4 ms·

I think a big part of the mediocre sales is related to the use-cases that most iPad users have which seems to mostly be watching videos, browsing the internet,

I think a big part of the mediocre sales is related to the use-cases that most iPad users have which seems to mostly be watching videos, browsing the internet, reading etc. Any 2 or 3 generation old iPad will do this fine with very little reason to upgrade. It doesn't have anything near comparable to the upgrade path that a lot of phone users who seem very eager to upgrade to a better camera/battery/etc.

devxpy 7y ago
Exactly. If it were not for the OS, the hardware seems to be a lot more capable than casual entertainment. These use cases simply don't push the hardware to its limits.
- arethuza 7y ago
  My iPad must be 4 or 5 years old and seems perfectly capable of pretty much everything I use it for (videos from various sources), lightweight web browsing, looking at pictures, browsing Ordnance Survey maps... Only reason I would upgrade is if I break it (unlikely as I don't take it outside very often) or when iOS upgrades stop (which is what happened to two previous iPads I have in a drawer somewhere).
  - mtgx 7y ago
    He meant UX and feature-wise capable, not hardware-wise. He's right, if the OS itself was more advanced, than even if the same people who own iPads now wouldn't be interested in using those features other than their regular media consumption, it would still open up a new market for the iPad (new target audience). But with its current limitations, it can't do that.
jeromegv 7y ago
The iPad is a 20 BILLION dollar a year business. Let's not get crazy on "mediocre" sales, this is one of the most popular product line of all companies combined. Did not get as high as some people were expecting but this is far from mediocre. Source: https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/01/fun-with-charts-a-decade-of-apple-growth/ https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/01/fun-with-charts-a-decade-...
- have_faith 7y ago
  Of course, you can only call it mediocre when comparing to the standout product lines. On it's own it's still a successful product. People have such high expectations for every one of their lines that some merely succeeding quietly is questioned. Says a lot about their success as a business.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- JackFr 7y ago
  > Let's not get crazy on "mediocre" sales If I've got a product whose sales were falling 5 out of the past 6 years, and whose current sales are 30%+ down from a peak of 6 years ago, I'm pretty worried about it.
  - kbutler 7y ago
    Is growth required for success? I expect the iPad, lacking any new revolutionary functionality, to reach a steady state of (new customer + replacement rate) sales that is some percentage of its peak, pre-saturation sales. If replacement rate is every 4-5 years, this may be below 30% of peak. This won't mean it isn't successful, just recognizing that existing users don't need to upgrade every year.
    - scalio 7y ago
      Thank you. We need to stop thinking of growth as a reasonable metric for wellbeing or relevance of products. When a new product is introduced, certainly, looking how the market reacts is interesting. But many years down the line, things should stabilise. Does your (metaphorical) baker round the corner grow yoy? And yet, somehow their bread is still good, and they have no problem surviving, except when a company with far too much capital just bulldozes in, for example by selling under local market prices. /rant over
      - 7y ago
thrower123 7y ago
For doing this sort of thing, most people can get by with a Kindle Fire, which are constantly on sale for $30-40. They are not anywhere near as good as an iPad, but for pure consumption they are more than adequate.

devxpy 7y ago

Exactly. If it were not for the OS, the hardware seems to be a lot more capable than casual entertainment. These use cases simply don't push the hardware to its limits.

arethuza 7y ago
My iPad must be 4 or 5 years old and seems perfectly capable of pretty much everything I use it for (videos from various sources), lightweight web browsing, looking at pictures, browsing Ordnance Survey maps... Only reason I would upgrade is if I break it (unlikely as I don't take it outside very often) or when iOS upgrades stop (which is what happened to two previous iPads I have in a drawer somewhere).
- mtgx 7y ago
  He meant UX and feature-wise capable, not hardware-wise. He's right, if the OS itself was more advanced, than even if the same people who own iPads now wouldn't be interested in using those features other than their regular media consumption, it would still open up a new market for the iPad (new target audience). But with its current limitations, it can't do that.

jeromegv 7y ago

The iPad is a 20 BILLION dollar a year business. Let's not get crazy on "mediocre" sales, this is one of the most popular product line of all companies combined. Did not get as high as some people were expecting but this is far from mediocre. Source: https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/01/fun-with-charts-a-decade-of-apple-growth/ https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/01/fun-with-charts-a-decade-...

have_faith 7y ago
Of course, you can only call it mediocre when comparing to the standout product lines. On it's own it's still a successful product. People have such high expectations for every one of their lines that some merely succeeding quietly is questioned. Says a lot about their success as a business.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
JackFr 7y ago
> Let's not get crazy on "mediocre" sales If I've got a product whose sales were falling 5 out of the past 6 years, and whose current sales are 30%+ down from a peak of 6 years ago, I'm pretty worried about it.
- kbutler 7y ago
  Is growth required for success? I expect the iPad, lacking any new revolutionary functionality, to reach a steady state of (new customer + replacement rate) sales that is some percentage of its peak, pre-saturation sales. If replacement rate is every 4-5 years, this may be below 30% of peak. This won't mean it isn't successful, just recognizing that existing users don't need to upgrade every year.
  - scalio 7y ago
    Thank you. We need to stop thinking of growth as a reasonable metric for wellbeing or relevance of products. When a new product is introduced, certainly, looking how the market reacts is interesting. But many years down the line, things should stabilise. Does your (metaphorical) baker round the corner grow yoy? And yet, somehow their bread is still good, and they have no problem surviving, except when a company with far too much capital just bulldozes in, for example by selling under local market prices. /rant over
    - 7y ago

thrower123 7y ago

For doing this sort of thing, most people can get by with a Kindle Fire, which are constantly on sale for $30-40. They are not anywhere near as good as an iPad, but for pure consumption they are more than adequate.