Wow, the iPod dropping to under half a mill. Chump change for a company like this. We all knew it was a long time coming, but I still wish the iPods got more love from them. The newest Touch on sale is based on the old A5 processor for instance.
But anyways, the decline of the iPod is predictable, given that a smartphone can duplicate all the same functionality and more. They're simply redundant nowadays outside of people who still prefer a dedicated music player, and possibly parents who don't want their kids to have a full-blown smartphone.
Yeah and I would guess the majority of those iPod sales are the small ones. $100 for 2-4GB. For those on the go, working out, etc.. Their size will keep them relevant, but the iPod touch is kinda pointless at this point.
I'm not so sure that more than half are the iPod Shuffle. Sure, the lower price point would typically lead to that conclusion because it can reach a larger market but the iPod Shuffle also doesn't have to refreshed often. I'm still using my 1GB 3rd(?) gen iPod Shuffle in a waterproof casing for swimming. Still only need to charge it once a month.
The average price per iPod comes out to $167. That means it's both well below the iPod Touch and well above the iPod Shuffle so it could really by anything. I added up the three iPod Touch models ($229, $299, and $399) to get a mean average of $309 which I then added to the iPod Shuffle's $49 and then decided by 2 to get it's average of $179, which is very close to $167. That would mean when a random iPod Touch is sold one iPod Shuffle is shown (and if the $229 iPod Touch is sold more frequently than the others it would mean it's outselling the iPod Shuffle. Or it could mostly be the iPod Nano at $149 (I doubt the iPod Classic is selling many units).
They updated it to the 4" size and used the same display as the iPhone 5 back in 2012. Before that it was 2010 when they updated it and back then it was Retina but it used a TN panel whilst the iPhone 4 was IPS.
I suspect now that it's been 2 years and we're likely seeing a new display size we'll likely see a new Pod Touch that mirrors much of the new iPhone. I think the R&D and production are so minute and there are still millions per year being sold that it makes business sense to still offer it.
Yeah, everyone is holding out for an A7 iPod Touch. I'd credit the iPod Touch for the single biggest reason that Apple OWNS the college group. These kids all grew up with iPods and continued right into an iphone.
Which is all weird isn't it? Because they have said their numbers were sell through, not sold into inventory.... I would like some more info on that too tbh.
It may be because not much inventory was left in the channel before, so most of it sold through to end users relatively quickly. iPad is relatively mature now and the upgrade cycle is much lower than for phones. It was bound to start peaking.
Apple averages a 5 day inventory. Taking their iPad numbers of 17m for a quarter translates to 1.3m sold per week. That means that instead of a 5 day inventory they had a 10 day inventory this time last year. Not exactly the end of the world unless the channel inventory keeps increasing and this number indicates it is decreasing.
iPad yoy sales drop is an alarming sign, especially since the Air and Mini 2 offer a vastly better experience than predecessors. Seems like Android (and, recently, Windows tabs on BT Atoms) are getting too hard to ignore in terms of value for money
The contention that it's sales to the channel that matters in the end is wrong. Many companies have high sales to the channel, but poor sell through. A very famous example of that was the Hp Touchpad. Sell through was just 5% of channel sales, and look what happened there. I could give examples from Samsung, and others too.
In fact, quoting sales to the channel has been criticized by more than a few financial experts as being meaningless, because many devices can be returned.
As it was cleared up during the call last night, we saw that sell through, which is the only number that matters, was down just 3% YOY, which isn't bad.
Fair enough, and good info. It still isn't a good sign for the iPad though..with the latest iterations Apple tablets have reached a very satisfying level of polish and maturity.. I was expecting nothing else but increased sales
They're also facing new problems like market saturation and increasingly competent competitors. The first Android tablets were terrible but now they're fairly competitive with the iPad in most regards with each side having a few advantages.
If you compare it to the iPhone unit sales I suppose it doesn't look great but consider that the iPad is a "PC" supplement and even a "PC" replacement for a segment of the population not likely to frequent this site. It's not going to be replaced every year or even two years like a smartphone, especially in markers where subsidies exist.
Also note the iPad may have plateaued but it's growth was extremely strong out the gate. For comparison, it took the iPhone twice as long to get to the same 210 MM units sold.
Finally, look at the iPad in comparison to the "PC" market. It's the trouncing them in unit sales so even if it's hit its wall it's because the market is saturated with active users, not because the users are moving on to another product or product category, which is noted by Apple's mention that 2/3rd of iPad buyers are new to Apple.
