Report: Apple slows iPad production, Kindle matches shipments
Shipments of Amazon's Kindle from suppliers in Taiwan reached 1.6 million units in December, matching the month's estimated iPad production, although Apple is ramping down to accommodate the coming new version, a new report says.
According to a new report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Equity Research, Apple has shifted iPad production from an estimated 2.1 million units in November to just 1.6 million in December in order to prepare for the launch of revised new tablet, expected to be announced in January.
This shift enabled Kindle production to match that of rapidly selling iPad for the month, indicating, Kuo wrote, that "Kindle is going to mass market from niche market," and that "iPad cannibalization of Kindle is not obvious."
Kindle shipments are expected to reach 4.5 million units in the first quarter of 2011, Kuo said. Global ebook reader sales have reached 12.1 million units, and are expected to reach 27 million next year. It's not clear if this number includes the iPad, which has already itself sold more than 7 million units in its first two quarters and is expected to sell another 5 to 10 million in the final winter quarter.
Amazon has been cautious about revealing sales numbers for its Kindle, but Kuo estimates the company has sold 5.4 million units this year since it improved the units' e-ink display with a higher quality "pearl" screen and discounted its price.
Amazon's chief executive Jeff Bezos claimed in a recent press release that the Kindle was selling well as the company's most popular online product. He also deflected reports of Apple's iPad destroying the Kindle's market by saying many users were buying both.
Kuo previously covered Apple-related research among Taiwan's component producers for Digitimes.
According to a new report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Equity Research, Apple has shifted iPad production from an estimated 2.1 million units in November to just 1.6 million in December in order to prepare for the launch of revised new tablet, expected to be announced in January.
This shift enabled Kindle production to match that of rapidly selling iPad for the month, indicating, Kuo wrote, that "Kindle is going to mass market from niche market," and that "iPad cannibalization of Kindle is not obvious."
Kindle shipments are expected to reach 4.5 million units in the first quarter of 2011, Kuo said. Global ebook reader sales have reached 12.1 million units, and are expected to reach 27 million next year. It's not clear if this number includes the iPad, which has already itself sold more than 7 million units in its first two quarters and is expected to sell another 5 to 10 million in the final winter quarter.
Amazon has been cautious about revealing sales numbers for its Kindle, but Kuo estimates the company has sold 5.4 million units this year since it improved the units' e-ink display with a higher quality "pearl" screen and discounted its price.
Amazon's chief executive Jeff Bezos claimed in a recent press release that the Kindle was selling well as the company's most popular online product. He also deflected reports of Apple's iPad destroying the Kindle's market by saying many users were buying both.
Kuo previously covered Apple-related research among Taiwan's component producers for Digitimes.
Comments
Bad news: We've had to drastically cut prices on our product to do so.
But is it in the report that Apple's slowdown is in preparation for iPad2, or is that Dilger's inference? I would tend to agree with him if that's the case, but I just wanted to check whether the analysis on that matter was Kuo's or Dilger's.
No doubt the TRUTH is that Apple is drastically scaling back orders because nobody is buying the iPad, and everyone is flocking to the Kindle instead. Thanks for the "inference," troll.
No doubt the TRUTH is that Apple is drastically scaling back orders because nobody is buying the iPad, and everyone is flocking to the Kindle instead. Thanks for the "inference," troll.
I think you?re being really harsh. I don?t see his post as trollish at all. Perhaps overly critical of Dilger, but there seems to be plenty of posters here that are.
No doubt the TRUTH is that Apple is drastically scaling back orders because nobody is buying the iPad, and everyone is flocking to the Kindle instead. Thanks for the "inference," troll.
Wow! I think that was uncalled for... I think he is just asking who made the inference, nothing about its implications.
I'd suggest to read the original source, but not to call him troll.
But is it in the report that Apple's slowdown is in preparation for iPad2, or is that Dilger's inference? I would tend to agree with him if that's the case, but I just wanted to check whether the analysis on that matter was Kuo's or Dilger's.
The paragraph starts with "According to ... " That leads me to believe that the inference is in the report and AI is reporting it... Just my 2 cents
What's his track record? Why is he more credible? All I saw was an estimate by Kuo in a Forbes article:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/12/23/ipa...ts-misses.html
Laptops
Despite concerns that the rise in popularity of tablets would cannibalize laptop sales, Apple's late 2010 debut of their thinnest laptop yet, the Macbook Air, brought mostly positive reviews from critics and consumers alike. Concord Securities analyst Mingchi Kuo predicts sales of 700,000 units in the fourth quarter.
