When Steve Jobs unveiled Apple’s iPhone 4, he bragged about how much money software developers had made by creating Apps for the iPhone platform… A staggering $1 Billion. Indeed, a remarkable ecosystem has grown up around the iPhone platform. But it’s not just software developers that comprise the iPhone ecosystem. Apple’s supply chain partners play a crucial role, as do all the companies that make iPhone-related products.
We were curious to see how quickly an ecosystem would grow up around the iPad, so we took a look at shipments that included the word “iPad.” See below for a graph of shipments of iPad-related products (iPad sleeve, iPad gummy crystal case, iPad screen shield, etc.). 9 in April, 20 in May, and 51 in June. And Panjiva Search shows that there are more than 30 companies behind these products.
Apple fanboys should take note that these are NOT shipments of actual iPads. Super-secretive Apple has figured out that they should call the iPads something other than iPads on shipping documents. Nevertheless, the data serves as a dramatic illustration of just how quickly manufacturers are hopping on the iPad bandwagon.
By the way, for comparison’s sake, take a look at shipments of iPhone-related products:
