What happened to the iPod product category? iPod sales were cannibalized first by the iPod touch and then iPhone slowly cannibalized sales of the iPod touch. Apple has never been afraid of cannibalising the sales of its existing products. Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs famously said, “If you don’t cannibalize yourself, someone else will.”

Is iPad facing the same fate as of the iPod? Will the iPad soon not be a major source of revenue for Apple? To understand these aspects let’s get into the details.

From iPad Air to iPad Air 2 – Not a major product update

If we look at the current trend of iPad sales we see some interesting figures; in Q1 2014 Apple sold 26 million tablets compare that to Q1 2015 the company sold 21.4 million. In 2013 Apple launched the new iPad Air and in 2014 the company launched iPad Air 2. Apple sold more iPad Air’s than iPad Air 2 during their respective holiday quarters.

One of the most obvious reasons that explains the fall in sales figures for iPad Air 2 could be due to the new tablet not being a major update when compared to its predecessor. iPad Air was a radical redesign and added many enhancements however, the iPad Air 2 received a modest update with improvements being camera, barometer, new processor with motion co-processor, and Touch-ID. These updates were certainly not enough for users who already own an iPad Air to upgrade.

Was iPad just a fad? Before we jump onto any conclusions we need to delve further into the tablet category.

Different Upgrade Cycles

Unlike iPhones customers are not looking to upgrade their tablets every two-years. Our smartphones have to endure much more rigorous use each day compared to the tablets. So even if you still own an iPad that was introduced in 2012 it may still be working just fine. I have an iPad 2, Retina Display MacBook Pro and iPhone 5. Even though the second-gen iPad now lags in performance after iOS 8 update I still don’t see the need to upgrade. One possible reason could also be that after purchasing the latest MacBook Pro I have increasingly felt lesser need to work on my iPad.

Users’ tablet upgrade cycle will largely depend on what you use the tablet for. If it’s just for browsing, emails, and watching movies then you’re probably not going to upgrade every two years. If you’re into gaming and love to play games on your iPad then upgrading every two years makes sense as Apple upgrades the tablets with much more capable graphic chips and all AAA game titles are quickly updated to take advantage of new features.

Smartphones have also become an expression of showing off the latest gadget you bought as one obviously tends to use it more often no matter where you are. Tablets would probably never reach that level of attention. You don’t upgrade your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro every year just because a new model was made available.

If we look at iPhone’s upgrade cycle where the company introduces major improvements every two years and follows up with minor improvements the following year it still continues to outperform previous years sales figures. iPad category certainly won’t give the same results. There’s still a lot of scope for the tablet however, its adoption into new markets and industries is dependent on factors other than just faster processor and better camera.

More choice

Another reason attributing to the decline in sales could be the introduction of large screen iPhones. Users who would previously carry an iPad mini and an iPhone can now carry just an iPhone 6 Plus. Apple has been always accused of not offering much choice to its customers however, now its a different story.

There’s a 7.9 inch iPad mini, 9.7 inch iPad, 4 inch iPhone 5S, 4.7 inch iPhone 6, and 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus. So, even though iPad sales in particular may have been affected, it could potentially be getting converted into iPhone sales.

With the new range of choices now available to customers it may take a couple of years for the sales figures to stabilise and adjust as customers make their choice for their preferred device for various computing purposes.

Content

iPhone had a three years lead on the iPad. When the iPad was first introduced it was not until the iPad 2 that we started seeing a large number of companies creating apps for their employees. iPad’s growth depends a lot on the ecosystem of apps other than games and productivity category. As web developers, companies, educational institutions develop more and more content optimised for the tablet we will witness continuous rise in tablet sales. Apple made a great move to tackle this issue by partnering with IBM to create enterprise ready apps.

So, should Apple be worried about the state of the iPad? No!  Apple should not be worried about lower iPad sales as it leads in market share and competitors aren’t making much progress in differentiating their products from the iPad. Microsoft is offering desktop computer experience on a tablet however, it doesn’t appear to be working favourably for the company. So, clearly if someone needs a tablet they are still looking at Apple.