The other thing... this guy was head analyst at DigiTimes. Why does AI have such a you-know-what for DigiTimes? Do you guys have some kind of revenue sharing agreement, or affiliate program that pays AI for clicks? To be blunt, I add a huge discount to every story that comes down the tubes from AI these days. The click-baiting is really getting old.
The paragraph starts with "According to ... " That leads me to believe that the inference is in the report and AI is reporting it... Just my 2 cents
The only reason I'm unsure is the last phrase, in which Dilger writes "...expected to be released in January" instead of "...which Kuo expects to be released in January." It makes it sound like Dilger is adding background - a necessary element in this article, but I'm not sure where Kuo's statement ends and background-adding begins. If I saw a link to the original article I would read it but I don't.
As I said before, I agree with Kuo/Dilger's inference, but it would be good to know if Kuo's research and analysis supports that independently.
Kindle like iPad, is the best example of currently available hardware for the markets they are targeted at.
On the other hand, it won't do everything an iPad can do. It's not color, just for basics, and you wouldn't surf the web with it. It's not a substitute PC.
Each product has its strengths, each has its place. No one's the loser here.
It is sort of like comparing Pickup truck sales to Mini sales.
Sure. You're not going to pick up your girl in a pickup truck (well, I'm not picking up MY girl that way, but you go ahead). And you're not going to haul your boat with a Mini. Makes sense for some people to have both.
Anyway, I'm glad for Amazon.
They aren't even remotely in the same market as iPad is a general purpose device and Kindle is at the opposite end as a highly targeted device. It is sort of like comparing Pickup truck sales to Mini sales. The vehicles serve entirely different markets. Even better it is like comparing pickup sales to bicycles.
Kindle like iPad, is the best example of currently available hardware for the markets they are targeted at.
Absolutely agree, I don't know why people insist on comparing Kindles to iPads. If I bought an iPad, it wouldn't be as an e-reader. Likewise if I bought a Kindle, it wouldn't be as an email client/browser/media device or gaming machine.
The logic for this seems to be as simplistic as 'they're both small and kinda tablet-shaped, they must be competitors!'. I see a place in the market for both, at least until someone invents a full-colour, dynamic e-ink display...and I haven't heard any mention of such a technology.
Sure. You're not going to pick up your girl in a pickup truck (well, I'm not picking up MY girl that way, but you go ahead). And you're not going to haul your boat with a Mini. Makes sense for some people to have both.
Anyway, I'm glad for Amazon.
I suppose that depends upon the size of your girl friend. Some girls would have problems getting stuffed into a Mini!!!! We are talking tall girls here guys, your can quiet your dirty minds right now.
As a side note I can't justify having two vehicles. I can however see a reason to have both a Kindle and an iPad.
I hear Microsoft is ramping up production of the Kinect to 1.6 Million units per month, while the New Jersey Cranberry Association is CUTTING production to 1.6 Million pounds of cranberries.
Cranberry... is that a new product by that Canadian company... why are they basing themselves in NJ?!
Hmmmmm... interesting...
There is no reason for Apple to preannounce the iPad 2. They will announce and will need enough inventory for immediate shipment (or within a week) to select markets, with a staggered rollout to the rest of the world over months.
That's probably a two-month production ramp and it's unlikely that a new iPad has already been in production for a month for a January launch. Most likely, Apple's manufacturing partners will ramp iPad 2 production starting January for a mid-March launch; they will lose about two weeks of production in early February because the factories will be shut down for the Chinese lunar new year.
Why do people think the new iPad will be announced in January? Apple quit Macworld so they could STOP announcing new products right after Christmas.
Then why did they announce the iPad in January last year?
Assumptions as to why Apple quit MW are just that. Assumptions. I certainly agree (to assume) that Apple doesn't want to be FORCED into a schedule and that's likely ONE of the reasons they pulled out of MW. I certainly don't think it was "we don't want to ever release products in January." It was the forced nature of MW.
Good news: People will buy high-margin eBooks from us over and over again.
Bad news: margins on e-books aren't that high