During the period of April 2010 and March 2012, gross margins on iPhone sales in the US ran 49 to 58 percent. Gross margins on iPad sales during the same period were much lower, according to a court filing in the Samsung vs Apple patent dispute that begins in earnest on Monday, scheduled to take place in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, called Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, 11-1846.
The filing was unveiled today in a statement by an Apple expert witness, though Apple has declined to comment on the filing itself.
According to the documentation, Apple had gross margins of 23 to 32 percent on US iPad sales, or about half of what it makes on iPhones, between October 2010 and March 2012. In contrast to Apple’s typical stance of not commenting on individual products, the Cupertino-based company had to disclose that these iPad sales generated a revenue of more than $13 billion.
Compare that with US iPhone sales sales between April 2010 and the end of March 2012, which generated a revenue of over $33 billion for Apple, a $20 billion difference. Apple is seeking a little over $2.5 billion in damages. With numbers like the above, the amount of Apple’s monetary claim makes a little more sense.
If the court finds this to be evidence of the impact any patent infringement might have had on Apple by Samsung, the Korean-based company may well find itself in some monetary hot water.
Rob LeFebvre is an Anchorage, Alaska-based writer and editor who has contributed to various tech, gaming and iOS sites, including 148Apps, Creative Screenwriting, Shelf-Awareness, VentureBeat, and Paste Magazine. Feel free to find Rob on Twitter @roblef, and send him a cookie once in a while; he’ll really appreciate it.
4 responses to “Apple Makes About Half As Much With Each iPad Than It Does With iPhone”
Nothing surprising here. Apple hit the market with the iPad to do one thing make it cheaper and kill the rest of the market. They could easily charge more, but they would not own the market in this category if they did.
Could be, but it seems like Apple is filing with the specific intent of showing that the Samsung Galaxy Tab has had a negative impact on its revenues, or at least have the documentation in case they want to make that case.
Nexus 7 is better
If they charged more the common folk wouldn’t buy it