In fiscal 2014 fourth quarter ended September 2014, Apple [NASDAQ:AAPL] reported total revenue of $42.12 billion, up 12% year-over-year and EPS of $1.42, up 20% year-over-year. A very impressive number, considering the size of the company. Sales were up across all products and services, except iPads and iPods. A total 12.3 million iPads were sold in the last quarter, down 13% year-over-year. 

There is no real concern yet at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA as Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, put it during the company's earnings call, “Some people might come into the Apple store and look at buying an iPad and a Mac, and opt for the iPad or some people look at the iPhone and the iPad, and opt for the iPhone”. This product is only 4 years old, and it seems that people hang onto the iPad much longer than the iPhone, he added.

The iPad revenue represents 13% of the total revenue, while Mac and iPhone revenues are 16% and 56% of the total revenue, respectively. Using Tim Cook’s thesis, it’s probably not going to hurt Apple too badly if Apple can sell a lot of iPhones and Macs.

KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo Kuo forecasts iPad sales of 21.5 million units in the first quarter of 2015, compared to 26 million iPads in Q1 2014, or a 17.3% drop year-over-year. This would be the first year-on-year decline in the holiday quarter since the launch of the iPad. Despite slow iPad sales, Apple still maintained its leading position and market share at 26%, followed by Intel-based tablets with 19% and Qualcomm-based tablets with 17%.

According to New York-based Statista, 248 million tablets will be shipped worldwide in 2015, compared to 236 million tablets in 2014, an increase of about 5% year-over-year. Obviously, the tablet market seems to be saturated, particulary with the low-end tablets. Consumers may consider buying low-end tablets rather than spending more money on a high-end product just for casual Internet browsing and for games.

During the time that Apple’s stock price was making a parabolic move higher between October and November, a long list of hedge funds, including Greenlight Capital and Omega Advisors, were taking profits and got out of their Apple stock positions. The stock is still under selling pressure. There are technical supports at 106.26, 100 and 94.26, or 38.2% Fibonacci retracement.

Apple will report their first quarter earnings at the end of January. The market is expecting total revenue of $66.24 billion and EPS of $2.54. Two weeks ago, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty raised her forecast for Apple Inc’s iPhone sales in the first quarter 2015 from 62 million units to 67 million units, citing strong demand in China and emerging markets. Here you have it, as long as Apple can sell its iPhones like crazy, one should have less concern about their iPad sales for now, at least.

Disclosure: Long Position AAPL