Apple secretly released iPads, preceded by Huawei and Xiaomi, followed by large-screen phones. | rtp slot olx toto, jagobet 99, qq slot welcome cashback 100

Unexpected. On March 18, Apple updated the iPad product sequence on its official website without any official news. A week later, as planned, Apple will hold this year’s spring product launch conference at Steve Theater.

Now, Apple has launched the new iPad Air (10.5-inch) and iPad mini (7.9-inch) on its official website, and has offlined the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

New wine in old bottles? Just changing the "core", no surprises

The last iPad Air update was the iPad Air 2 in 2014.

It has been four years since the iPad Air series was updated again. Although it does not continue to use the iPad name, it is undeniable that it is still from the same family as the iPad.

With the addition of the new iPad Air and the withdrawal of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, Apple’s current iPad product matrix has become like this: iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air and iPad mini.

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From these changes, we can also see Apple’s positioning of this product:

The 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPad Pro were released just a few months ago. They represent the top configuration (and price) of the iPad product line, as well as the most comprehensive functions;

The 9.7-inch iPad, which starts at 2,500 yuan, is a cheap choice for the public. The new mini is a choice that combines the performance features of both upper and lower products.

It can be said that Apple's move is to more fully improve its product line, so it is indeed relatively rare for Apple to launch new products without holding a new product launch conference.

What's more, the iPad Pro was released only five months ago, the spring new product launch conference will be held in a week, and the Apple Developer Conference will be held in more than two months. Choosing such a time to carry out product changes seems to be quite helpless for Apple.

It will take time to see whether consumers will pay for this kind of product upgrade.

After all, the appearance of the iPad mini has not changed despite the fact that it has been three years since the last device upgrade. In addition to supporting the first-generation Apple Pencil, Apple's new model also uses a Lightning port, which is also a step back from the USB-C port used in the iPad Pro released last year.

Of course, the performance of the A12 bionic chip is definitelyFar ahead. The overall appearance design of the iPad Air is basically the same as that of the 2018 iPad. Both retain the Touch ID physical fingerprint recognition. The difference lies in the changes in weight and size.

Perhaps the most intuitive feeling is: students and mobile game enthusiasts are lucky.

The old design, new chip, and strong performance are indeed a good choice for students and mobile game enthusiasts. Compared with the domestic gaming phones currently on the market for about 3,000 yuan, it has considerable advantages in terms of performance, software ecology, and price. These will undoubtedly attract more student users to buy iPads as their daily learning and entertainment tools.

So the new iPad Air and iPad Mini are clearly different in class and price from the new iPad Pro released last year, while improving the competitiveness and attraction of the iPad in terms of overall performance. It can be seen that the main competitors of the iPad Mini are not only the small-sized tablets currently on the market, but also the large-screen gaming phones on the market. The iPad Air is still Apple's tablet entertainment device for most ordinary users.

Apple is now back to "squeezing out toothpaste".

Chinese opponents sniped, and the ace mini encountered multiple pressures

Obviously, when brands such as Xiaomi and Huawei have significantly released and updated their new tablet product lines, if Apple does not follow up, it is estimated that in the context of a substantial shrinkage of the global tablet market, Apple is very likely to lose this largest tablet market.

Updates and additions to the product line that have been dormant for four years will undoubtedly add new options for phone purchasers. With the pace of new product releases in the spring, major manufacturers are making efforts, especially China's Xiaomi and Huawei.

In the current tablet computer market, Xiaomi Mi Pad has been updated to Mi Pad 4, priced from 1,099 yuan; Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 Plus, priced from 1,899 yuan. For this price, it is extremely lethal in the market - of course, how to bring a better experience to users is something they have to consider deeply.

At the same time, Huawei's tablet computer has been updated to the Huawei Tablet M5, which is divided into standard, youth and Pro versions. The price of the Enjoy Edition is as low as 1,299 yuan. With Huawei's current influence and appeal in the market, this price is really a devastating blow to Apple, but the same experience is still a problem.

What's more, Huawei also has a godson, Honor, who has also launched the Honor Tablet. Its brand slogan is "fun and not expensive." The price starts at 1,199 yuan when purchased from Huawei Mall. Considering Honor's current status among Internet brands and the fact that the product attributes are basically the same, this price is also killer.

Chinese people have an innate consumer mentality of "good quality and low price", and "cost-effectiveness" has been pushed to the public by the Xiaomi brand. When buying electronic consumer goods, for young people at this stage, price first, then parameters, and finally the brand. For electronic consumer goods with many substitutes, price is often the last way to decide the purchase.

2012Q2 China Tablet PC Market Share

According to data released by Analysys International, during the second quarter of 2012, Chinese consumers purchased 2.34 million tablet computers, a year-on-year increase of 63%. Among these 2.34 million tablet computers, 72.6% were Apple iPads. The main reason is that iPad has the highest market share in China. Since then, with the entry of other manufacturers and the intensification of market competition, coupled with the rise of Internet brands, Apple's market share has repeatedly declined.

The 2018 Chinese market tablet computer data released by IDC China shows that the Chinese tablet computer market shipped approximately 22.12 million units in 2018, a year-on-year decrease of 0.8%, and the decline continued to narrow.

