在iPad推出的第15個月后，蘋果仍然無法滿足人們對這款平板電腦的需求。 “這是一個很好的現(xiàn)象 - “需求”這個東西簡直太棒了，”蘋果公司首席運營官Tim.Cook,在宣布季度收入和利潤的發(fā)布會上說。 但它仍然是一個問題，只是忙于其他事物的蘋果暫時不會理會。蘋果還提到“未來的產(chǎn)品轉(zhuǎn)型”，這是為什么它預(yù)測秋季季度的銷售會下降的原因之一。 好消息是，蘋果在過去的3個月共售出925萬臺iPad，是上一季的2倍，更是去年同季度的3倍。壞消息是，它們原本還能賣出更多——如果有貨的話。 “在我們將在七月的第一周對供應(yīng)鏈做一些改善，以滿足一些國家和地區(qū)的SKU供應(yīng)/需求平衡，”Cook表示，但他拒絕預(yù)測什么時候能夠滿足全球需求，“我們會盡全力滿足客戶的需求量。”他說。 Cook還回避了是否會選擇富士康以外的大型中國代工廠的問題。供應(yīng)鏈管理是“我們的秘密武器的一部分，所以這事不能說得太細?！彼f。 事實上，富士康中國工廠的爆炸確實對iPad的出貨量造成了沖擊。 平板電腦正在蠶食筆記本電腦的銷售份額，但Cook并沒有量化這一數(shù)字。 “我們相信，一些客戶選了iPad而放棄了Mac，但更多人是選擇了iPad然后放棄了Windows PC ，因為世界上可以被蠶食的PC比Mac要多得多?！彼f。 Apple在忙些什么？ 展望未來，蘋果預(yù)計其下一季度收入將從280億美元減少到250億美元，而毛利率從41％下滑至38％。蘋果預(yù)計，iPhone，iPad和Mac電腦的銷售將繼續(xù)上升，但提到“現(xiàn)在不能說的未來產(chǎn)品轉(zhuǎn)型”，卻有可能成為預(yù)計銷售額和利潤的拖累。 今年秋季利潤率下降的三分之二將來自“不同的產(chǎn)品組合”，蘋果首席財務(wù)官Peter Oppenheimer表示。他說，下降的其余部分將來自未來的產(chǎn)品轉(zhuǎn)型，以及學生返校期間的市場宣傳費用。 產(chǎn)品轉(zhuǎn)型，可能包括在今年秋天的某個時候升級到iOS 5。如果推出時間太晚，可能會降低iPhone和iPad銷售，直到它們版本的iOS 5??發(fā)布為止。 蘋果Mac電腦也面臨著一個新版本的操作系統(tǒng)的更替，就是7月20日發(fā)布的Lion。 鑒于銷售額下降了兩位數(shù)，蘋果也更新了其iPod產(chǎn)品線?，F(xiàn)在家族的最新成員iPod Touch，占該到該地區(qū)一半以上的銷售。 在那看似遙遠的地平線另一端，是一個已經(jīng)成熟的從Apple互聯(lián)網(wǎng)電視產(chǎn)品。迄今為止，它已經(jīng)發(fā)布了兩個版本的Apple TV機頂盒，可以播放流媒體網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻，但目前還沒有自己的電視產(chǎn)品(iTV)。 “蘋果電視現(xiàn)在越做越好，但我們?nèi)匀环Q它為一個業(yè)余愛好，因為我們不希望任何人認為它對蘋果來說像iPhone那樣重要?！盋ook說,“我們將繼續(xù)在此投資，因為我們覺得有那么點意思。”他說。 對蘋果來說最好的消息是iPhone銷量的持續(xù)增長，在過去3個月已達到2034萬。蘋果上一個季度在15個國家增加了42個iPhone運營商，整體銷售增長大多來自新興市場，如巴西，中國，墨西哥和中東。 “這些都是蘋果以前一直沒有得到的大市場?！盋ook說。 大中國區(qū)包括香港和臺灣，蘋果的市場繼續(xù)迅速擴大，最近一個季度銷售額38億美元，相比去年同期增長達6倍。Cook說，蘋果該地區(qū)的銷售額在過去的三個季度增加了88億美元。 “這對蘋果來說是個重大機遇，我堅信，目前我們只看到了冰山一角而已?！睅炜苏f。 蘋果零部件供應(yīng)鏈看起來也狀況不錯。 “大多數(shù)零件處于積極的供應(yīng)狀態(tài)，除了硬盤價格下降較少外，其他零件的價格都下跌到歷史新低，。”Cook說。 編譯：Luffy Liu 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 參考英文原文：Apple still can't keep up with iPad demand，by Rick Merritt

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{pagination} Apple still can't keep up with iPad demand Rick Merritt SAN JOSE, Calif. – Fifteen months after the iPad was launched, Apple still can't keep up with demand for the popular tablet. "This is a good problem--demand is fantastic," said Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer in a conference call announcing record quarterly revenues and profits. But it's still a problem, one of a handful Apple would not talk about in detail. The company also alluded to "a future product transition" which is one reason why it is forecasting a decline in sales for its fall quarter. The good news is Apple sold 9.25 million iPads in the last three months, double the number of the previous quarter and three times as many as in the same quarter last year. The bad news is it could have sold more if it could have made them. "In the first weeks of July supply improved so that some SKUs in some countries are now in supply/demand balance," said Cook, refusing to forecast when the company would be able to meet global demand. "We are working very hard to get as many units to customers as we can," he said. Cook also dodged a question about whether the company was diversifying its base of manufacturing