Apple sold fewer iPads than last year but made more money, reversing a 2-year trend

Apple

Apple's iPad revenue has begun to grow again for the first time in eight quarters, according to Apple's latest quarterly earnings report.

While iPad unit sales were down for the 10th quarter in a row, revenue actually increased thanks to the more expensive iPad Pro. Apple sold 9.95 million iPads, down 8.7% year-over-year, versus Wall Street expectations of 9.1 million. That's a big beat.

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Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that he was encouraged by this upswell. One reason might be because it made good on a prediction Cook put forth at Apple's last quarterly earnings.

"In the June quarter, we expect to see our best iPad revenue compare in over two years," Cook said. He also said this: "We continue to be very optimistic on the iPad business. And, as I had said in my remarks, we believe we're going to have the best compare for iPad revenue this quarter that we have had in quite some time. And so we'll report back in July on that one."

That being said, the downward slide of iPad unit sales was not halted this quarter.

Here is a chart of its historical performance:

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