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The article misses a more likely reason for the declining sales: maybe sales of the iPad are declining - not because the iPad has lost its appeal - but because

The article misses a more likely reason for the declining sales: maybe sales of the iPad are declining - not because the iPad has lost its appeal - but because the market is saturating and most people who wanted an iPad, have already got one. Folks who have iPads that are 3 or 4 year old are not in the market for newer models - as the old ones are working just fine.

femto113 12y ago
I think there's a lot to this. My house has one iPad (an iPad 2) that still works great and gets daily use by everyone in the family. We have about four or five Macs, three of which are working but my laptop is the only one that gets much use. We also have 6 or 7 iPhones, two on a current plan, one the kid uses to play games, one is used as an alarm clock in the bedroom, the rest are gathering dust in a drawer. So even though it's probably our most used device it's less than 10% of our Apple hardware stock.
hkmurakami 12y ago
And thus the beauty of the iPhone 6+, which will cannibalize iPad Mini sales at a higher (!!) price point than the mini, with a shorter refresh cycle (2 years). In other news, I am super happy with my iPad Air (2013 model) and don't plan on upgrading until new apps no longer support whatever OS can comfortably run on the hardware (I'm guessing iOS9 will be tough to handle, and some apps will stop supporting iOS8 around E2016-2017)
graeme 12y ago
Indeed. I use an iPad to make drawings for online lessons. It made drawings well when I got it in 2012, and it continues to make drawings well. I won't ever upgrade unless it breaks or software updates junk it. Why would I? It would be a mistake to view my reluctance to upgrade as a bad thing, from apple's perspective. I've bought two MacBook airs since (I needed an upgrade for work projects). The fact that the iPad is so reliable is one of the reasons I buy apple products without much though. So far, they work, and they last. I'm writing this message on an iPhone 4 from 2010. Still works wonderfully. (only because I'm running iOS 5 though)
- avinassh 12y ago
  > Indeed. I use an iPad to make drawings for online lessons. It made drawings well when I got it in 2012, and it continues to make drawings well. What all tools/apps/stylus you use? What's the entire process is like? Can you show some of your videos?
  - graeme 12y ago
    They're just drawings to illustrate what I'm talking about, nothing fancy. I use jotwithme, a whiteboard app, and an alupen stylus. I'm actually planning to use these to make some online videos. I tried a Wacom tablet but ha no drawing skills with it. I haven't found a better drawing app that lets me project to the screen. It's a little messy, but I think in my niche (education) it actually goes over well. Btw, bought my first iPad the year I started my business, when money was short. But it let me teach people online, so it paid for itself in a couple months, and then is pure profit. The ROI to owning it for my limited use case has been astronomical.
- marak830 12y ago
  If you don't mind answering ill second the other comment, also, do you use a stylus? If so which one? I thought I'd try that out but I haven't found one with a fine enough tip that works well yet :-s
  - graeme 12y ago
    I like the alupen. Very comfortable to hold. Not sure how fine the tip is for professional drawing, but works great for lessons.
aaronbrethorst 12y ago
I'm writing on my retina mini in bed. Didn't need the upgrade last year, probably won't need this year's upgrade either. Likely will buy a new iPad in 2016.
reboog711 12y ago
To quote the article: "The issue isn’t people don’t want iPads. It’s just that people don’t want them in increasing numbers anymore." Isn't that that, roughly, the same point you are trying to make?
je42 12y ago
Agreed, but obviously, that would be not a great headline.

femto113 12y ago

I think there's a lot to this. My house has one iPad (an iPad 2) that still works great and gets daily use by everyone in the family. We have about four or five Macs, three of which are working but my laptop is the only one that gets much use. We also have 6 or 7 iPhones, two on a current plan, one the kid uses to play games, one is used as an alarm clock in the bedroom, the rest are gathering dust in a drawer. So even though it's probably our most used device it's less than 10% of our Apple hardware stock.

hkmurakami 12y ago

And thus the beauty of the iPhone 6+, which will cannibalize iPad Mini sales at a higher (!!) price point than the mini, with a shorter refresh cycle (2 years). In other news, I am super happy with my iPad Air (2013 model) and don't plan on upgrading until new apps no longer support whatever OS can comfortably run on the hardware (I'm guessing iOS9 will be tough to handle, and some apps will stop supporting iOS8 around E2016-2017)

graeme 12y ago

Indeed. I use an iPad to make drawings for online lessons. It made drawings well when I got it in 2012, and it continues to make drawings well. I won't ever upgrade unless it breaks or software updates junk it. Why would I? It would be a mistake to view my reluctance to upgrade as a bad thing, from apple's perspective. I've bought two MacBook airs since (I needed an upgrade for work projects). The fact that the iPad is so reliable is one of the reasons I buy apple products without much though. So far, they work, and they last. I'm writing this message on an iPhone 4 from 2010. Still works wonderfully. (only because I'm running iOS 5 though)

avinassh 12y ago
> Indeed. I use an iPad to make drawings for online lessons. It made drawings well when I got it in 2012, and it continues to make drawings well. What all tools/apps/stylus you use? What's the entire process is like? Can you show some of your videos?
- graeme 12y ago
  They're just drawings to illustrate what I'm talking about, nothing fancy. I use jotwithme, a whiteboard app, and an alupen stylus. I'm actually planning to use these to make some online videos. I tried a Wacom tablet but ha no drawing skills with it. I haven't found a better drawing app that lets me project to the screen. It's a little messy, but I think in my niche (education) it actually goes over well. Btw, bought my first iPad the year I started my business, when money was short. But it let me teach people online, so it paid for itself in a couple months, and then is pure profit. The ROI to owning it for my limited use case has been astronomical.
marak830 12y ago
If you don't mind answering ill second the other comment, also, do you use a stylus? If so which one? I thought I'd try that out but I haven't found one with a fine enough tip that works well yet :-s
- graeme 12y ago
  I like the alupen. Very comfortable to hold. Not sure how fine the tip is for professional drawing, but works great for lessons.

aaronbrethorst 12y ago

I'm writing on my retina mini in bed. Didn't need the upgrade last year, probably won't need this year's upgrade either. Likely will buy a new iPad in 2016.

reboog711 12y ago

To quote the article: "The issue isn’t people don’t want iPads. It’s just that people don’t want them in increasing numbers anymore." Isn't that that, roughly, the same point you are trying to make?

je42 12y ago

Agreed, but obviously, that would be not a great headline.