Photo: Apple
iPad shipments declined during the September quarter, but Apple blames the drop on launching the latest models in October, a month later than usual.
This is only the latest problem to bedevil iPad in 2022.
iPad revenue and shipments down in Q3 2022
Apple revealed Thursday that its revenue from iPad sales during the July-through September period dropped 13% versus the same period of 2021. But Cupertino does not announce how many tablets it ships each quarter. It is therefore up to market analysts to estimate the figure.
Strategy Analytics says Q3 iPad unit shipments dropped 14% compared to the same period of the previous year.
During a conference call with investors on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed the year-over-year decline in tablet revenue came from introducing new models in Q4 rather than Q3.
“A year ago, we launched iPads in September,” noted Cook. “We launched iPads this year in October. The other point to remember is that the iPad Pro had just launched before the quarter started in the year ago quarter so it was our first quarter of it. So it was an exceptionally strong iPad quarter a year ago and the launches were really key to to that performance.”
2022 was a rocky year for iPad shipments
A new basic iPad model launched each September going back to 2019. Apple waited a month this year, possibly because of the supply chain problems that the company has struggled with since late 2021.
In January, iPad revenue and shipments were reduced because Apple couldn’t source chips needed to assemble the tablets. The problem persisted in the March 2022 quarter, and again in the June quarter.
But when talking about Q3, Cook said Thursday that, “I’m happy to report that during the quarter silicon-related supply constraints were not significant.”
So with the chip shortage over and fresh new tablets on store shelves, the holiday shopping season will be a chance for iPad to shine.
