What's Ailing iPad Sales: Smaller Tablet Growth, Lack of New Models

The big takeaway from Apple's third-quarter earnings report was that the iPhone is continuing to defy gravity and post stellar sales despite an apparently saturated market for smartphones.

The news puts an end to any lingering concerns that Apple's fallow product cycle would depress sales of a product that supplies a commanding chunk of its revenues.

The iPad situation wasn't as rosy

Apple sold 14.6 million iPads in the quarter, down from 17 million in the year-ago quarter and 19.5 million in the March quarter. The decline came despite the introduction of the iPad Mini last October, which was designed as a hedge against price erosion in the tablet segment