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“iPad has a great future,” said Cook: long-term more important than “90-day clicks”

While yesterday’s iPad numbers don’t look great – down 12.5% year-on-year, the third successive quarter in which sales have fallen – Tim Cook remains upbeat about the product, stating that it “has a great future” and that its long-term prospects are more important than “individual 90-day clicks.”

Quartz‘s Dan Frommer pulled together some of the things Cook has to say about the device, and while you’d clearly expect Apple’s CEO to put the best possible spin on things, he makes some reasonable arguments … 

First, argued Cook, the numbers are not as bad as they seem. The drop over the full 12-month period, rather than quarter against quarter, was 4%, with some of this due to reduced channel inventory, meaning that the actual fall in sales was less than this. Cook has referred to this in the past as a “speedbump.”

Second, while the consensus view is that tablets have reached saturation point, Cook says this is not the case globally.

If you look at our top six revenue countries […] the range [of first-time buyers] goes from 50% to over 70% […] that’s not a saturated market.

Sales are still growing in developing markets, with BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) up 20% for the full-year.

Third, Cook argues that while it’s indisputable that people hold onto iPads longer than iPhones, it’s too early to tell what the typical upgrade cycle will turn out to be.

Finally, he said, corporate sales represent a growing market for the iPad, with the IBM partnership key.

Over the long arc of time, my own judgment is that iPad has a great future. How the individual 90-day clicks work out, I don’t know. But I’m very bullish on where we can take iPad over time.

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Comments

  1. PMZanetti - 9 years ago

    Still LOTS of people with iPad 2’s and 3’s and 4’s….especially considering the 2 and the 4 have both $399 NEW offerings from Apple in the last 12 months.

    Those people who love their iPads will be back for another round when the device their using prompts them to upgrade. Just a testament to how good the iPad is, and the wide market is exists in.

    • sonicsoundvw - 9 years ago

      It was, at least until they released iOS8. Lots of angry device owners out there. heh

      • Really? I have a multitude of family and friends with iOS devices. There are no angry owners there. Nice try, move along troll.

      • Steve Grenier - 9 years ago

        Most people who care about having the latest software releases have newer hardware. The rest simply don’t care. iOS 6, 7 or 8, all the same to them.

    • taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

      Apple still sells the iPad 2 guys inside the original iPad mini. It’s not a good thing for developers to have to still support 4-6 year old chipsets. Apple should dropped the original mini, now developers will have to support or until 2016 because Apple will keep support the original iPad mini in iOS 9.

      It keeps many developers from making apps that take advantage of the full power of the newer chipsets. They could be speeding time making powerful apps for A7 and A8 chips instead they willhave to support the a5 from 2010 in 2016.

      Apple needs to move to a spring release cycle like they originally had for the iPads. The UI and feature sets don’t take full advantage of the larger screens of the iPads. IOS 7 and IOS 8 have very little to no iPad specific features. Releasing an iOS .1 update preview in later winter or early spring followed by a spring real of new iPads would make for a better experience.

      Apple does this with the iPhones. The oldest chips they sell are in the 5c and can run virtually all the features of iOS 8 and has 2 year old technology not 4 like the iPad mini.

      Selling 4 year old technology with 16 GB hard drive doesn’t give geat first time experiences. I have a bricked 32 GB air now thanks to Apple requirement of 2.2 GB of free disk space. I did the bare minimum and now it’s stuck in recovery mode and I don’t have an available pc to retiore it. Thankfully later this week my iPad Air 2 will arrive. Like many people here I’m updating because of ram issues of the iPad Air.

      Ioads are geat devices but Aplu needs to try to get people on a 3-4 year upgrade cycle like the 1-2 year cycle people are on with iPhones

      The UI and features of iOS on the iPad needs more love and optimized features. .

      • Mr. Atoz - 9 years ago

        I’m not sure why 4-year-old technology is a problem? Mobile software is not one of those cases where they push the envelope in order to drive hardware specs higher. This isn’t like the old days where every Chris Roberts game required a brand new rig to play it. Supporting older hardware is better for the consumer, especially when it comes to durable devices like the iPad.

        I know I’m happy I can still play modern titles on my 5-year-old PC. Are they the greatest in terms of resolution? Nah. But they still work. Same should apply to tablets. It’s also better for devs in the long run I think because it’s more potential consumers of their apps.