Tablets will quickly reach the saturation point PC's did in the consumer space. The latest and greatest adds very little value to most buyers. The 3rd gen one is about the same as the Air in every way in terms of its capabilities. What will the next one bring? Thumb print scanner? Ask Intel how difficult it is to sell processing performance as a reason to buy a whole new machine/tablet.
Add to the fact, tablets do not break at any where near the rate phones do. The miles they travel are much different.
Also worth pointing out is the rise of palmtop ( phablet).
Me for example, I find a Galaxy Note 3 to be a better choice than a high quality smartphone + high quality tablet. It is a much cheaper option yet it gives me premium specs and performance, a stylus and great camera. It keeps all apps I need in one device, is compact enough to not feel cumbersome as a smartphone at all. Sure, a tablet sized screen is great, but even 5.7" can give a satisying experience and makes the device easier to handle than a 8" tablet.
This being said I hope in the future one new category will retire all of them - a foldable/flexible personal pocket computer.
So, the average sale price of a Mac is $5.519B / 4.136M = $1334. This, I guess, means that the majority of Mac sales are somewhat cheaper Macs, and the truly expensive >$2000 MacBook Pro and iMac versions sell in much smaller quantities.
But interestingly enough, MSRP for macs has actually risen $20 over the years as sales have risen. This shows that Apple isn't feeling pricing pressure in the markets in which it competes. His is good.
This is in opposition to Windows manufacturers whose increasing price pressure causes them to sell models for which they make no profit, other than from the crapware loaded on the machine. That is bad.
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ciparis - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
The com main your table should be a decimal :)ciparis - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Ugh. The comma in your table should be a decimal... I blame autocorrect for both.Brett Howse - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Fixed!tipoo - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Wow, the iPod dropping to under half a mill. Chump change for a company like this. We all knew it was a long time coming, but I still wish the iPods got more love from them. The newest Touch on sale is based on the old A5 processor for instance.kyuu - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Er, under half a mil? The table says 2.7 mil.But anyways, the decline of the iPod is predictable, given that a smartphone can duplicate all the same functionality and more. They're simply redundant nowadays outside of people who still prefer a dedicated music player, and possibly parents who don't want their kids to have a full-blown smartphone.
tipoo - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Whoops, half a *billion*, $461MBSMonitor - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Yeah and I would guess the majority of those iPod sales are the small ones. $100 for 2-4GB. For those on the go, working out, etc.. Their size will keep them relevant, but the iPod touch is kinda pointless at this point.solipsism - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
I'm not so sure that more than half are the iPod Shuffle. Sure, the lower price point would typically lead to that conclusion because it can reach a larger market but the iPod Shuffle also doesn't have to refreshed often. I'm still using my 1GB 3rd(?) gen iPod Shuffle in a waterproof casing for swimming. Still only need to charge it once a month.The average price per iPod comes out to $167. That means it's both well below the iPod Touch and well above the iPod Shuffle so it could really by anything. I added up the three iPod Touch models ($229, $299, and $399) to get a mean average of $309 which I then added to the iPod Shuffle's $49 and then decided by 2 to get it's average of $179, which is very close to $167. That would mean when a random iPod Touch is sold one iPod Shuffle is shown (and if the $229 iPod Touch is sold more frequently than the others it would mean it's outselling the iPod Shuffle. Or it could mostly be the iPod Nano at $149 (I doubt the iPod Classic is selling many units).
eanazag - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Agreed. And the pricing makes the iPod a foolish buy. Speaking of the iPod Touch. Apple hasn't really innovated here in some years.solipsism - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
They updated it to the 4" size and used the same display as the iPhone 5 back in 2012. Before that it was 2010 when they updated it and back then it was Retina but it used a TN panel whilst the iPhone 4 was IPS.I suspect now that it's been 2 years and we're likely seeing a new display size we'll likely see a new Pod Touch that mirrors much of the new iPhone. I think the R&D and production are so minute and there are still millions per year being sold that it makes business sense to still offer it.
