iPad sales were the hero of Apple’s latest earnings report

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iPad Air 10.5
The new iPad Pro is officially a hit!
Photo: Apple

Apple surprised Wall Street with a better-than-expected Q2 earnings report this afternoon and one of the biggest factors was the iPad.

With revenues topping $58 billion Q2 (down 5% YoY), Apple is trying to become less reliant on its iPhone business. Services are expected to pick up most of the slack, but this last quarter Apple got some unexpected help from its iPad business that is experiencing a resurgence just at the right time thanks to the new iPad Pro.

Revenue from iPad sales including Q2 2019
iPad revenue is on the up-and-up.
Chart: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

During today’s earnings call with investors, Tim Cook revealed that iPad revenue was up 22% from the December quarter. That’s the highest revenue growth the iPad segment has seen in six years with $4.9 billion in revenue.

The iPad renaissance

Just two years ago the iPad business seemed like it was struggling mightily even though some fans thought it would supplant the Mac as the go-to computing device of the future. With the new iPad Pro, Apple’s finally bringing out the full potential from tablets and it looks like that trend should continue in the future.

During Q2 Apple also unleashed a new iPad Air and iPad mini, both with Apple Pencil support late in the quarter. Those two new devices will certainly help boost sales going forward, but it’s the iPad Pro that continues to become the main draw as a true PC-replacement.

iPad revenue returned to growth in Greater China, and Japan had its best iPad sales ever for a March quarter. Meanwhile, all other geographic segments saw strong double-digit growth. Customers are loving the new iPads with recent surveys measuring a 93 percent customer satisfaction. Among customers who plan to purchase tablets, 77 percent of consumers and 75 percent of businesses plan to purchase iPads. Basically, iPads are the tablet market.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors that the company can’t wait to show off its new software at WWDC 2019. iOS 13 will be the star of the event and the iPad is expected to get a host of new features that make multitasking better.

It’s crazy to think that just two years ago Wall Street was saying the iPad was dead. Now, the business looks stronger than ever.

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