Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad tablet is still the leading product in the global market, but is steadily losing ground to its underdog competitors, new reports suggest following the Cupertino company’s Q3 2014 earnings report. Despite continued overall growth and favorable market share in many areas, the fruit-dubbed firm is losing its mouth-watering gleam in the eyes of many fund managers, who view its glory days as being essentially past.
The Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, a statistical service provided by International Data Corporation, revealed that Apple’s iPad remains the planet’s most important tablet in terms of market share and unit shipments, but that it is sliding rapidly downhill while competitors are gaining on its formerly unassailable position. In Q2 2014, the iPad shipped 13.3 million units and retained 26.9% of the overall market share.
Simple market share and total units shipped is not enough to appeal to fund managers, however, who play a major role in determining demand for the tech company’s stock. As stated by Hennessy Technology’s Skip Aylesworth in a recent Reuters article, Apple’s slow and steady growth is a far cry from the massive, explosive gains of old. Investors, Mr. Aylesworth pointed out, are much more likely to prefer newer stocks with 15% to 25% growth rates, rather than Apple’s (AAPL) stodgy 6% to 8%.
Apple has no new products to offer at this point in time, rumored iWatches notwithstanding, and it is difficult to imagine a smartwatch having the same impact as the iPhone’s or iPad’s debuts in any case. The iPad’s product cycle is slow due to the tablet’s relative durability, and though the iPhone 6 is likely to breathe life into Apple’s Q4 2014 revenues, it is ultimately no more than a retread of an existing product and will not cause a massive spurt of growth such as the Cupertino company experienced in the past.
The signs are that Apple is settling down to a respectable but bland middle age, and some analysts have gone so far as to say they could be out of business within three years. This extreme scenario seems unlikely at this point, however, and there remains the possibility that Apple’s magicians still have an unexpected “rabbit” or two to pull out of the hat.