Shipped versus Sold
02/05/13 16:21 Filed in: iPad
Today’s IDG sales figures are good news for Apple. Their year on year growth was 65% with 19.5 million iPads shipping in the first quarter of 2013. However we would caution against reading too much into these figures.
Click here to view the IDC chart.
The number stated can only be estimates as companies such as Microsoft and Amazon do not reveal the number of tablets sold. Furthermore, it seems that IDG quote figures for numbers of tablets shipped and not the real number of tablets sold. Only Apple give the number of iPads it sells for each quarter. It is hard to tell what percentage of these tablet shipments on the IDG chart are left unsold or are returned to the supplier. In December, Blackberry wrote off $485 million in PlayBook inventory, bringing the cost to the company of its tablet adventures to $1.5 billion.
There are three figures to look out for (if a company gives hints to their real numbers): the number of tablets manufactured, the number shipped and most importantly, the number sold. Many companies seem to give indications about the numbers shipped but fewer are revealing the numbers actually sold and in the hands of consumers.
Click here to view the IDC chart.
The number stated can only be estimates as companies such as Microsoft and Amazon do not reveal the number of tablets sold. Furthermore, it seems that IDG quote figures for numbers of tablets shipped and not the real number of tablets sold. Only Apple give the number of iPads it sells for each quarter. It is hard to tell what percentage of these tablet shipments on the IDG chart are left unsold or are returned to the supplier. In December, Blackberry wrote off $485 million in PlayBook inventory, bringing the cost to the company of its tablet adventures to $1.5 billion.
There are three figures to look out for (if a company gives hints to their real numbers): the number of tablets manufactured, the number shipped and most importantly, the number sold. Many companies seem to give indications about the numbers shipped but fewer are revealing the numbers actually sold and in the hands of consumers.
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