Streamlined - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Yeah, everyone is holding out for an A7 iPod Touch. I'd credit the iPod Touch for the single biggest reason that Apple OWNS the college group. These kids all grew up with iPods and continued right into an iphone.gingofthesouth - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Actually, iPad sell through was only down ~3%. ~18mil last year, ~17mil this year. All explained in the call afterwards.MartinT - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Which I take means they stuffed the channel in Q4?Also interesting this distinction now emerges after years of claims that sales as reported by Apple were actually devices sold to end users.
gingofthesouth - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Which is all weird isn't it? Because they have said their numbers were sell through, not sold into inventory.... I would like some more info on that too tbh.raulr - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
It may be because not much inventory was left in the channel before, so most of it sold through to end users relatively quickly. iPad is relatively mature now and the upgrade cycle is much lower than for phones. It was bound to start peaking.michael2k - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Apple averages a 5 day inventory. Taking their iPad numbers of 17m for a quarter translates to 1.3m sold per week. That means that instead of a 5 day inventory they had a 10 day inventory this time last year. Not exactly the end of the world unless the channel inventory keeps increasing and this number indicates it is decreasing.darkich - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
iPad yoy sales drop is an alarming sign, especially since the Air and Mini 2 offer a vastly better experience than predecessors.Seems like Android (and, recently, Windows tabs on BT Atoms) are getting too hard to ignore in terms of value for money
melgross - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
The contention that it's sales to the channel that matters in the end is wrong. Many companies have high sales to the channel, but poor sell through. A very famous example of that was the Hp Touchpad. Sell through was just 5% of channel sales, and look what happened there. I could give examples from Samsung, and others too.In fact, quoting sales to the channel has been criticized by more than a few financial experts as being meaningless, because many devices can be returned.
As it was cleared up during the call last night, we saw that sell through, which is the only number that matters, was down just 3% YOY, which isn't bad.
darkich - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Fair enough, and good info.It still isn't a good sign for the iPad though..with the latest iterations Apple tablets have reached a very satisfying level of polish and maturity.. I was expecting nothing else but increased sales
Flunk - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
They're also facing new problems like market saturation and increasingly competent competitors. The first Android tablets were terrible but now they're fairly competitive with the iPad in most regards with each side having a few advantages.solipsism - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
If you compare it to the iPhone unit sales I suppose it doesn't look great but consider that the iPad is a "PC" supplement and even a "PC" replacement for a segment of the population not likely to frequent this site. It's not going to be replaced every year or even two years like a smartphone, especially in markers where subsidies exist.Also note the iPad may have plateaued but it's growth was extremely strong out the gate. For comparison, it took the iPhone twice as long to get to the same 210 MM units sold.
Finally, look at the iPad in comparison to the "PC" market. It's the trouncing them in unit sales so even if it's hit its wall it's because the market is saturated with active users, not because the users are moving on to another product or product category, which is noted by Apple's mention that 2/3rd of iPad buyers are new to Apple.
BSMonitor - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Tablets will quickly reach the saturation point PC's did in the consumer space. The latest and greatest adds very little value to most buyers. The 3rd gen one is about the same as the Air in every way in terms of its capabilities. What will the next one bring? Thumb print scanner? Ask Intel how difficult it is to sell processing performance as a reason to buy a whole new machine/tablet.Add to the fact, tablets do not break at any where near the rate phones do. The miles they travel are much different.
darkich - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Also worth pointing out is the rise of palmtop ( phablet).Me for example, I find a Galaxy Note 3 to be a better choice than a high quality smartphone + high quality tablet.
It is a much cheaper option yet it gives me premium specs and performance, a stylus and great camera.
It keeps all apps I need in one device, is compact enough to not feel cumbersome as a smartphone at all.
Sure, a tablet sized screen is great, but even 5.7" can give a satisying experience and makes the device easier to handle than a 8" tablet.
This being said I hope in the future one new category will retire all of them - a foldable/flexible personal pocket computer.
TiGr1982 - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
So, the average sale price of a Mac is $5.519B / 4.136M = $1334.This, I guess, means that the majority of Mac sales are somewhat cheaper Macs, and the truly expensive >$2000 MacBook Pro and iMac versions sell in much smaller quantities.
melgross - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
But interestingly enough, MSRP for macs has actually risen $20 over the years as sales have risen. This shows that Apple isn't feeling pricing pressure in the markets in which it competes. His is good.This is in opposition to Windows manufacturers whose increasing price pressure causes them to sell models for which they make no profit, other than from the crapware loaded on the machine. That is bad.
It's an interesting dichotomy.
tipoo - Friday, April 25, 2014 - link
Yeah, by far the most popular mac is the 13" base Pro. The Airs are quickly following.