Jan 20, 2014
CIRP: Strong start for iPad Air
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt January 20, 2014: 7:01 AM ET
Survey says the two models released in Nov. accounted for 57% of last quarter's iPad sales.
Click to enlarge.
FORTUNE -- When it announces its quarterly earnings next Monday, Apple (AAPL) will tell us how many iPads it sold in the holiday quarter. But it won't say how many it sold of each model.
For that we turn to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, which surveyed 500 Apple customers who purchased an iPad, iPhone, or Mac in the U.S. between October and December. Fortune got an early look at the results. (See attached spreadsheet.)
The findings suggest, according to CIRP's Josh Lowitz, a strong start for the new models that went on sale in the middle of the quarter -- the iPad Air on Nov. 1 and the iPad Mini with Retina on Nov. 12. Together they accounted for 57% of iPad sales among CIRP's respondents, despite the availability of lower-priced iPads.
"These results bode well for the new iPad models," said Lowitz. "iPad Air sold especially well given that Apple has three other iPad models for sale."
The impact should be felt in the iPad's ASP -- the device's average selling prices.
"Apple managed to shift significant sales to its higher-priced models," added CIRP co-founder Mike Levin. "For the past year, the legacy iPad 2 grabbed from one-quarter to one-third of iPad sales. Along with the trend toward sale of models with larger storage capacities, Apple should see higher iPad average selling prices, with iPad 2 at only 5% of total sales and iPad mini sales split between the original model and the new iPad mini with Retina display."
Posted in: Apple, CIRP, iPad, iPad Air, iPad Mini with Retina