partners beyond Foxconn that operates city-sized factories for Apple in China. Supply chain management is "part of our secret sauce, so I don’t want to share too much about it," he said. An explosion at a Foxconn plant in China was expected to impact iPad manufacturing. Tablets are cannibalizing notebook sales, but Cook did not quantify the effect. "We believe some customers chose an iPad instead of a Mac, but even more chose an iPad over a Windows PC and there's more Windows PCs to cannibalize than Macs," he said. Scattered showers ahead? Looking ahead, Apple predicts its revenues will fall from $28 billion this quarter to $25 billion next quarter while gross margins slip from 41 to 38 percent. The company expects iPhone, iPad and Mac sales to continue to rise, but alluded to a "future product transition which we are not going to talk about" expected to be a drag on sales and margins. Two thirds of the margin decline will come from "a different product mix" in the fall quarter, said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. The rest of the decline would come from the future product transition and increased marketing expenses for the back-to-school quarter, he said. The product transition may come from the shift to iOS 5, due sometime this fall. If the launch comes late in the quarter it might slow iPhone and iPad sales until systems supporting it are released. Apple also faces a Mac transition with a new version of its operating system, dubbed Lion, coming July 20. The company may also be due for a refresh of its iPod line which continues to decline in sales by double digits. The newest member of the family, the iPod Touch, now makes up half the sales in the area. Still on the distant horizon is a full blown Web-connected TV product from Apple. To date it has released two major versions of Apple TV, a set-top box for streaming Web video, but no iTV product. "Apple TV continues to do well, but we still call it a hobby here because we don’t want anyone to think it's another leg of the stool like the iPhone.," said Cook. "We continue to invest in it because we think there is something there," he said. The best news for Apple is iPhone sales continue to grow, hitting 20.34 million in the last three months. Apple added 42 iPhone carriers in 15 countries in the last quarter, with much of the overall sales growth coming from emerging markets such as Brazil, China, Mexico and the Middle East. "These are markets that Apple historically has not been strong in," said Cook. Greater China—including Hong Kong and Taiwan--continues to expand rapidly as a market for Apple, growing six-fold to $3.8 billion in sales in the current quarter compared to the same period last year. The region added $8.8 billion to Apple's sales in the last three quarters, Cook said. "This has been a substantial opportunity for Apple, and I firmly believe we are just scratching the surface," said Cook. Component supply also looks rosy to Apple. "Most components are in a positive supply situation with prices falling at or above historical trends except hard disk drives that are constrained and thus facing less price declines," Cook said.