The iPad has been drummed up since it was first announced as the beginning of a new category the tablet computer. While some pundits have argued that the iPad will harpoon the sale of netbooks, that hasn’t occurred just yet.
The growth of netbooks from April 2008 to April 2009 was 641 percent; by contrast, the same period between 2009 and 2010 saw only 5 percent growth. It stands to reason, however, that growth would level off, and the category is still growing but that may not be the main story.
While the analysts are busy analyzing each other, everyone seems to have missed the real story in Huberty’s report, writes Mike Elgan. In addition to the netbook data, Huberty released another chart showing which other device categories iPad would ‘cannibalize’ (with some fava beans and a nice Chianti, no doubt). She wrote that 17 percent of iPad buyers are making their purchase instead of a handheld video game player; 28 percent instead of an e-book reader; and 41 percent instead of the iPad Touch. No surprises there, at least to me. Here’s the surprising bit: 27 percent of iPad purchases will be made instead of a desktop PC, and 44 percent instead of a laptop!
An anecdotal story from VP and global marketing CTO for EMC Corp Chuck Hollis says that his wife and three kids are fighting over who uses the iPad, leaving their desktop computers unused. Elgan said his own son is using the iPad in place of his laptop.
Regular desktop and laptop PCs have much more functionality than an iPad, between their programs, input and size options. But with these extra features comes complexity, more things that can go wrong and more upkeep.
This constant embrace of ‘more’ has made life way too complex. Just paying bills, getting kids into college and surviving in the modern world feels like a war against a bombardment of increasing complexity, writes Elgan. As a result, people have begun to gravitate toward simplicity. And that’s what’s going on with the iPad. iPads do less, but demand much, much less from you.
We geeks will always love our supercomputers. We like to tinker and enjoy problem-solving. But regular people just want to surf the Web, check in on Facebook friends, play some games and watch videos. And you don’t need a supercomputer to do that. No, I don’t think iPads have killed netbooks. But they will. And they’ll eat huge chunks out of the laptop and desktop market as well, concludes Elgan.
Source: Computerworld
