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Is The Apple iPad Really Killing The Sale Of Laptop PCs?  Best Buy Thinks It Is Happening

Is the Apple iPad really killing off sales of laptop PCs? Best Buy is hinting that this may be the case. The company does admit they do not have all of the data in yet to justify this claim, but there seems to be some indication that the iPad may just be a PC killer when it comes to laptop sales. Here are some of the facts from a recent article:

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn “said internal estimates showed that the iPad had cannibalized sales from laptop PCs by as much as 50 percent.” By the time I first saw the news nugget being tweeted, that had morphed into “by 50 percent”—and conclusion jumping was in Olympic form.

The instant assumption: buyers are choosing iPads over laptops. Yes, no and maybe. From an anecdotal basis as someone often asked to help others with tech spending decisions, people who need computing power and features that aren˘t on the iPad go  with laptops (Mac or PC), while the iPad is an answer for people who own a computer for the heavy lifting and are attracted to the sleek, light device with its instant-on apps. Then there are those who don˘t want a computer in the full-blown sense but like the cross between a net appliance, DVD player and e-reader. (A young niece turned down the possibility of an iPad for the even more portable iPod Touch.)  In most cases, money plays a role.

As for Best Buy, it˘s not at all clear what this means on a large-scale. Until Sept.26, when it expands chain wide, Best Buy has been selling iPads online for in-store pickup and in 673 of its stores. Supplies have been limited. Dunn told analysts on an earnings call earlier this week that “some of the constrained availability of iPad early on in the quarter definitely impacted our share.” That was in response to an analyst who asked about Best Buy˘s chances to improve market share “as we think about strong sales of iPad continuing and perhaps cannibalizing the overall PC category.”

Interesting tale if it turns out to be true. But the cost of the Apple iPad is going to be a hurdle. When you can buy a decent PC laptop for about the same price as an Apple iPad, the answer we must ask is why? Why pay more for less. If it is just for style, than I can understand that the Mac heads will go for it. But for the average PC person, this may be a stretch right now.

Also we need to wait until PC tablets hit the street to see if these Apple numbers will hold up.

What do you think?

Comments welcome.

Source - paidcontent.org

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