The tablet market exploded after the introduction of the iPad. Apple’s competitors are waiting on Apple to take the next leap so that they can copy it.

As long as Apple continues to make improvements and make more capable tablets each year, this category is here to stay.

Photos Credit: Ben Miller, Lap Fung Chan

The new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c have proved to be a huge success for Apple with more 9 million devices sold during the launch weekend. This is the highest sales for the opening weekend the company has ever recorded. Apple launched new two new iPhones this year with iPhone 5s boasting faster processor, new Touch ID and camera improvements while on the other hand iPhone 5c had the same internals as iPhone 5 but with an all-new look.

According to a new report published by Canaccord, iPhone 5s sales figures topped at all the major U.S. carriers. Samsung’s Galaxy S4 had taken the top spot on Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile for a while however, in September Apple took over as the top smartphone company in terms of sales.

When Apple unveiled the sales figures it did not breakdown the figures for different models. However, this new report sheds some light on the performance of iPhone 5c. The new $100 cheaper iPhone with plastic body performed well on AT&T and Sprint at second position and came third on Verizon and T-Mobile.

Some analysts believe that out of the 9 million iPhone sales in the launch countries iPhone 5s figures could be around 7 million and the remaining could be of the iPhone 5c. With such impressive figures Apple’s strategy to grab more market share could certainly be seen as huge win.

In a market where cheap Android phones outsell the iPhone, Apple has become aggressive by selling two new iPhones this year. Instead of selling iPhone 5 for $100 cheaper the company created an all-new design which would appeal to the young and ‘colorful’. Those who were hoping to buy iPhone 5 at a cheaper price would now have to shell out more money to buy the flagship iPhone.

Apple’s iPhone 5S media event was kicked off by Apple CEO Tim Cook in a familiar style by sharing updates. One of the most notable figures shared by Cook was that iOS devices are on track to cross 700 million mark by the end of September.

Apple CEO also shared updates about the company’s retail strategy to bring its focus back to the US after expanding worldwide. During the keynote Cook highlighted the new retail store in Stanford, California.

Additionally, Tim Cook also shared updates about the iTunes Music Festival in London. 20 million customers have entered for tickets which will be free of cost. The festival is also be streamed online to over 100 countries.

Apple’s stock has been witnessing a rocky path as last year around this time the stock price peaked at over $700 when the iPhone 5 was announced. The stock price has shown some upward trend in the recent past.

The company is working hard to increase the market share of its iOS devices. This year the company will announce two models of the iPhone. All-new iPhone 5C for the mid-priced market and new flagship iPhone 5S that will replace the iPhone 5.

Apple is already half way through its keynote event. Stay tuned for more live coverage as the event unfolds.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung have been fighting the legal battle of patents in the courts in many countries. AAPL won a significant lawsuit against Samsung last year where the court awarded $1 Billion to Apple after finding that Samsung products infringed Apple’s patents.

On Wednesday the U.S International Trace Commission reached a decision {PDF} on Samsung Patent No, 7,706,384 described as “Apparatus and method for encoding/decoding transport format combination indicator in CDMA mobile communication system” and ruled that Apple had infringed on Samsung’s patent.

As a result of this ruling the ITC has issued a “cease and desist” order that would prevent Apple from selling the products that infringe the patent. The devices that would be affected are AT&T iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G.

Under the modified constructions, the Commission has determined that Samsung has proven that the accused iPhone 4 (AT&T models); iPhone 3GS (AT&T models); iPhone 3 (AT&T models); iPad 3G (AT&T models); and iPad 2 3G (AT&T models) infringe the asserted claims of the ’348 patent.

The Commission has further determined that the properly construed claims have not been proven by Apple to be invalid and that Samsung has proven that a domestic industry exists in the United States with respect to the ‘348 patent.

Apple would most definitely appeal this decision. The ban won’t come into effect immediately as this is a preliminary final ruling. Apple will take this matter up to the Federal Circuit Courts to review this decision.

The legal battles between tech companies in recent years is being viewed as a means to prevent competitors from grabbing a large market share by securing bans in the court. However, Apple’s view on its legal battle is to prevent Samsung from “blatantly copying” its products.

