“If you, like me, were wondering when the iPad’s sales free fall would come to an end, we may now have an answer,” Dan Moren writes for Macworld. “Earlier this week, Apple released its latest financial results, including the first quarter of sales growth for the company’s tablet in more than three years.”
“Though Apple doesn’t break out its sales by model lines, the general consensus seems to be that the sales in the most recent quarter were driven by the company’s fifth-generation iPad, released back in March,” Moren writes. “The $329 model is the cheapest full-size iPad that Apple has ever released, and while it may not match up to the Pro line, it’s a lot of performance for the price tag.”
Moren writes, “The fifth-generation iPad has commoditized the tablet, while still providing the broad support and ecosystem access that you’re not going to get from cheap Android-based competitors.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yup.
iPads are too expensive relative to the perceived competition and Apple has obviously done a piss-poor job of marketing the iPad family (read: clearly explaining to the hoi polloi why they want an iPad over an Amazon or other Android tablet).
Sticker price is the biggest reason why iPad sales struggle to return to growth (the next biggest reason is that iPads’ useful lives last so damn long, they’re not rapidly replaced).
We would have purchased iPads for family members this year if they had been updated as they should have been for the holiday season and if the prices were a bit more palatable. Yes, we know what an iPad offers. Yes, we know they’re worth the money Apple’s asking for today; even being last year’s models. But, Apple should really do the math and consider making certain hardware more affordable in exchange for the backend revenue and increased mindshare and market share that will deliver. — MacDailyNews, January 6, 2017
SEE ALSO:
The worm has finally turned for Apple’s iPad – August 3, 2017
It turns out the iPad was just too expensive after all – August 2, 2017
Apple unveils new 9.7-inch iPad starting at new low price of just $329 – March 21, 2017
Is Apple finally acknowledging that yes, price does matter!
With a company, selling price and sales volume matter, but so does profit margin. It’s a very delicate task to get the balance right in order to generate huge sales while maintaining a healthy profit margin.
Apple will have very detailed sales data available and Apple are the only ones who know their true costs, so obviously Apple is going to look at how sales have gone after the price drop and will learn any lessons from it.
Apple could easily outsell every other smartphone or tablet by simply lowering the selling price, but the business would not be anywhere near so healthy and Wall Street would panic if Apple’s legendary profit margins were eroded.
We would all like to pay less for our devices, but most of us are smart enough to know that you have to pay for quality.
Wall Street already panics over many imaginary Apple issues and doesn’t seem to mind other stocks not making a profit, let alone the profit Apple makes on a bad day which dwarfs others.
Timeline:
January: MacDailyNews says Apple should make iPads less expensive in exchange for the backend revenue and increased mindshare and market share that will deliver.
March: Apple releases the $329 iPad.
August: Apple posts the first quarter of iPad sales growth in more than three years with “Services” posting an all-time quarterly revenue record.
Here’s hoping Tim Cook will keep reading MacDailyNews and following their free, very sound advice for years to come!
And yet I clearly recall MDN chastising people in the past who said the iPad cost too much. Something about deserving the cheap Android junk instead of bucking up for iPads; if you are worried about cost then you don’t understand quality…
Except that even then Android tablets were higher priced and before they were used as a come-on and services oriented loss-leader device.
Has anyone here used an Amazon Kindle Fire? Jeez, what a nightmare…probably the most unintuitive GUI I’ve ever used (including Windblows.)
Hey, maybe Apple should apply this same principle (i.e. lower prices = a lot more sales) to Macs? =:-)
Well, at least enough to compensate for the adapters and docks that some of us have to pay 100s of $ for in order to use the latest Macs…