Apple now largest computer maker, sold more iPads alone than HP sold PCs

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014


Apple has surpassed HP in both computer unit sales and revenues for the first time, taking the top spot sooner than expected on record sales of iPads. Rather than losing sales to low priced tablets, Apple said it would "continue to innovate like crazy" in the tablet arena.



Apple reported record quarterly sales of 15.4 million iPads and 5.2 million Macs, giving the company over 20 million sales of dedicated personal computing devices (distinct from its sales of more than 37 million phones). Gartner reported HP's worldwide sales for the fourth quarter to be 14.7 million, while Lenovo and Dell sold 12.9 and 11.6 million units, respectively.



Apple was expected to report sales closer to 13 million iPads, an estimate figure that was still well ahead of what Canalys had anticipated last fall when it predicted Apple would outpace HP before the second half of this year.



Both Apple's revenues and profits were twice as high as Microsoft reported for the same holiday quarter.



iPad not threatened by cheap tablets; it threatens PCs



When asked about the impact of lower priced, "content subsidized" tablets in the market, specifically Amazon's Kindle Fire, Apple's chief executive Tim cook noted that he was "really happy" with sales of iPad, pointing out that sell-through had exceeded sell-in, leaving the company with strained inventory levels in the global channel that contradict the notion that the Fire had eaten up potential iPad sales.



Cook said that Apple sees iPad as a "huge opportunity for Apple over time," reiterating the idea that the company's management believes "there will come a day when the tablet market in units is larger than the PC market.



"In fact its interesting to note that in the US, it's clear from IDC's recent data on desktops PCs that tablets exceeded desktop PC sales last quarter. You can already see different indicators that there is significant momentum in this space."



Cook on Kindle vs iPad



Cook stated that "in terms of competitiveness, the ecosystem for iPad is in a class by itself," comparing the 170,000 apps designed specifically for iPad against "just a few hundred" tablet-oriented apps for other platforms.



"I think people really want to do multiple things with their tablets. We don't really see these limited function tablets and ereaders being in same category."



Cook said other offerings "will sell a fair number of units, but I don't think that people that want an iPad will settle for limited function."



Cook added, "We're just going to continue to innovate like crazy in this area. And we think we can continue to compete with anyone that is currently shipping tablets, or that might enter in the future."



iPad eating up PC sales, not hurting Mac sales



Demand for iPads helped to blunt growth among generic PCs across the industry, with Microsoft reporting a 6 percent decline in Windows revenues for the same quarter. However, Apple's iPad sales haven't had a negative impact on the company's own Mac sales.



Instead, it appears that iPad, along with iPhone and iPod, continues to exercise a halo effect that draws customers to Apple's notebooks and desktops. The company pointed out that it had strong sales in both notebooks and with its desktop iMacs, with average weekly Mac sales being up in every geography.



Over a fifth of its Macs were sold through Apple's own retail stores, where the company reported that of the 1.1 million Macs sold to customers, half were purchased by users who were new to the Mac platform.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    [OS war hat on]

    But, but... Microsoft has more desktops and a bigger marketshare! Apple lost! Aren't the '90s still here?

    [OS war hat off]
  • Reply 2 of 33
    Some people call me Tim the cook, Tim cook and fewer yet call me Tim Cook. Perhaps you've met my relative, the shrubber?
  • Reply 3 of 33
    But iPads are just toys, so the numbers don't count or matter in any way.



    ?



    Okay, that's enough of the "pretend to be an anti-Apple shill" hat. It makes me physically ill to even pretend to keep up this level of stupidity.
  • Reply 4 of 33
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    But iPads are just toys, so the numbers don't count or matter in any way.



    ?



    Okay, that's enough of the "pretend to be an anti-Apple shill" hat. It makes me physically ill to even pretend to keep up this level of stupidity.



    Don't forget, the iPad is just a large iPod Touch!



    Yech... you're right. Trying to impersonate Slappy just leaves a really, really foul stench in the air.
  • Reply 5 of 33
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    I believe Tim Cook to be the new Kwisatz Haderach.
  • Reply 6 of 33
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    I believe Tim Cook to be the new Kwisatz Haderach.



