Tablets, unlike smartphones, aren’t bought by users on an annual basis as tablets tend to last longer, meaning that it might be a couple of years before customers see the need for a new one, which is why it isn’t surprising to learn that tablet sales like that of the iPad have seen a decline. In fact according to Apple’s latest earnings, it was revealed that the iPad experienced a 23% drop in sales compared to a year ago.Is this alarming? After all 23% is a pretty significant figure, right? Perhaps to some this might be worrying, but Apple’s CEO Tim Cook seems to have played it off pretty cool. According to Cook, he points at inventory changes as part of the reason the iPad’s sales have suffered, but he also seemed to think that the iPhone and Mac had something to do with it as well.
According to Cook, “Have we had cannibalization? The answer is yes. We’re clearly seeing cannibalization from iPhone and on the other side from the Mac. Of course, as I’ve said before, we’ve never worried about that. It is what it is, that will play out, and at some point it will stabilize. I’m not sure precisely when, but I’m pretty confident that it will.”
So what does this mean for the iPad’s future? Will Apple eventually bow out? Thankfully for fans of the device, that will not be happening as Cook stated that there are no plans on giving up just yet. In fact Cook seems rather optimistic about the tablet’s future, especially in the enterprise sector thanks to Apple’s partnership with IBM which will see enterprise-specific apps being made for the tablet.
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