  2. Lee (@leemahi) - 9 years ago

    I loved the iPad 2 in 2011. Sold it for the iPad 3 because of Retina. By January of this year, I hated how slow and crashy 3 got so I bought the Air. Now I gotta have the Air 2. But, if I’m going to buy a Plus after bendgate gets resolved, I might want to wait for the 12.9 inch iPad to compliment. There is no way I’d wait 4 years to upgrade.

  3. Hey guys, you got a typo on IBM

  4. Chris Sanders - 9 years ago

    CEO Speak for we don’t really believe in it.

  5. Scott Lunsford - 9 years ago

    I have an IPad Air don’t intend to upgrade this cycle. The new iPad simply isn’t compelling enough for me to spend $1,000. Give me a real pen interface or a larger screen… and while you’re at it split screen multitasking would be nice.

  6. So the vast majority of people are not going to replace/upgrade their iPads every 2 years like a phone, that doesn’t mean that market is not valuable… its time to branch off into 1- small streamlined consumer iPad with 4-5 years refresh cycle and 2- bulked up business iPad Pro (also with a pretty long cycle but more customizable)

    • Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 9 years ago

      This is what I’ve been saying for years now. Apple needs to actually *do* something with the iPad form factor to make it interesting and usable. They make them a tad faster every year, but the majority of folks don’t care because all they do with them is watch videos and play the occasional game.

      Those of us the jumped whole hog into the iPad as a “real computer” and used it to replace our other devices have been left in the lurch. Now they are actually making them *less* usable by taking away things like the rotation lock and refusing to change the bezels, because in Apple’s view, every grampa should still be able to use one.

      I’d like to see an iPad mini that actually works as a “real” computer, with a stylus so you can sketch ideas down, split-screen, etc. I’d prefer to have a real work-horse that *only* worked in portrait mode myself. The only thing you need landscape mode for on a “phablet” is for movies and games which only play that way anyway.

      They really need to branch out into sub-categories of specialised devices, and I hope they are already designing them because if they are not, sales are not going to bounce back like Tim thinks they are. et’s actually get the post PC world started and make a tablet that’s actually *better* than a laptop. It can be done.

  7. Ali Hamodi - 9 years ago

    I will consider a new ipad only if apple create a stylus (like the S-Pen) and multi-windows. Other than that, I have ipad air and a galaxy note 10.1 and while the galaxy is a little laggy, it has great features that should be a must in the iPad. Apple stopped leading the industry with new inventions :(

    • irelandjnr - 9 years ago

      And what will you do with this stylus? Take notes slower than with a software keyboard?

      • houstonche - 9 years ago

        All sorts of things. Engineering work for one, is much easier to write with a pen than type with a finger.

        In general, I wouldn’t do it on an iPad regardless, but that’s not to say that someone wouldn’t.

        An of get as an input device is great, up to a limit.

      • Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 9 years ago

        I can’t answer for Ali, but I too want a stylus and the reason is for drawing. All the iPad “styluses” you can buy, are simply fake “fingers.” They are okay for finger painting and that’s about it.

        For the last 30,000 years, humans have used styluses, and they have always held them in their hand in the same way. This isn’t going to change no matter what Steve Jobs said at some media event years ago.

        I carry a pen and paper around with me always for ideas. Some of the worlds greatest inventions were originally sketched out on cocktail napkins and the back of matchbook covers for the same reason.

        Yes, the iPad has some styluses you can buy, but not a one of them actually works in the same way as a simple pen and paper works. You cannot (at least today) whip out your iPad and stylus and quickly sketch an idea. It’s virtually impossible because the stylus has to be held in a specific and vey abnormal way (dont touch the paper!) and the user has little to no control over it’s use. Current styluses have no accuracy or definition. Specific software has to be used in conjunction with the stylus as well.

        An extra digitising layer for a Wacom style pen, and having the touch screen turn itself off when the stylus comes near so you can rest your hand on the “paper” in a normal fashion is all that’s needed. It’s not even new tech. But according to Apple we don’t need it, and shouldn’t want it.

  8. Ilko Sarafski - 9 years ago

    I am still with iPad 2, 2011. iOS 7.1.2. Yes, it’s not THE best/fastest/whatever but it’s just perfect in terms of the things I am using it for. It’s like your clothes – yes, you see that they are not the newest, the older they get, the less “market” they have – you can’t go to an opera house with your 4-5 years old suit right? Same applies here. But you can still use it for MOST of the cases… :) Like with my iPad 2. I hope I’ll upgrade it next year with Air 3, then I’ll be able to meet the opera-requirements until at least 2020. :)

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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