Again, we called it. Sales of the new iPad fail to meet expectations.

According to Josh Lowensohn over at CNET, “Apple has sold fewer units of the device than analysts had estimated it would.” via Strong iPhone sales overshadow new iPad in Apple earnings | Apple – CNET News.  You can see from our prior posts that Argus Insights was concerned about the launch performance of the new iPad.  Not only were the delight levels falling drastically ( at

least until Best Buy sent out their “please review your recent purchase emails” to what appears to be a cohort of passionate iPad owners all posting glowing reviews on 18 April) but the buzz levels for the new iPad were low, especially compared to the still available, but now cheaper, iPad 2.  Delight and Buzz both began to recover in April but not soon enough to shift our thinking regarding the earnings call this past Tuesday.

Consumer responses to product experiences, as measured using our CIA platform, continue to be leading indicators of sales trends.  We also anticipated the surprising increase in iPad 2 sales at the end of Summer 2011.  I’m sure all those iPad 3 case and accessory manufacturers would have appreciated some advanced warning before ramping additional inventory…

If you want our help getting the jump on uncertainty in your market, please contact Argus Insights today, sales@argusinsights.com or +1-877-992-7487.