    Is that anything like Keyser Söze?
  • Reply 7 of 33
    Ballmer said at the 2009 Financial Analyst Meeting, "but when you get right down to it, it's a rounding error"





    Story





    Delicious Tasting Stab In The Back!
  • Reply 8 of 33
    What more satisfying than making them eat their words are watching their products fail and their CEOs kick out.
  • Reply 9 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Some people call me Tim the cook, Tim cook and fewer yet call me Tim Cook. Perhaps you've met my relative, the shrubber?



    Like I tell my GF, "...I 'cook' after dinner!"
  • Reply 10 of 33
    there's nothing wrong with the claim, but the logic seems a little fuzzy. PCs are at a saturation point, the iPad is not. PCs are powerful enough for the average person to not need replacing every year. The iPad is virtually expanding it's new market by the minute. The fact that a new product may be out selling one vendor of an established product seems about shocking as the sun rising in the east in the morning.
  • Reply 11 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    there's nothing wrong with the claim, but the logic seems a little fuzzy. PCs are at a saturation point, the iPad is not. PCs are powerful enough for the average person to not need replacing every year. The iPad is virtually expanding it's new market by the minute. The fact that a new product may be out selling one vendor of an established product seems about shocking as the sun rising in the east in the morning.



  • Reply 12 of 33
    mrstepmrstep Posts: 513member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Market_Player View Post


    Ballmer said at the 2009 Financial Analyst Meeting, "but when you get right down to it, it's a rounding error"





    Story





    Delicious Tasting Stab In The Back!



    The funniest line in that story to me is Ballmer saying: "We do not, say, like Apple, believe in low volume, very high prices, very -- Apple is a great company, does a fine job. But their model says high margin, high quality, high price," he said. "That's kind of how they come to market. We say we want big market share. But with big market share, you take a lower price."



    Wait, Apple = high margin, high quality, high price. Microsoft = big market share, lower price. Apparently he didn't want to mention the third opposite - lower quality?



    Ah, what would we do without Ballmer?
  • Reply 13 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrstep View Post


    Wait, Apple = high margin, high quality, high price. Microsoft = big market share, lower price. Apparently he didn't want to mention the third opposite - lower quality?



    Yes. I can't believe IT guys defend this legacy of fail:







    From: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/new...uccesfully.ars
  • Reply 14 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    But iPads are just toys, so the numbers don't count or matter in any way.



    ?



    Okay, that's enough of the "pretend to be an anti-Apple shill" hat. It makes me physically ill to even pretend to keep up this level of stupidity.



    A toy, no, i PC (which is a computer) it is not.



    My friends, who work in the NEWSPAPER and ADVERTISING biz both wanted an iPad because it was so light, etc. Once they got it, they realized it wasn't something they could pull out and do serious work on.



    A iPad (and the vast majority of tablets) are pretty much: Apps, and a web browser.



    Its pretty much like using a web browser on a PC (Macs are also PCs..... believe it or not).



    The tablet form factor can evolve to become a working device, but it needs lots of work still.



    To Quote Tim Cook

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post




    Cook said other offerings "will sell a fair number of units, but I don't think that people that want an iPad will settle for limited function."



  • Reply 15 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nicolbolas View Post


    Once they got it, they realized it wasn't something they could pull out and do serious work on.



    Sure you can.
  • Reply 16 of 33
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    there's nothing wrong with the claim, but the logic seems a little fuzzy. PCs are at a saturation point, the iPad is not. PCs are powerful enough for the average person to not need replacing every year. The iPad is virtually expanding it's new market by the minute. The fact that a new product may be out selling one vendor of an established product seems about shocking as the sun rising in the east in the morning.





    No.



    Here's a great example of why the iPads are doing very well: at the recent NAMM (Natl Assoc of Music Merchants) show in L.A., THE trade show for dealers of anything to do with pro audio and music hardware and software, iPads were everywhere. Not as notepads for the attendees, as parts of products on display. Mackie, MOTU, Akai, Moog, etc., in fact it seemed practically NOBODY didn't have an iPad centric product. These aren't like the silly iPod docks you see in Target. These are part of serious tools. Most weren't trying to compete with any laptops but were front ends for other hardware processors. You couldn't use a desktop for most of these uses and these are better than using a laptop for their purposes. Just Google it and read up on all of them. People who use iPads in recording studios and for live audio purposes are over the moon in love with how they fit in. This has nothing to do with how something else isn't selling or is saturated. It has to do with what's good about an iPad.



