TIM COOK: We're Going To Sell A LOT Of iPads This Quarter
"I think it's going to be an iPad Christmas," said Cook. He also said, " I feel great about iPad growing year-over-year this quarter."
In the 2012 holiday quarter Apple sold 22.9 million iPads. Apple analyst Gene Munster is estimating 24.5 million iPads for this year's holiday quarter.
Considering Apple will be going against the best product line up by its competition this confidence has to be reassuring for investors.
Ahead of last week's iPad event, we noted that the iPad business was not as strong as we would have expected. In the June quarter it was down 14% on a year-over-year basis. Last quarter, in the September quarter, sales were flat on a year-over-year basis.
The iPad is supposed to be the next major product to sustain Apple. Declining/flat sales are stunning this early in the product's life.
On the earnings call, Cook didn't seem concerned about the iPad business. He said, "I think we'll have a really good weekend" of iPad Air sales this weekend. And, "It may be that not everyone can find one that wants one," suggesting Apple is expecting strong demand.
This confidence explains why Apple decided to price the iPad Mini with Retina at $399, which is a significant premium over Apple's rivals. Apple thinks that even at its current prices it's going to sell a boatload of iPads. So why lower the price?