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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

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
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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
    - chungus_khan 7y ago
      Growth is what the shareholders care about, and capital always rules, even at the expense of anything else.

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
  - chungus_khan 7y ago
    Growth is what the shareholders care about, and capital always rules, even at the expense of anything else.