“Barclays‘s Ben Reitzes today writes that Apple’s iPad ‘clearly has the flu,’ citing lower-than-expected fiscal Q3 shipments of 14.6 million, and he opines that a greater focus on numerous uses in retail and point-of-sale might help the product to expand its addressable market.
“Reitzes, who maintains an Overweight rating on the shares, and a $525 price target, writes that in general, ‘the company may be well served by a greater focus on the corporate market in the future,'” Ray reports. “Reitzes reflects on the recent reports of tablet sales slowing for the entire industry, and he cut his own forecast for the market to 215 million units this year from a prior 242 million, though, mind you, that is still $76 billion in revenue, and a whopping 67% year-over-year increase.”
Ray reports, “Some of the slowing has to do with lack of new hardware of late to stimulate buying. He notes Apple is expected to bring forth several new versions of the iPad in coming months.”
Read more in the full article here.
With no new Ipad release, consumers are not interested in the tablet category and the copycats can’t sell their plastic crap. Somehow I like this scenario.
You said it all!
The Chelonia won the race.
The Leporidae lost.
Quality and innovations are not rushed.
Apple doesn’t need to expand its offerings.
It needs to streamline them and promote the benefits of its platform.
Knowing there are four multi-touch screen sizes manufactured for Apple; consider simplifying the product line would be a great start. Focus on screen sizes, iPhone, iPad mini and iPad… the fourth the iPod nanos lets ignore for now.
Get rid of the iPod touch, the name and category was transitional from iPod success to the iPhone. Yet the product will still remain – as I will soon illustrate.
Offer the simplicity of just iPhone and iPad. Essentially the same products yet presently the difference is telephone capabilities. Both use iOS and both have bluetooth, wifi and cellular data services. However the cellular category is a bit confusing. And, the screen size of iPhone still doesn’t satisfy all customers. So, the solution could be:
All Apple needs to do is:
to offer the simple option of a Phone or Pad
iPhone — OR — iPad
small 4″ / medium 7.9″ / large 9.7″ screen size
32 / 64 / 128 / 256 Gb
—
The iPod touch now becomes the smallest iPad and makes better sense in the category – plus – iPads no longer comes with a sim slot. Only the phones do. The difference is simple and obvious – phones have telephone capabilities – iPads function on wifi. Now there is a screen size that suites everyone. And the phones also include now a wireless Siri happy bluetooth ear piece – so those who use the larger size phones – don’t look silly holding a lager screen to their heads.
And a inexpensive iPhone would never be needed.
An iWatch wouldn’t see the light – no need to bridge a wearable item to the phone in your pocket – if your bluetooth ear piece can trigger all that Siri has offer. Furthermore, Apple then has also solved the car phone and navigation and texting regulations by the government due to handsfree cellphone usage.
Once things are settled this way, Apple then can tackle the entertainment side again. iTV, AppleTV and gaming offerings.
Do you really think all the people at Apple just sit around waiting for analysts to tell them what to do?
Thankfully NOT.
The day Apple gives a rat’s about analcyst FUD is the day I point at Apple and scream: “Marketing-As-Management! Run for your lives!” Caring about this Apple Bear Bullshit is as bad as the disease itself.
“Some of the slowing has to do with lack of new hardware of late to stimulate buying…”
Some of the slowing has to do with nearly 30% unemployment inside the USSA and higher unemployment rates outside the country. Put more people to work at other than part-time jobs and more iPads will be sold.
I noticed that quip!
USSA.
Absolutely brilliant.
I am absconding with it. 😉
And some of Apple’s slowdown is no doubt due to pirate copied “competitor” products. Imagine no Google and no Samsung ambush; Apple would be selling a whole lot more units. And Apple would also not have to run double-time to outpace competition — which is their _own_ stuff …that is quickly ripped off! Hopefully, the legal system will start to kick in right about now.
Our Company ourchased six of the first 3 generations …..
When the fourth came last fall it was a very small upgrade from Generation 3 with the power cable being one of the upgrades …. So we have not purchased a new tablet since April of 2012 …….
Apple will release a fifth generation iPad this Fall and I suspect it will be huge upgrade from Generation 3 / 4 and I suspect we will buy 5 or 6 of them again …..
As for our Macs at work …. We have 6 of the 27″ 2011 versions and they run just fine so we won’t be ready to upgrade until 2015 or something like that, if then …..
Notebooks we don’t use but we will spend about $2K this fall when FMP 13 comes out ……
We have four time capsules and they are doing fine ….. May add another later but that is not a big deal ……
Home I have a 11″ Air and wife has 15″ Retena …. I will upgrade when an 11″ Retena comes out but until then my 2010 first generation model serves me well ……
We also have kids and grandkids we pass our machines down to and that pipeline is almost full ……
In a way, Apple makes things that last so long, they are hard to wear out …..
Few years ago we retired a 1997 G-3 that still ran just os9 was too far outdated but you know what, it ran and ran …..
I had that 1997 G3 (beige) and ran OS X Server 10.2.8 on it.
It ran like a champ but it still had the legacy ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) and its processor and graphics card (hacked Voodoo) couldn’t keep up with the Internet.
Barclays?
Those criminal hacks?
*IGNORED*
Ok,
Somebody please explain to me why you need a new iPad every year? Surely not because Samdung said so? Christ, they are not cars.
Oh Lord!. Another rubbish articles from Barrons!. Sigh!.