    They work. No one is going to build a system around hardware they don't have faith in, and if this year's NAMM is any indication there is no lack of faith in iPads as something all audio people will be wanting to spend $500 on even if they never use it for anything else, never enter into Apple's ecosystem for apps or media, download a show or even boot up iTunes.





    Oh, and in case anyone is wondering what the percentage of other tablets on display for the same uses and products? Other tablets were close to invisible, I was told. Anything running Android was some little little page turning app or DJ something or other. If any were doing any better my friend couldn't find them. But you couldn't turn around without an iPad running a $30,000 tour mixer or fine tuning Broadway caliber monitor packages.



    It's over. Apple will make millions just based on this market and there are no other players.
  • Reply 17 of 33
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nicolbolas View Post


    A toy, no, i PC (which is a computer) it is not.



    My friends, who work in the NEWSPAPER and ADVERTISING biz both wanted an iPad because it was so light, etc. Once they got it, they realized it wasn't something they could pull out and do serious work on.



    That was like buying a hammer when they were trying to drill something. Blaming the tool is incorrect.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nicolbolas View Post


    A iPad (and the vast majority of tablets) are pretty much: Apps, and a web browser.



    Its pretty much like using a web browser on a PC (Macs are also PCs..... believe it or not).





    Not true. See my post about the NAMM show. They are incredible remote front ends for anything you can imagine. Moog synths, recording studio mixers, the list goes on, and that's just in the industry I know about. I can only imagine how they're being used in others. They enable some developers to not even MAKE a hardware front end for their hardware, with the knobs and sliders that add so much to manufacturing cost. And no one in the pro audio industry (again, only using the field I can speak with knowledge of) is trusting this role to any Dells, Motorolas, Samsungs, etc. decent in their own right as any of these may be. If it was just a question of having some apps and a browser in their green room, maybe, but that's not what it is.
  • Reply 18 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nicolbolas View Post


    My friends, who work in the NEWSPAPER and ADVERTISING biz both wanted an iPad because it was so light, etc. Once they got it, they realized it wasn't something they could pull out and do serious work on.



    The failure to do the work your friends wanted to do, did not lie in the iPad, but in the vision of your friends.
  • Reply 19 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    there's nothing wrong with the claim, but the logic seems a little fuzzy. PCs are at a saturation point, the iPad is not. PCs are powerful enough for the average person to not need replacing every year. The iPad is virtually expanding it's new market by the minute. The fact that a new product may be out selling one vendor of an established product seems about shocking as the sun rising in the east in the morning.



    I think you might have missed the point. Yes the PC industry growth is slowing because most people don't need a new PC every year. What about the people who upgrade every few years. Some of these people are opting to spend their $600 + on an iPad or tablet bc buying a new PC might not add any additional value to them. I know several people who bought an iPad rather than upgrading their old windows XP PC. They spend 95% of their time on the iPad.



    While the iPad is not really a PC, from an economist's viewpoint, many of those 15 million new iPads users feel that an iPad was a good substitute for a new windows 7 PC. This is what the naysayers fail to realize. It's about what product a consumer is currently choosing to spend their money on.



    It comes down to the fact that Apple sold more iPads than HP PCs, and Apple's iPad's average selling price (ASP) is higher than HP's ASP. Apple's profit margin is also a significant multiple of HP's.



    The whole point is that Apple is making a whole lot of money.
  • Reply 20 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nicolbolas View Post


    A toy, no, i PC (which is a computer) it is not.



    My friends, who work in the NEWSPAPER and ADVERTISING biz both wanted an iPad because it was so light, etc. Once they got it, they realized it wasn't something they could pull out and do serious work on.



    A iPad (and the vast majority of tablets) are pretty much: Apps, and a web browser.



    Its pretty much like using a web browser on a PC (Macs are also PCs..... believe it or not).



    The tablet form factor can evolve to become a working device, but it needs lots of work still.



    To Quote Tim Cook



    Well considering the amount of forward thinking and innovation happening in the newspaper and advertising industries (ie none) I can see how your friends can't figure out how to utilize the iPad in their work flow.



    In contrast, my friends who work for a large international marketing/digital media company, who does 90% of Proctor and Gamble's work, all have iPads that were gifted to them by their company for Christmas 2010. All 450 employees got free iPads and use them at work.
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