I think these results are amazing. Kudos to Apple. And now I'm going to be "that guy" on HN. iPad is off 18%. So now Apple really is living and dying by a single product? I mean it's amazing how well they are doing with "just" one product but technology tastes seem so fickle that it's an interesting predicament to be in.
They have always lived and died by one product. First it was the Mac, then the iPod, now the iPhone. At the current scale, yes, the iPhone sustains 70% of the company. If the iPhone fails maybe the Mac will be the one product to sustain a smaller Apple. Maybe the iPad will rally and do the job.
It's not that weird of a predicament. Not all big companies are diversified. Microsoft has sustained itself for decades with only two products (Windows + office). Google is sustained basically by advertisement on search results. They have other revenue lines but not as important.
If these lines fall companies do the same any other complex organisms do. They adapt to survive, find new businesses, reinvigorate old ones... Or they die. It's really not that exceptional.
What makes Apple exceptional is the scale of it all.
They don't live and die by one product. Its just that one product is ridiculously more successful than the rest. This makes their stock value more volatile, but as a company changes not much. The iPod was once the crown jewel, then its sales dwindled and now its been absorbed into a new form factor.
I have an iPad 2. Since upgrading my iPhone 4 to an iPhone 6 Plus, I barely use my iPad. I doubt I'd bother taking the iPad on trips either, as the larger iPhone screen is fine using hotel booking sites or for general research.
They'll need to reinvent the iPad for me to buy another one.
iPads are mature, no compelling reason to buy one every 2 years like a phone. It's not like the other tablet manufacturers are doing much better (or good at all). Apple still makes a lot on iPads, many companies would kill for that business (including large ones...).