{via MacRumors}

We have a number of strategies in progress to increase loyalty and attract more customers, including our announcement today that we will begin offering Apple products later this year. By further strengthening our device portfolio, we’ll give consumers another great reason to switch to U.S. Cellular, and enable our existing customers to choose from an even wider variety of iconic smartphones, and enjoy the outstanding U.S. Cellular customer experiences they deserve.

The carrier announced that its smartphone penetration is at “43 percent of core market customers and growing quickly”. It is in Apple’s best interest to make its smartphones and tablets to more local carriers in the US and globally. The Cupertino, Calif., based company has been facing intense competition from Samsung. Increasing the availability of Apple’s devices on more carriers would help in gaining more market share and customer satisfaction.

Apple is known to ask carriers to commit purchase of certain number of iPhones and most carriers have been happy to strike deal with the iPhone maker. Major carriers like AT&T and Verizon have been reporting iPhone as a popular smartphone and accounts for a large portion of their activations.

{via MacRumors}

In an interview with Shanghai Evening News, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing made claims that Apple would never make a cheap iPhone. However, Schiller’s comments can be taken to mean that Apple would never introduce a lower quality product into the market as opposed to not introducing a lower cost or “cheap” and smaller iPhone  [Google Translation].

Apple confirmed Schiller’s interview with the Chinese newspaper to The Next Web after numerous reports and rumors online began to surface that the Cupertino, California company was working on a lower-end iPhone for emerging markets such as China.

At first, non-smartphones were popular in the Chinese market, now cheap smartphones are more popular and non-smartphones are out. Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones, this will never be the future of Apple’s products. In fact, although Apple’s market share of smartphones is just about 20%, we own the 75% of the profit.

The possibility of a cheaper iPhone was confirmed by major news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, and even Bloomberg who mentioned that Apple was in fact looking to release a “a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone as soon as this year”. Schiller outrightly negated these claims, saying that although cheap smartphones are popular, “this will never be the future of Apple’s products”.

Rumors about Apple introducing a cheaper iPhone with no contract have been around for quite some time, and it makes sense that the company would try and take on Android, which has seen expansion in the low-end market. However, it seems that with Schiller’s comments, a cheaper iPhone may not be coming in the near future but perhaps a cheaper, more revolutionary iPhone that meets Apple customer’s standards as seen with the iPad mini.

{Via AppleInsider}

According to the survey results, Apple’s iPhone is now in control of 18.5% of the US mobile market, up 1.4% from the June to August timeframe. In last month’s survey, Apple edged out LG to claim the number two spot and is now going after Samsung, which controls 26.9% of the market, up 1.2%.

Some of the contenders fighting for market share do not entirely produce smartphones. For example, while Apple produces only the iPhone, Samsung has a number of different phones that it manufactures and sells. Therefore, when looking at smartphones, which accounts for for 53% of the U.S. mobile market, Android is dominating with 53.7% of the market.

Apple and the iPhone in comparison holds only 35%, although Android does ship on phones from a number of manufacturers while Apple’s iOS is only on the hardware that the company manufactures. Apple and Google now have a head to head competition, with many of the other smartphone manufacturers such as RIM and Symbian, falling far behind.

With each passing month, and each calendar quarter, Apple continues to make its market presence larger and continues to inch closer to claiming the number one spot, despite strong controls by Samsung in manufacturing and Google in smartphones.

{Via MacRumors}

According to the latest Nielsen report, Android and iPhone make up majority of the U.S smartphone market. Both Android phones and iPhone did not exist or were not popular about 5 years ago, and were introduced into a Nokia and Blackberry dominated market. Since then Google and Apple have become fierce competitors and the data proves that they are in fact, at the top of the smartphone market. According to the report, Android’s increase in market share was a whopping 53% from January to October, up from a solid 42%. Apple’s iOS, although trailing behind Android also experienced an increase, from 21% to 29%.

