Post-PC products are playing a bigger role for Apple as recent strong sales for the iPad and iPhone show, pointing to a trend where mobile devices are gaining utility both for consumption and production of commerce, communications, marketing and content.

During its earnings conference, Apple said it sold 9.25 million iPads during its fiscal third quarter, a 183 percent unit increase from the year-ago quarter. Additionally, the company reported that  the iPad and iPad 2 are now distributed in 65 countries.

?The continued growth of the tablet market ? and its growth in relation to PC ? as well as Apple?s extremely strong position here means that the iPad is a platform that marketers and content owners need to pay attention to,? said Noah Elkin, principal analyst at eMarketer, New York.

?The iPad straddles devices between PC and mobile because it is able to access some desktop sites,? he said.

?The more smart devices you have in the hands of consumers, the more compelling a proposition mobile is for marketers ? and the more it also becomes a necessity.?

IPhone leaps ahead
Apple executives say that the iPad is hurting sales of laptop PCs whlie others contend that Mac sales are also being impacted.

In the most recent financial results, Mac sales increased 14 percent for a total of 3.95 million units.
Apple was also able to sell significant numbers of iPhones even as rumors abound about the release of a new model ? the iPhone 5 ? this year.

There is growing competition in the tablet market, with recent entries from Samsung, Motorola and Research in Motion. However, these new devices do not appear to be having any significant impact on iPad sales.

The company continues to experience success in the smartphone category as well.

Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones in the quarter, representing a 142 percent growth in units from the same period a year ago.

IPhone?s growth is outpacing the smartphone market, according to Apple executives pointing to IDC?s estimate for 67 percent growth in the global smartphone market.

?Shipments for iPhone exceeded everyone?s expectations,? said Alex Spektor,  senior analyst of global wireless practice at Strategy Analytics, Newton, MA. ?Even though there are significant rumors about the next iPhone coming out, Apple continued to sell huge volumes.?

?This speaks to the value that consumers see in the phone,? he said.

Apple reported that revenue for the quarter ended June 25 totaled $28.57 billion, up 82 percent from $15.70 billion from the year-ago quarter.

Net profit totaled $7.31 billion.

The increases were driven primarily by growth in iPhone and iPad sales as well as growth in Mac sales.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently said that the majority of the company?s revenue come from post-PC products when he introduced the iPad 2 earlier this year.

?It is not so much that people are doing away with PCs,? eMarketer?s Mr. Elkin said. ?It is more that we are seeing convergence in the devices as consumers begin to have the expectation that they would have interactions with peers or marketers through any of these devices,?

?The fact that you can make a phone call on a wireless network is increasingly less relevant,? he said.

Growing share
Apple also reported that iPhone and accessory sales generated $13.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 150 percent from the year ago quarter.

Emerging and developing markets helped drive the growth, including China, Latin America, Brazil, Mexico and the Middle East.

While Apple?s results are impressive, they come at a time when the smartphone market overall is growing, benefitting Android and other operating systems.

Much of the growth is being fueled by consumers replacing feature phones with smartphones, per Mr. Spektor.

?The whole smartphone market is growing at a tremendous rate,? Strategy Analytics? Mr. Spektor said.
However, Apple?s share of the overall smartphone market continues to grow.

According to Strategy Analytics figures, Apple had an 18 percent share of the global smartphone market in the first quarter of 2011. This is up from a 16 percent share during Q1 2010 and an 11 percent share in Q1 2009.

Apple faces competition, but it is still the brand to beat when it comes to innovation.

?The competition continues to be at an all-time high,? Mr. Spektor said. ?All of the vendors need to make sure they are differentiating their product in order to keep competing with Apple.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer