On the evening of May 7th, Apple's special event named "Take Flight" officially concluded, unveiling the new iPad Pro and iPad Air.
However, unlike previous all-night live streams, Apple made a deliberate change this time, scheduling the event at 10 p.m. Beijing time (7 a.m. Pacific Time in the U.S.), seemingly to cater to domestic consumers.
Nevertheless, Apple's move did not seem to stir much excitement, with most of the buzz coming from tech influencers who rely on Apple for their livelihood – how magnificent!
Is the thinnest iPad in history truly magnificent? Downgrade + price increase, does it live up to the hype?
The new iPad released on the 7th evening was hailed as a "magnificent" piece by some domestic influencers attending the event, mainly due to the M4 chip built on the second-generation 3nm process, giving it the potential to adapt to future Apple AI.
Furthermore, the thickness of the all-new iPad Pro is 5.3mm for the 11-inch model and 5.1mm for the 13-inch model, even thinner than the iPod nano, making it the thinnest Apple product ever.
However, have you noticed that the iPad has actually been downgraded?
The downgrade in the camera aspect of the new iPad Pro is evident, shifting from the previous dual rear cameras (12MP wide-angle main camera + 10MP ultra-wide-angle) to a single rear camera (12MP wide-angle main camera).
Moreover, the 2024 iPad Pro has also seen a reduction in microphones, with the 5 microphones in the 2022 model shrinking to 4 in the 2024 model.
Additionally, the new iPads do not support the second-generation Apple Pencil released in 2018, with the page indicating support only for the Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C). If you buy the new pencil, Cook will be smiling at your expense.
However, looking on the bright side, while the new iPad has seen hardware downgrades, its price has been upgraded!
Looking back at the new iPad Pro over the past few years, it's clear to see that its price has been soaring:
iPad Pro 2016 (9.7 inches, A9X) starting at ?4388
iPad Pro 2017 (10.5 inches, A10X) starting at ?5188
iPad Pro 2018 (11 inches, A12X) starting at ?6499
iPad Pro 2024 (11 inches, M4) starting at ?8999
I did the math for you, and the latest iPad Pro is now twice the price of the 16th model of the iPad Pro, with even the iPad Air 11 starting at ?4799.
And do you really think the M4 you bought is the full-blooded version? If you pay a little attention, you'll notice that the 256/512 versions of the new iPad Pro are actually equipped with a depleted M4. Oh, it's really hard to bear...
Simply put, price hikes, new chips, and some downgrades, do you think this will lead to a sales explosion?
Is the domestic market no longer buying it? Revenue dropped by 4%, with a significant decline in performance in the Greater China region.
The facts also prove that Apple's current popularity in China is not as strong as before. Take trending topics for example, in the past few years, whenever Apple had a product launch event, it would start trending a week in advance, and even after the event, it would continue to trend for another week. However, after this recent event, just one day later, there were barely two trending topics related to Apple on Weibo.
Looking at the data, let's examine reports from other institutions and Apple's own revenue reports to see if Apple is still as popular among Chinese consumers.
A report by Canalys shows that in the first quarter of 2024, Apple's smartphone sales in the Chinese market plummeted by 25% year-on-year, ranking fifth after Huawei, OPPO, Honor, and vivo.
On the iPad front, Apple doesn't seem to have a significant advantage either: according to Canalys' report on global tablet shipments in the first quarter of 2024, although Apple's iPad series still holds the top spot with a 35.6% market share, its year-on-year growth rate is negative 13.9%, a significant decline.
In contrast, Huawei's tablet's year-on-year growth rate reached 70.2%, and its market share climbed to third globally, posing a significant threat to the iPad.
When it comes to third-party data reliability, let's take a look at Apple's own financial report.
Apple's latest quarterly report for the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year ending on March 30 shows a revenue of $90.75 billion, a decrease of about 4.3% year-over-year. In the Greater China region, revenue was $16.372 billion, down by 8%. Net income was $23.64 billion, a decrease of around 2.2%.
Specifically for the iPad product line, Apple has not released a new iPad since 2022, leading to a 17% revenue decline to $5.6 billion.
As for Apple's flagship product, the iPhone didn't fare much better. Apple reported a nearly 10% decrease in iPhone revenue to $45.96 billion, indicating weak demand for the current generation iPhones released in September.
However, Tim Cook previously mentioned that iPhone sales in China saw some growth this quarter.
Despite this, the market doesn't necessarily believe Apple is on the upswing. Even the legendary investor Warren Buffett has been reducing his stake in Apple!
In its 2023 annual report and Buffett's annual shareholder letter, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's company, revealed that Buffett reduced his holdings in Apple, selling approximately $1.822 billion worth of shares in the last quarter, lowering Berkshire's stake in Apple to 5.9%.
Some foreign analysts suggest that Buffett's sell-off reflects concerns about Apple's future prospects.
Moreover, Apple itself has been aggressively buying back its own shares. Recently, Apple announced a $110 billion stock repurchase program approved by its board, a 22% increase from last year's $90 billion authorization, marking Apple's largest buyback ever.
This move by Apple is seen as a strategy to counter slowing sales and help drive its ambitions in the field of AI.
What are your thoughts on the new iPad? Do you think it can save Apple in its current state? Will Tim Cook go down in history as one of Apple's worst leaders? Innovation in a company has its limits; could Cook lead Apple to its demise? Share your thoughts in the comments.
