The last four months of 2014 were huge for Apple Inc. September saw the release of the iPhone 6 to record-breaking sales, along with the announcement of Apple Pay, which went live the following month, and the Apple Watch, the company's first wearable device. In the year's final quarter, Cupertino further upgraded its hardware offerings with the new iMac, iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 and its software with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.
Apple's efforts were validated at the close of the calendar year, as its products dominated the competition in the holiday sales season. According to mobile analytics firm Flurry, Apple accounted for 51.3 percent of all device activations worldwide in the week leading up to and including Christmas Day. This is significant because December 25 sees a 150 percent increase in app installs over the average day.
Now it's time to look ahead to 2015, which figures to be just as busy in Cupertino. The only officially forthcoming release is the Watch, set for a spring release, but industry insiders expect much more hardware to come down the pipeline. The "iPad Pro," featuring a screen size larger than 12 inches, has been the subject of many rumors for several months, and the company is reportedly working on an iPhone 6S, in line with the 4S and 5S upgrades.
The Apple TV could also get a major update as more consumers cut the cable and embrace alternative viewing platforms. Finally, the Apple-IBM partnership will continue to produce business software following the recent launch of the first 10 apps. Apple support specialists can help businesses take full advantage of the company's improving business capabilities.
