iPad revenue is up, but sales are down: Blaming M1?

Apple has reported its Q3 2021 iPad revenue at $7.4 billion, an increase of 12% in dollar value. Thanks to the M1, or is something else going on? This record-breaking third quarter has far outpaced the forecasts of analysts and industry observers.

Apple posted a total revenue was $81.4 billion for this quarter, which represents year-on-year growth of 36.3%. Just $3 billion shies of Q1 of 2019, as the first quarter is a stronghold of Apple’s every year. The iPad sales have played a decent role, which for the quarter almost touched $7.4 billion in revenue.

Let us take a look at iPad Revenue breakdown:

iPad’s revenue has seemingly plateaued, as the increases in the quarter across both years are a marked lower from previous years. Maybe people just like to hold on to their iPads just a little longer than the iPhones. Apple did bring out a refreshed iPad Pro, incorporating the M1 that’s in use by the Apple Silicon Macs. It’s definitely worth asking if the M1 contributed to driving iPad growth in the quarter.

We could have given an even certain answer if Apple provided a breakdown of sales by the device. Do we think M1 is the cause for the increased sale? No, not certainly all by itself, the brilliant iPad Air and the super-affordable 8th-generation iPad might be major contributors. As long as the Air exists, it’s hard to justify recommendations of an iPad Pro over it, which makes M1 a really tough sell.

It’s no knock towards M1, it is brilliant and has proven itself to be superb in Macs, also has earned its place in the Mac ecosystem. The thing is just the current iPad despite being considered an old-fashioned design, it’s driving revenue because it is extremely cost-effective. Maybe the M1’s odd role in the iPad Pro one can’t push its performance, a release of Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro for iPadOS could act as an advantage of the M1. It could also steer more creative professionals over to the new models.  If that does happen iPad revenue growth would really skyrocket.

If you liked this article (or if it helped at all), please leave us a comment below or share it with friends, so they can know about Apple’s recent sales.