Skip to main content

KGI: iPad Pro pushed back again to Q2 2015, Q1 to see under 10M iPads shipped

KGI-ipad-pro-12-inch-launch

The latest report from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims Apple will delay its expected launch of a 12.9 (or 12.2)-inch iPad ‘Pro’ as it predicts a 50% decline for iPad shipments heading into next year. Specifically, KGI thinks Apple will sell just under 10 million units in Q1 2015 following a busy holiday season in the last quarter of this year. That would be a 54.5% drop from quarter to quarter with KGI predicting 21 million iPad units sold during the Q4 2014 Holiday quarter:

We forecast iPad shipments will fall 54.5% QoQ to 9.8mn units in 1Q15, given a lack of new applications, tablet market saturation and slow season… We believe that, in a major shift, while Apple (US) used to be able to use new form factor designs to boost demand, it has failed to do so this time around. The lighter and thinner iPad Air 2 will face strong headwinds in increasing sales in 1Q15, we believe; we also hold that this means that iPad, along with the entire tablet market, is faced with structural challenges characterized by a lack of new applications and market saturation.

Earlier reports claimed that Apple was on track to release the larger iPad “early next year,” but today Kuo said production issues will push back mass production of the device from the Q1 to Q2 of next year.

Kuo adds that Apple will take advantage of an oxide panel on the 12.9-inch iPad that will provide “spec requirements of high resolution, quick response and high color saturation.”

Several reports in recent months have claimed to share details of the yet to be announced iPad that will reportedly sport a display measuring somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-inches. Bloomberg and others reported that Apple was planning on release the device sometime in early 2015, while a report from The Wall Street Journal last month claimed Apple had postponed mass production of the larger iPad from December 2014 into next year as suppliers struggled to meet demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch.

Would you buy a 12-13-inch iPad Pro?

 

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. oshipp - 9 years ago

    Lighter and thinner aren’t great selling specs…now the same thickness or even slightly thicker with amazing battery life would be an amazing selling feature. (hopefully with the next gen iPhone they will correct their mistake with the 6 and not have that lame looking camera bezel popping out and claim some massive battery improvements. I still do not understand why that isn’t a key feature, but thinness is????)

    • rogifan - 9 years ago

      I wasn’t aware that people were complaining about battery life with their iPads. I have an Air 2 and have had no issues with battery life, though I’ve never needed to use it for 10 hours at a time without access to a charger.

      • giskardian - 9 years ago

        If Apple released a new iPad with 3 times the battery life, then you would hear people complain about battery life on the old iPads.

      • oshipp - 9 years ago

        They are thin enough now, and my comment was based on the iphone 6 not the ipad. Battery life is great on the ipad but making it thinner isnt a concern for me, i had a ipad 2 and i only charge it once a month as it is. Why not keep it the same and get even more battery life though

    • Fallenjt JT - 9 years ago

      Yes, lighter and thinner are great on tablets. iPad battery life has never been a problem. Why complain? I guess continuous 10-hr video is not enough for someone…What the hell is enough then?

    • PMZanetti - 9 years ago

      Thinner are lighter are selling points when a person HOLDS the device, especially they have an iPad 3 or 4.

      Battery life has been more than adequate, excellent in fact, since day 1 of iPad existence. No one complains about iPad battery life.

      You’re just rehashing the same garbage posts.

      Can you add a few more question ???? marks???? Maybe someone will notice your spam comments.

      • sircheese69 - 9 years ago

        Can you be a little less butt hurt over his comments? Maybe no one will notice it.

      • oshipp - 9 years ago

        Why did even bother replying you tool

      • oshipp - 9 years ago

        Read my post again and you’ll see its about the iphone 6 being too thin not the iphone. But its a trend I don’t like. Making a device thinner time after time isnt something that gets my gears going, theres no functionality with that.

      • rettun1 - 9 years ago

        …Because there is more to products than functionality

  2. sircheese69 - 9 years ago

    Pushed back a product that Apple hasn’t announced and is just a rumor? Sounds legit.

  3. SunbeamRapier - 9 years ago

    The iPad is a reasonable tool for many things, but many users (like me) have probably discovered that you still need a computer (I bought a Macbook Air as well).

