It’s not entirely clear why Whitmore believes the iPad and MacBook should be part of the same category, but one reason might be that iPads are taking a bite of notebook purchases. “The iPad is directly cannibalizing demand for other vendors’ NB [notebook] products,” Fortune quoted Whitmore as saying.
Whitmore also says that Deutsche Bank’s research suggests the iPad is slowing sales in the portable computer market among the top five notebook makers. Other analysts have also noted that many people expect the iPad to fill in as a portable computer, specifically instead of a netbook. If Whitmore is correct, and the iPad is taking a bite out of portable computer sales, then I suppose it would make sense to put the iPad in the same category.
Then again, Apple’s recent sales numbers showed a 33 percent growth in Mac computer sales between April and June 2010 compared to the same period last year. Whitmore noted the increased sales included a boost in MacBook sales. I guess the iPad prefers to eat up the notebook market share of Apple’s competitors instead of turning against its own brand.
If, however, the iPad did cannibalize the Mac it probably wouldn’t bother Apple too much. “If it turns out that the iPad cannibalizes PCs, then I think it is fantastic for [Apple] because there’s a lot of PCs to cannibalize,” Apple COO Tim Cook recently said.
But the iPad is not a laptop
Once the iPad’s popularity dies down a bit, I think we’ll see the iPad and other tablets carve out a separate niche in the market apart from netbooks and laptops. In fact, the true test of the iPad’s viability as a portable computer may come this fall when students start buying devices for the new school year. Will there be more iPads than laptops in college lecture halls this September? I doubt it.
Now don’t misunderstand me. The iPad is most definitely a type of computer. But is it the same as a laptop or netbook? No way, it’s not even close.
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