“According to Adobe, Apple’s iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini — it didn’t specify which version — were two of the four best-selling electronics products online during the two-day Thanksgiving and Black Friday period,” Adam Levine-Weinberg writes for The Motley Fool.
“Thanks to its big gift card offers, Target was probably the biggest winner from the strong demand for iPads,” Levine-Weinberg writes. “It began its ‘Black Friday’ sale online early on Thanksgiving Day and then opened its stores at 6 p.m. that evening. Target says that it sold an average of an iPad a second throughout Thanksgiving Day. If that’s literally true, then Target sold 86,400 iPads on Thanksgiving. That’s not too shabby for a supposedly moribund product on a single day at a single retailer that operates in a single country!”
“Consumers showed last week that they are still interested in buying iPads: at least if they’re on sale,” Levine-Weinberg writes. “The apparently strong sales performance at mass retailers like Target on Thanksgiving and Black Friday suggests that a return to growth could be right around the corner.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Imagine the sales if Apple actually had a new — instead of a 13-month old — 9.7-inch iPad available for sale this year!
Exactly! I’m waiting on the next iteration not being in any particular big hurry to upgrade my iPad 3.
Me too. Hoping next gen iPad Air will be Apple Pencil capable. Then, if they would only make it in yellow.
I am holding out for a particular shade of grey green and then I will buy a case that will hide any evidence of the colour.
I meant the pencil. Thinking classic No2. Sorry for the lack of clarity.
iOS9 has so revitalised my iPad 3 that Apple have probably given it an extra year of life, just don’t tell them or they may go back to sitting on development again if they think it will dampen sales.
The iPad is not dead, the problem is that they don’t need replacing very often. I take me retina Mini with me everywhere, its the most personal computer than I have ever owned.
I bought a 64GB iPad Air 2 from Staples for $175 off early on Thanksgiving Day. Just too good to pass up with a big discount like that.
Any ideas when the Air 3 is coming?
I’m not sure if it really matters if the iPad is still a viable product. If Apple is unable to convince big investors that iPads are worth selling, then Apple has already lost the battle. Most of the articles on the internet about the iPad is that it is a failing business. At one point it was the number two product behind the iPhone. Now I think it’s number three behind the desktop Macs.
As far as Wall Street is concerned, the iPad business is a failing business and it’s valued as such. Everyone knows iPad sales are declining no matter what the reason and Apple is powerless to stop that from happening. Apple should continue to sell iPads because it is a good product but sales will never grow again to former levels. The huge glut of Android tablets on the market will see to that. And of course, Microsoft also wants to take remaining tablet market share from Apple.
It’s a shame that some on Wall Street don’t see Apple as a growing ecosystem retailer. Not everyone needs the newest iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, etc. every year. For example, my uncle likes his iPhone and Mac, but loves his iPad Mini. He will probably upgrade his Mini this year, but will wait until a year or two to upgrade his phone (he is still rocking an original 4s). In contrast, I get a new iPhone every year because I love the Plus form factor and use the hell out of it.
What investors might be missing is the fact that my uncle, my mom, my dad, other aunts, uncles and friends will never purchase Microsoft-centric hardware ever again. My circle can’t be the only one like this. Over the last few years millions and millions of people have migrated from the Android and Microsoft lands into the Apple World. Over the next several years these folks will be purchasing additional Apple tools. Not forecasting for these ever increasing, future revenue streams is a mistake.
Wall Street acts illogically, so trying to please Wall Street wouldn’t get Apple anywhere. If Wall Street can’t see that Apple is making far more money from iPads than all the other tablet makers put together – just as it does with smartphones, then it’s not Apple that has the problem.
There is a huge glut of Android tablets because they are useless but cheap. In a branch of my family, three people got through six or seven cheap tablets in just a couple of years, but one of them switched to an iPad and it’s still going strong. The others have since followed suit and won’t be wasting their money on cheap rubbish any more.
I can see why Android tablets initially sell well. If you buy one, you are likely to need to replace it fairly soon and they’re cheap enough to buy on impulse. But nobody is making money on those tablets and the users either get put off tablets altogether, or switch to iPads. Only Apple has a sustainable business model for that market sector.
I just bought a new iPad Air (still have a 4th gen iPad, and an older iPad Air). My wife, however, resolutely continues to use the 1st gen iPad I bought for her in July of 2010.
Wall Street simply play a host of games with Apple inc. stock, from day traders to hedge funds. They all know it’s a safe pair of hands, with its huge cash pile and market leading technology.
The iPad is not even close to declining or “dead”. It is part of a multi-device strategy, that focuses on what customers use in their armoury of devices. Let me explain: Apple inc. released the iPad mini to provide a smaller iPad form factor for users who saw more convenience in a more mobile form factor; then, they released an iPhone 6 Plus, which increased the iPhone screen size; bingo!, a lot of users decided that they actually preferred an iPhone 6 Plus form factor to an iPad mini; what did this achieve, you may ask: it actually moved that user from an iPad longer replacement cycle to an iPhone replacement cycle, which is a pretty smart move!
So, in summary, Apple inc. sold more iPhones in place of less iPads. Overall, the effect is a significant increase in the number of devices Apple inc. sold.
Don’t forget that when Apple allows one product category to cannibalise another, it’s usually a more expensive and profitable product that does the cannibalisation. Trading lower sales of small iPads for higher sales of large iPhones is an excellent business plan.
We remember how iPods were replaced by iPhones and now we see that smaller iPads are being replaced by larger iPhones.
An earlier version of this story made me think about something new, that is that the iPad Mini is the perfect and preferred tablet for kids. Its smaller form factor isn’t necessarily about portability but “holdability” by small hands. Kids using Minis as their first computers will become lifelong Apple customers as they get their first iPhones and bigger iPads/Macs.
Apple should consolidate reporting to Mobile/iOS devices, Macs, Services and Other
Then report iPhone, and iPad as a single category
This will solve a lot of perception issues.