“The latest report from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims Apple will delay its expected launch of a 12.9 (or 12.2)-inch iPad ‘Pro’ as it predicts a 50% decline for iPad shipments heading into next year,” Jordan Kahn reports for 9to5Mac.
“Specifically, KGI thinks Apple will sell just under 10 million units in Q1 2015 following a busy holiday season in the last quarter of this year,” Kahn reports. “That would be a 54.5% drop from quarter to quarter with KGI predicting 21 million iPad units sold during the Q4 2014 Holiday quarter:”
We forecast iPad shipments will fall 54.5% QoQ to 9.8mn units in 1Q15, given a lack of new applications, tablet market saturation and slow season… We believe that, in a major shift, while Apple (US) used to be able to use new form factor designs to boost demand, it has failed to do so this time around. The lighter and thinner iPad Air 2 will face strong headwinds in increasing sales in 1Q15, we believe; we also hold that this means that iPad, along with the entire tablet market, is faced with structural challenges characterized by a lack of new applications and market saturation. – Ming-Chi Kuo, KGI Securities analyst
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
One media outlet, which we’ve lovingly nicknamed “Bullshit Incorporated,” is proclaiming Ming-Chi Kuo is “the most accurate analyst in the world” in reporting this estimate. You know, because getting decent leaks from the Chinese supply chain regarding future products is exactly the same as predicting unit shipments of existing products. (dripping sarcasm)
We’ve iCal’ed Kuo’s iPad unit prediction and will revisit it when we have Apple’s calendar first quarter iPad unit sales results.
