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Apple Sold 17 Million iPads Last Quarter – Is That All?

Apple has just released their quarterly statement for the second quarter of this calendar year and there’s both good news and bad. There’s no mention in the press release of iBooks Author, ebook sales, or anything else of interest beyond the number of iPads sold.

Many. many sites are blogging about this bit of news today so I’m just going to focus on one aspect and make a prediction.

Apple sold 17,000,000 iPads last quarter. As impressive as that number is, it’s up only slightly from Q1. What’s more, Q2 sales are less than twice that of the same period last year, breaking the previous trend of more than doubling in volume each year. Put those 2 details together and it looks like iPad sales might be slowing down.

I’m not saying that this is bad news nor am I predicting doom and gloom for Apple.

The reason I’m pointing out the flattening sales is that if they continue to dip then it will become a better and better idea for Apple to release the iPad Mini this fall. I’m still expecting it next spring, but when it does arrive it will generate an insane amount of sales. Apple might decide they want that jump in sales this fall.

On the other hand, sales are usually flat this time of year anyway. The peak in gadget sales in the US usually happens around the time of Christmas, and Apple is like most companies in that they know when the sales will peak.  There’s a good chance I’m wrong about the fall launch prediction, but I am hoping I’m right.

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Comments


Mark July 24, 2012 um 5:17 pm

I don’t think it’s so easy to dial this stuff in and out. They kind of need to have already planned production and distribution, whether it’s for this fall or next spring. I think it’ll be this fall, but if they haven’t already been planning for it, then they can’t suddenly decide to shift from the spring.


Michael Anderson July 24, 2012 um 10:23 pm

Maybe it is because math is part of my daily life, but someone calling a 44% increase 'flat' has no business discussing numbers … 🙂

Nate Hoffelder July 24, 2012 um 10:34 pm

You can’t really compare one quarter to the one immediately before; it’s normal to have seasonal spikes.

And yes, compared to past growth, flattening is a good term for the news today.


Samir Shah July 24, 2012 um 10:34 pm

Apple’s biggest problem for iPad 3 was China.


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