Among the 22.12 million tablets shipped in 2018, approximately 20.41 million Slate Tablets (traditional straight tablets) were shipped, a year-on-year decrease of 0.7%; Detachable Tablets (removable keyboard tablets) were approximately 1.72 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 1.1%. In 2018, the top three manufacturers in China's tablet market are still Apple, Huawei, and Lenovo. Apple shipped approximately 8.37 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 6.4%; Huawei shipped approximately 6.26 million units, a year-on-year increase of 18.9%; Lenovo shipped approximately 1.12 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 8.9%.

As far as the global market is concerned, Apple is still blocked by Huawei.

Apple and Huawei are the only two tablet manufacturers that have experienced growth in shipments, with Huawei's growth rate being nearly 7 percentage points higher than Apple's. But in terms of total shipments, Apple still ranked first with 11.5 million units (market share 34.9%), accounting for more than one-third of the entire market.

Samsung’s tablet shipments fell from 6 million units in the same period last year to 5 million units, a drop of 16.1%, and its market share shrank from 15.6% to 15.1% accordingly. Huawei's tablet shipments increased from 3.1 million units to 3.4 million units, an increase of 7.7%, and its market share correspondingly increased from 8.2% to 10.3%.

Tablet PC global market situation

What's more, mobile phone screens are often 6+ inches. In fact, small-sized tablets no longer have much market significance.

How long the die-hard Apple fans can support it is the key to the iPad series

For Apple, which is known as "grasshoppers are also meat", its brand's premium ability is very strong, not to mention the real consumption power of Apple products is still very strong.

Generally speaking, users who like Apple will not switch to the Android camp because of price issues, because Apple has many choices and its product matrix is also very mature. It also has services such as installment payment and trade-in to solve the price increase problem. Moreover, the prices of the new iPad Air and iPad mini are already very affordable, and they are much lower than the starting price of 6699 for the iPad Pro.

Can the support for Apple Pencil be understood as clearing the inventory of the first-generation Apple Pencil?

In the 2018 Q4 financial statement, the iPhone’s Q4 revenue was US$37.185 billion, accounting for 59.12%, and the same period last year accounted for 54.86%; it can be seen that the iPhone is still the largest source of revenue, and compared with last year, Apple’s revenue is more dependent on the iPhone.

Revenue from iPad was US$4.089 billion, a decrease of 15% from US$4.831 billion in the same period last year; iPad sales were 9.699 million units, a decrease of 6% from 10.326 million units in the same period last year.

Apple’s 2018Q4 financial statements

Although revenue has declined, considering Apple's dependence on hardware for profit, it is not necessarily a bad thing to appropriately improve the configuration of the iPad series and lower the prices of some iPads to stimulate the market.

Especially for the Chinese market, after entering the New Year, the sales price of iPhone in China has been reduced twice. In addition to the platform’s coupons, gifts, etc., in fact, the iPhone’s sales pricePrices have been adjusted for three rounds. What is the purpose of this? Of course, we hope to seize the Chinese market. Even if the highs of the Q2 period of 2012 cannot be reproduced, it is extremely important for Apple to stabilize more than 30% of the current market.

Although Apple announced that starting from the 2019 Q1 financial report, it will no longer list the sales of iPhone, Mac and iPad separately, and will rename the "Other Products" section to the "Wearables, Home and Accessories" section. It can be seen that Apple still hopes that hardware sales can bring greater contribution to the financial report.

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Compared to the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and MacBook can only be regarded as second-tier products. However, with the high profit margin of Apple hardware, Apple can make extremely high profits even if it clears inventory, as long as it is sold,

Gradually fading out will be the fate of the iPad

The silent release of the new iPad on the official website will be the prelude to Apple’s product line update in the new year.

According to public information, Apple also plans to launch a series of new products this year, including new Mac computers and new iPhones. Judging from Apple's product strategy in recent years, Apple has always divided its products into two categories: low-end models for education and high-end models for business users. It typically upgrades cheaper models in March and professional versions in the second half of the year.

Apple's habit of turning old designs and products into cheaper products is well known. For example, this is the case with the iPhone SE. The new iPad Air and iPad mini continue this approach. For the market, will this make the iPad Air and iPad mini the last generation of iPads, with the iPad and iPad Pro being the main products? Just like the iPhone SE is basically invisible today.

However, from a market perspective, this is unlikely. According to Digitimes data, tablet shipments are expected to decline in 2019, but there will still be 140 million units shipped, and even by 2023, the annual shipment volume will be more than 120 million units.

In comparison, the much-hyped smart speakers shipped only about 50 million units in 2018. It can be seen that the tablet market itself is still worth doing, especially Apple, which is famous for its hardware profits.

It is foreseeable that Apple will upgrade iPad Air and iPad mini in a low-key manner. First of all, it will be in a defensive posture and upgrade tablet manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Huawei (and Honor) through product upgrades in the market.defensive to hold on to current market conditions.

Secondly, the iPad series is used as an extension of the iPhone and Mac. It is more convenient than the Mac in terms of portability, more comfortable than the iPhone in screen and other applications, and can complement each other in terms of personal entertainment, audio and video.

The third is to attack the current large-screen gaming phones. Large-screen gaming phones in the 3,000 yuan range are now the main direction of the Android camp. Differentiating competition in this market is a good choice for Apple.

However, don’t be too optimistic. There are wolves in front of you and tigers in the back. There are also financial pressures in the middle. It is not easy to sell new products.

[Source: Caijing Wuji Author | Yueluowudi]