“Now five years old, Apple’s iPad tablet is still the company’s fastest-selling product line of all time. But not for long,” Dan Frommer reports for Quartz. “As iPad demand has slowed, its cumulative sales curve is likely to fall behind the iPhone’s within the next six months.”
“The iPad, launched in early 2010, set records as the fastest Apple product to hit 10 million shipments (during its first year); 100 million (third year); and 250 million (fifth year),” Frommer reports. “But its trajectory has flattened.”
“Meanwhile, iPhone shipments hit 500 million cumulative units in early 2014, almost seven years after its launch,” Frommer reports. “With sales slowing, it seems unlikely the iPad will reach that mark as quickly.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: For an unsubsidized device – contrary to iPhone that turns over every 1-2 years – Apple simply made and continue to make iPads too well for their own good. iPads last and last and last. A larger iPad plus the Apple+IBM MobileFirst for iOS partnership will go a long way towards revitalizing iPad unit sales growth.
+1 on MDN comments.
The difference is many people simply don’t NEED an iPad, while they need a mobile phone. So their iPhone gets updated more frequently (and at a lower cost thanks to subsidization in the U.S.), but the iPad is updated more like a Mac is updated. The other factor is the iPad has only received mostly evolutionary updates, such as being thinner, lighter, faster processor. Nothing majorly different (obviously the iPad mini was introduced, but who needs both a mini and regular?).
I’m getting fed up with my iPad 2’s sluggish performance under iOS 8, and it’s time to upgrade. But I don’t need to do it, so I’ll wait until the next iPad update to see if something really different comes along.
I think you are right. There is such a continuum of devices that only a few people will really need Watch + iPhone + iPad + Mac Book. After getting a 6+ i hardly using my iPad.
But if they called the 6+ an “iPad Nano” (which it really is) then iPad sales would be through the roof and iPhone sales diving.
I think the total iOS device sales is the right number to track.
I have an iPad v1 which is still going strong with excellent battery life. My iPad v2 is also in great condition. Both are not the fastest though and I use them for specific tasks they still are capable of.
I had three iPad v3’s die on me. Two were replaced under warranty and the third one I traded in at the Apple Store when I got my iPad Air v2 recently. I hope its build quality is on par with the first two, so I can use it for years to come.
Agreed. I have an iPad v1 and if it was replaced/udated I’d use it for much the same as I do now. (+ camera/Facetime use)
The only problem is the software is many generations behind and, like old Mac’s, the lack of a recent version of iOS means it cannot cope with some of the latest websites and embedded content – which causes it to crash out of Safari too often for my liking.
The machine itself is great. Great battery life, good enough screen for most tasks. And, despite all the ho-ha about weight and thickness, is not noticeably different from newer models once in a protective case.
I still have an iPad 2. The iPad 1, though good for some people, doesn’t cut it any more. The iPad 2 is slow now, so I am looking forward to a new iPad, but as long as it uses the current iOS, I have no justification for upgrading.
Too many iPads on sale, they should reduce the number of models to only the latest iteration and not sell the older versions once the newer models are released.
Take out the Wi-Fi models and carry only Wi-Fi – cellular models and probably only a 128 GB version maybe a 64 GB one as well. iPads should be treated as PC replacements instead of just Tablets PC’s usually have 3-5 years upgrade cycles so Apple should plan just like that.
It is a great product, at least for me much more important than an iPhone.