The iPad is no notebook nor can the Apple’s tablet PC be a replacement for the laptop, not even by the wildest stretch of imagination. But that hasn’t stopped the consumers at large to opt for the iPad instead of notebooks or laptops with Best Buy reporting a general decline in sales of notebooks by as much as a quite staggering 50 percent. Something that is corroborated by the finding by Fortune and Morgan Stanley Research as they too confirm not only a stagnation in the sales of notebooks but are even predicting the heydays of notebook PCs might well be over. And it’s only the iPad that’s responsible for this, which means gloomy days ahead for notebooks what with so many tablet devices waiting in the wings to enter the market within the next few months.
The recent trend of notebooks getting beaten by iPads also brings to light an interesting phenomenon: that there has always been a market for iPad like tablet PCs though it had remained dormant all this while in the absence of suitable devices. It seems people just want a device that will let them do basic computing like chatting, browsing, send and receive emails, watching movies, listening to songs and the like. Needless to say the iPad excels in all these while the easy availability of a thousand apps that range from productivity suites to interesting games make the iPad all the more endearing. They were forced to make do with a notebook all this while but not any more. This is exactly the reason why many who walk into a store to buy a notebook end up buying the iPad. No wonder the iPad continues to sell in the millions every month.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs though seems to be unfazed by all this as he not only is eyeing the laptops and notebook PCs but is even targeting the Desktops as well, which he feels will be taken over by tablets in the days to come. “I think PCs are going to be like trucks,” says Steve while also adding, “Less people will need them. And this is going to make some people uneasy.”
Also, this is not the first time the iPad has been blamed for a severe market disruption for the iPad has already taken a heavy toll on the e-reader segment. A lot of e-readers have been pushed into premature retirement ever since the iPad has entered the scene while forcing many to reform their strategy as well as the device itself. And if that’s not enough, the iPad with a base price of $499 has virtually put a cap on the price of these e-readers who have been forced to offer better products at cheaper prices.
And its just the 9.7 inch iPad responsible for so much of upheaval. Just imagine what kind of an impact the new smaller 5 and 7 inch iPads that Apple plans to launch in the holiday season will have on the market that is already battered by the bigger iPad onslaught.
Meanwhile, in another development, Best Buy CEO, Brian Dunn has retracted his earlier statement of iPads having the better of notebooks saying what he had said about the decline in notebook sales has been ‘grossly exaggerated.’
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
