAudio — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:35:27 +0000

The reason why Apple didn’t sell a netbook was that netbooks are crap. Apple doesn’t sell crappy products.

Any analyst who thought that Apple would have to sell netbooks clearly didn’t understand Apple.

A smaller iPad would not be crappy. Creating a smaller, but fully featured smaller iPad would be entering a new segment of the iPad market.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:28:16 +0000

Are the numbers about the galaxy S3 shipped units or actually sold ones? As I think this time samsung is giving sold units but it sounds bit strange..

By: ken1w

ken1w — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:51:07 +0000

It would be great if Apple produced an 8-inch table that is a 20% scaled-down, and 40% lighter, (and less expensive) version of the current iPad 2. I would get it right away…

My “reasoning” (and my point at the end of my previous post) is that the so-called “industry experts” are saying Apple needs to do it to counter the low-priced tablets (from Amazon and Google). That’s NOT the reason Apple will do it… to compete based on pricing. Apple will do it because a slightly smaller, and significantly lighter, iPad would be a GREAT product, period.

And, I don’t think Apple is in a rush to produce the 8-inch iPad. It will come when Apple is ready to release it. This sales data shows Apple is selling as many iPads (both types) as they can produce. Why introduce a new lower-profit model now to cannibalize sales from the existing higher-profit models?

I think an 8-inch iPad will be released at the usual iPad introduction time in 2013.

By: ken1w

ken1w — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:31:32 +0000

For things like tablets, the shipped number eventually equals sales, because eventually, there will be a “fire sale” to clear out the stockpile of unsold (non-iPad) inventory. Look at the brisk sales of HP TouchPad last year, once the price dropped to $99. Those TouchPads did not end up in some landfill or recycling center; they eventually counted as “sales.” So I don’t think it’s “BS.”

The difference is that iPads sell almost as soon as they are manufactured, so the shipped number equals the sold number very quickly. And Apple sells those iPads at full retail price, which makes it profitable and sustainable. The competition’s low-price “strategy,” whether it’s due to a fire sale or intentional (Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7), is not…

By: DeRS

DeRS — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:24:18 +0000

For non-Apple tablets, it is even not “ships” data. It is just made up “estimation” out of thin air. The fact that Strategy Analytics waited for Apple to report firm figures before publishing their means that their own “estimation” has nothing to do with word “data” — they were afraid to report dramatically different figure that would be blatantly nonsensical.

By: Ballmer's left nut

Ballmer's left nut — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:19:29 +0000

Not getting your reasoning at all. Just because a rival isn’t selling a smaller version of the iPad doesn’t mean Apple can’t make a success of it. No one is remotely saying that a 7″ tablet is competing with a 9.7″ iPad. By introducing a 7.85″ iPad mini, Apple is extending its reach in the market by providing more choices. What’s the downside in that?

By: deasystems

deasystems — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:12:48 +0000

More BS. As “el Tritoma” pointed out, Apple publishes unit SALES. Its competitors do not reveal ANY unit data, let alone actual sales. This is based on vaporous estimates of competitors shipments by analysts. Complete nonsense.

By: ken1w

ken1w — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:59:29 +0000

It’s important to note that LAST year, Apple main iPad competitors (for unit sales numbers) were products that tried to compete “head-to-head” with iPad. The competition only sold their numbers because of steep “fire sale” discounts on most of their units. Hey, if a (non-iPad) tablet product is manufactured, it will eventually count as a “unit sale” somehow, when the price drops far enough.

THIS year, Apple’s main competitors are low-end tablets that sell for those “fire sale” prices as an intentional (money-losing) strategy, to sell more units. It’s humorous that one of them is called “Fire,” because when they go on sale, it will literally be a “Fire sale.” They are mostly not even trying to compete directly with iPad anymore.

YET, Apple’s market share in the “iPad” market has gone UP to 68%, with Apple selling full-featured tablets at full retail price. Apparently, although most of the “experts” are saying otherwise, Apple does not need to release a $299 8-inch iPad anytime soon. They are the same ones who said Apple had to produce a “netbook.”

By: el Tritoma

el Tritoma — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:47:42 +0000

apple sells, everyone else ships.