Walt Mossberg on the iPad’s 10th Anniversary

Walt Mossberg:

People focus on the fact that iPad unit sales peaked a few years ago. But they forget that:

  • iPad sales took off faster than iPhone sales.
  • It’s likely that over 300 million iPads have been sold.
  • By annual revenue, if the iPad were a company, it would be on the Fortune 500.

I think the big factor with iPad sales peaking so early is two-fold. First, they soared early because the iPad filled a heretofore unfilled space. Post-iPhone, people got what the iPad was immediately and they wanted one. Sales then declined (but have leveled off in recent years), I think, because iPads last so long, and a years-old iPad still does all the things most people want from an iPad very well.

See also: Mossberg’s review of the original iPad.

★ Tuesday, 28 January 2020