Is the iPhone 6 Hurting iPad Sales?

Short answer, yes. Tim Cook also admitted it as fact when questioned. As a public company, Apple are obliged to give earnings reports to the market; this shows iPad sales are down over 20%. This, however, is unsurprising.

Once Apple decided to release the larger iPhones, it knew it was going to cannibalize some of its own products to an extent. The iPad was always going to be a victim of this. Look at the iPhone 6 Plus compared to the iPad Mini. There is not a huge difference in size. Media consumption on the iPhone 6 and its big brother is a joy to behold, this was one of the main selling points of the iPad.

Macs Role Here

Likewise, the Mac has also swayed users away from the iPad. New Macbooks and Macbook Airs are so light and compact that they also give question to the relevance of the iPad. They also have the added benefit of being full computers, you can consume all the media you wish and still get a days work done (if you can find the concentration!!)

However the iPad is not dead in the water just yet. Apple fully expects sales to recover and likely has a few tricks up its sleeves for future iPad launches. One of Apples main issues is it made the iPad almost too well!! The original iPad is showing its age now; it has not been updated to iOS8. Yet as a media device, it still works pretty well. Keep it uncluttered and looked after and it is still a pretty good coffee table companion. Likewise with the iPads that have followed; incremental updates that are great, yet if you own an ‘older’ iPad, there is not much pushing you to get the latest model.

The future of iPad

Apple will continue to sell a shed load of iPads, just maybe not at the same level it did before. There is fierce competition from the Android world, plus Microsoft are really getting their game together with the Surface.

Yet they do not have the magic touch Apple seem to conjure from nothing. People still covet the iPad, its build quality, ease of use and just overall amazing user experience is still unrivaled.

All Apple has to do is figure out how to beat themselves now.