Apple had a pretty good quarter in the April-June period. It pulled in $37.4 billion in revenue, with a quarterly net profit of $7.7 billion, a healthy increase over $35.3 billion in revenue and a net profit of $6.9 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
But there’s one thing that could keep CEO Tim Cook, new CFO Luca Maestri and the rest of the Apple crew from high-fiving: limp iPad sales. Again.
The iPad’s Doing The Electric Slide
Compared to a year earlier, iPhone unit sales were up 20% t0 32.5 million; Macs were up 18%. iPad unit sales, however, dropped 9% to 13.3 million tablets. And so the iPad’s slow downward slide continues.
See also: Why Apple’s iPad May Have Peaked
Over the past four quarters—from July 2013 to June 2014—the iPad sold 69.8 million units. That’s down 1.7% from the previous 12 month period, during which Apple sold 71 million tablets.
Cook waved away any concerns over the tablet’s apparent slide. At least “iPad sales met Apple’s expectations” (whatever that is), even if it “didn’t meet yours,” he said, citing customer satisfaction and inroads made into BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China).
What’s Tim Cooking Up?
Slouching figures and a CEO in denial don’t generally bode well for a product’s future, but the iPad could be the exception to the rule.
Sales are likely to pick up later this year, particularly around the holiday season, especially if the latest rumors pan out. A thinner iPad Air mini and a 12.9-inch iPad Pro are said to be in the works and likely due out before Christmas.
So don’t count the Apple tablet out yet. Yes, the competition is heating up, but if those stories are true, both would represent the biggest changes to the product line in two years (when the iPad mini was first introduced).
Photo by GDS-Productions.