With Android and Apple leading the pack, Blackberry’s RIM has been seeing a steady decline in shares, holding on to only 11.6 percent of the smartphone market, which is substantially less than both Android and Apple. Other smartphone companies, such as Motorola once held over 36% of the smartphone market but have since dropped to below 1%, as of March 2009. This is due in large part to Apple’s massive success with the iPhone’s adoption, selling more of the device each quarter and the widespread adoption of Android OS in a number of smartphones, including Motorola’s Droid line.

Nielsen’s report also mentioned new smartphone purchases, where 48 percent of users surveyed in February said they purchased an Android phone and 43% said they purchased an iPhone. These are staggering numbers, especially since both of these companies have not faltered with their takeover of the U.S smartphone market and have increased their annual revenue with each passing year.

Apple still relies on Google’s Maps technology to provide iPhone users with directions and map data, as well as search feature in the native Safari browser. Google relies on Apple’s massive number of iPhone users to bring mobile traffic to the search giant. However, the distance between the tech giants is becoming more apparent with reports of Apple looking to include China’s Baidu search in iOS.

A report from SinaTech via TechinAsia revealed that the Cupertino company is looking to release an update that will incorporate Baidu’s search functionality into iOS, much like Google search operates now. This would allow users to opt for Baidu to search everything from streets to websites directly from the iPhone and much more quickly too. According to a previous report from TheNextWeb, Baidu currently holds over 83.6 percent of China’s search space and is more detailed than Google in mapping streets in China. This would severely impact the number of Google users in China, especially if Baidu ships out of the box on the iPhone and iPad.

Apple has a large market share in China and is continuously expanding its number of retail stores and the influence of its products to capitalize on the large influx in customers. Tim Cook specified that China is a large growth opportunity for Apple and is visiting the country to likely familiarize Apple with its international customers. Baidu may be just what Apple needs to help pioneer its vision in China and allow its products to be as simple and accessible for its international customers as it is for customers in the United States.

{via TheNextWeb}

During the six months leading up to August of this year smartphone handset sales break down like this:

Android : 32%
iPhone : 25%
Blackberry : 26%

While Apple’s iPhone market share has held steady, Android’s has grown. Overall the iPhone’s install base has actually grown slightly to 29%, and RIM’s Blackberry share has dropped. But the real winner is Android. Who’s user base has grown to 19%.

Of course these figures are hugely subjective. Android is available on multiple carriers, and in multiple flavors of handsets. Not to mention in many flavors of bargain basement deals.

The iPhone is just one type of device. Perhaps two if you really want to push the definition and is only available on one carrier in the US .

Yes, these figures are US only. If you take a look at the European market, where the iPhone is available on multiple carriers, the figures are very very different.

Both Apple and the myriad of Android handset manufacturers have pushed out new models in this period. So have Blackberry, for that matter. Apple with it’s iPhone 4, and Samsung, HTC, RIM and Motorola with their various gizmos. So new device halo effects can be discounted to some degree on all formats.

Is the iPhone doomed? Or is the market just finding its natural level? Have your say in the comments…

A recent survey from ChangeWave Research completed at the end of June, prior to the iPhone 4 launch, shows that RIM is holding onto its market lead by its fingernails.

In terms of current share, Apple (34%) is up 1-pt since our March survey to an all-time high while RIM (34%) has taken another hit – dropping 4-pts in the past 90 days.

When questioned, 52% of the people surveyed by ChangeWave confirmed that if they were going to buy a new mobile phone in the next 90 days it would be an Apple iPhone.

Largely forgotten now, Palm holds onto barely 1% of the mobile marketplace, which makes it sadly irrelevant.

It bears repeating that this survey was completed prior to the iPhone 4 going on sale, but at that point Apple led in customer satisfaction over other manufacturers. 73% of Apple customers stated that they were happy with their device. It will be interesting to revisit this particular figure in a couple of months when the current iPhone 4 issues have been clarified.

What chance does Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 have in this marketplace we have to wonder.

Do you think Apple and Google will crush RIM, as they appear to have done to Palm? And do you think that Microsofts latest mobile phone, after their Kin disaster, will fair any better? Let us know your thoughts in the comments…