Why iPad 2 still dominates Apple advertising in 2012

By Chris Burns/April 2, 2012 1:42 pm EST

When the new iPad was released, we wondered how long it would be before Apple switched their billboard and bus stop advertising over to The New iPad – as it turns out, it doesn't appear that they ever will. Why is it that we're still seeing Apple displaying iPad 2 billboards across downtown Minneapolis, London, and San Francisco – aka across the United States and across the ocean to the UK? The answer is actually quite simple.

Apple is still selling the iPad 2 – that's not the only reason why Apple is still sending out advertising for it, but it's certainly a good one. The iPad series is as Apple intended it to be still here in its third iteration in 2012: one device, one voice. If you take a look at the ChangeWave report released this week on the iPad, you'll find that of the people they surveyed, the new iPad is bringing users more satisfaction than the iPad 2. Does this mean that the iPad 2 is hardware that's ready to be dumped by Apple? Absolutely not.

Apple is keeping the iPad line strong with a single image of dominance – it does not matter which version of the iPad they advertise. People recognize the iPad 2 / new iPad shape, and it does not matter which version they think they are buying when they go to the store. Let me let you in on a conversation I had with another parent at the daycare I bring my daughter to this past week:

"You write about gadgets and stuff, right?" – Parent

"Yep I do." – Chris Burns (me)

"I just got the new iPad 2 and I don't know if I should sell my other iPad or not, should I?"

"Did you buy the new iPad, or the iPad 2?"

"I bought the new iPad — I thought it was the iPad 2?"

There's a basic misunderstanding going on in the public right now, and I contend that it does not matter to the average consumer which version of the iPad they buy. The vast majority of iPad apps that the average consumer purchases works just as well on the iPad 2 as they do on the new iPad, and Apple's release of the 2012 iPad works more as an advertisement for the iPad line than it does for that particular iPad. Apple's strategy is undeniably brilliant when executed with skill – and they're indeed doing such a thing.