    The iPad falls down in some very basic areas:

    – Safari on the iPad is a pain – largely because many sites are just not optimised for the iPad and selecting text or fields with a finger is difficult and sometimes impossible.
    – Printing is impossible unless you buy a special inkjet. My Xerox Colour Laser cannot connect to the iPad for some reason known only to Apple (both my Macs connect to the printer via a Wifi print server).
    – Typing on the iPad is a pain – and connecting a Wifi Keyboard is slow and cumbersome unless you have a dedicated WiFi keyboard just for the iPad (mine gets used for my Apple TV as well). Its always slow and tricky to get these to connect to any device.
    – Even with a keyboard you still have to use your finger to position the cursor or select text – this is SO slow and cumbersome that if I am typing more than a few words I always go to one of the Macs.
    – And if you do have a keyboard, propping up the iPad is tricky – getting the angle right is very difficult unless I use my Macbook Air as a stand (which rather defeats the purpose)
    – For large mailboxes the iPad is hopeless. Apple Mail on the Mac is not that great anyway, but its vastly more capable then mail on the iPad.
    – As for iWork – well Apple dumbed down the apps to re-engineer them for iOS and iCloud so, at the moment, I have had to resort to downloading Office 365 to my Mac for “proper work” as opposed to pretty but simple documents.

    In short, the iPad is a useful tool for reading the news, playing the odd game, and sending the odd message or short email. I recently replaces my iPad 1 with an iPad Air and although I use the iPad a lot for reading via apps I don’t use it for much else. I may replace it at some point, but that won’t be for some years…

    I have an iPhone 6 as well – perhaps if I didn’t I might use other apps on the iPad.

    • giskardian - 9 years ago

      You can use Printopia (OS X) to print from any iOS device to any printer that works with a Mac.

    • PMZanetti - 9 years ago

      Just shut up. This isn’t 2010. No one wants to hear it.

      I work on a Mac 9 hours a day… And I love the iPad. None of your tired old statements have anything to do with the mass market for iPads.

  4. giskardian - 9 years ago

    If Apple had fixed the color gamut on the Mini, I’d have bought one the first day they were available.

    If sales actually do fall so precipitously, then someone at Apple needs to be shit-canned. There is no excuse for surrendering the 8″ tablet space to Android.

    • PMZanetti - 9 years ago

      Color gamut. Yea. That drives sales. They should hire you.

      • The iPad mini retina is premium-priced in the market of 7″ to 8″ tablets. At the very least it wouldn’t behoove Apple to add a display that is equal in quality to the iPad Air. I mean you’re right, it won’t necessarily drive sales but for a premium-priced product, it is the right thing to do.

      • oshipp - 9 years ago

        Are you sure you’re name shouldn’t be PMSanetti? Someone must be waking up on the wrong side of the bed everyday…

  5. calisurfboy - 9 years ago

    “Stop trying to make iPad Pro happen. It’s not going to happen.” – Regina George

    I would buy a 12″ iPad Pro if it license the same technology that allows for Wacom Tablet pressure sensitivity, an apple stylus designed specifically by apple for iPad use, and wrist guard detection. :)

  6. tidersisbeter - 9 years ago

    I don’t know why anybody pays attention to Kuo. I can hardly remember the last time he was the first person to correctly predict anything. Either he’s regurgitating other people’s predictions or claiming things that never come true.

  7. Kawaii Gardiner - 9 years ago

    *sigh* why do people talk about quarter to quarter sales given that such sales statistics mean nothing given the seasonal influence over sales from quarter to quarter. You know what would be more interesting? comparing the 4Q2014 to 4Q2013.

  8. Teagan Jacobs - 9 years ago

    It’s a Mac Tablet not an iPad Pro

  9. IPAD PRO

    The iPad Pro. This is likely the device that Apple will pit against the Surface Pro 3, which as a category transcending device is resonating with the industry. It will be interesting to see how Apple designs this; will it be just a bigger iPad with a great resolution, very thin and very light. Or will they end this next entry in their portfolio with “laptop” features like a USB port, detachable keyboard, and maybe even Surface Pro 3 like kick-stand.

    We may get a view of what it WOULD have been like if Apple had made the Surface Pro 3 rather than Microsoft. Imagine how the world MAY have responded if Apple had made a device with a 150 kickstand, “soundless” fan, integrated N-Trig Pen that you to launch one note, has a detachable type-cover, that has an additional magnetic strip to lock it in making it stable for “lapability”. If many of these type of features appear in the iPad Pro, Apples Brand and Marketing power will put it front and center and the world will take notice.

    It will be VERY interesting if Surface Pro 3 like features, on Apples iPad Pro add greater validity to the hybrid/two-in-one “tablet than can replace your laptop” category.

    http://jltechword.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/the-ipad-air-pro-an-apple-fans-quest-to-replace-his-laptop-parody/

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.