An editorial on iPad sales and competition

[Andrew H.]

I see a lot of lawyers and lobbyists using iPads when they are away from the office; they are starting to outnumber laptops. Tablets are a lot better than laptops when you are away from the office and need to be able to access the internet, pull up a document, or e-mail. Particularly when you are standing up or using it on your lap.

For these purposes, it really matters that the iPad weighs less than 1.5 lbs and will (actually) run all day without recharging. Instant on is also nice since the iPad is often kept off until needed for reference.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Torwan

Good point.
I know that iMacs are a lot more common in the US than in Germany. A lot more people use Linux on their machines than Macs. The iPhone does a lot better, however other smartphone-manufacturers like HTC are more widespread.

I work in IT, so I am around a lot of tech-savvy people, but I know exactly two who own an iPad. Smartphones are very widespread in comparison (usually HTC) and - funny fact on the side - the iPhone-owners have Linux-computers at home, not Macs.

It's very possible that Germany is not a good iPad-market.
...
Actually, I just tried to find any sales numbers for the iPad in Germany, without success. The only number I found was this:
http://tabletcommunity.de/6671/ipad-...er-konkurrenz/
According to that, Apple sold 160.000 iPads during the first month of its release in all of Europe (!). That's not that much considering that Europe is a market with about 500 million people. Apple probably has a lot more market standing in the US.

What's the 100,000 figure relating to Touchpads about, translation of that bit would be appreciated...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by elcreative

What's the 100,000 figure relating to Touchpads about, translation of that bit would be appreciated...

It says that there are 100,000 Touchpads lying around unsold at HP, which nobody wants to buy.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It says that there are 100,000 Touchpads lying around unsold at HP, which nobody wants to buy.

Thanks HarryT... too long since I did German at school (48 years )

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Graham

I'm a big fan of Android, but I do suspect that larger-size tablets might prove to be a fad, and that what people really want is an iPad, not a tablet.

I don't think tablets will prove to be a fad, but I think that we will increasingly see things like the asus transformer with its keyboard dock which would easily allow it to replace a netbook.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Thanks HarryT... too long since I did German at school (48 years )

What the writer is basically saying (if I understand correctly) is that Apple are doing well because they have a good, stable product, which does what people want. Android sales, on the other hand, are stagnating because the rate of change is so great that nobody wants to buy what's in the shops now; people are always waiting for the next great thing to arrive.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It says that there are 100,000 Touchpads lying around unsold at HP, which nobody wants to buy.

In HP's earnings call last night, they mentioned they will take a $100 million charge for the unsold Touchpad inventory.

[Billi]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It says that there are 100,000 Touchpads lying around unsold at HP, which nobody wants to buy.

If I may help a little bit: the author said that he has his doubts that there are 100.000 Touchpads lying around unsold at HP.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Billi

If I may help a little bit: the author said that he has his doubts that there are 100.000 Touchpads lying around unsold at HP.

Thank you very much for the correction; my German is not very good .

[MrsJoseph]

I work in a 4 person company. I am the only iPhone user but we all have blackberrys.

Our of the 4 people in our office, 2 of them (50%) have iPads. Neither of these people have any other Apple product. Prior to the iPad's release, they were not interested in Apple products.

One of the men who bought an iPad bought his wife an iPad 2 when they came out. He's jealous of her iPad. Both guys have young children and they say that the kids all love it and they have to fight their kids for use. Both men travel regularly and have started to carry their iPads with them but only one travels without a regular laptop.

Me? The only person in the office who already had an Apple product? When Apple announced the iPad and it had no expandable storage...I went out and bought a netbook.


ETA: Harry's right, business people love iPads.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Me? The only person in the office who already had an Apple product? When Apple announced the iPad and it had no expandable storage...I went out and bought a netbook.

I regard the "expandable storage" of my iPad as being the media library of my PC. I very much think of the iPad as being a PC/Mac accessory, rather than a completely standalone device, as a netbook is.

[MrsJoseph]

I can see why. An accessory makes sense.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Me? The only person in the office who already had an Apple product? When Apple announced the iPad and it had no expandable storage...I went out and bought a netbook.

I wish I can use an iPad as working device, but I can't. 1st, need to run Microsoft Os, because I'm MS-SQL dba, which client runs on Microsoft only, of course.

2nd, I need to access my company's network via VPN. I can't do that with an iPad.

I also need a good keboard, so I can type fast enough via Office Communicator or write emails in Outlook. On screen keyboard is not good enough.

So, as DBA, the iPad won't fulfill my needs and I'm sure there are a lot of people like me out there on same situation. But my laptop does the job and very well, because it allows me to do everything I mentioned above and more.

I mentioned in another post that iPads are not for content creation work or jobs. So I started to visualize netbooks and PCs as a "niche" for people like me, maybe, who besides browsing and reading emails, need much more features than tablets can provide today. Unless that drastically change in 2012 with some kind of hybrid device, who knows.

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by Torwan

The tablet is easier to carry around. But that is not a really strong argument.

Maybe not for you, but for others, it might be. In my specific 'use case' for instance, it was the deal-sealer. I have used netbooks before and yes, they are cheaper, but due to my situation, they did not work as well for me. You can't say it's not a 'strong argument' unless you know what people plan to do with it.

I have explained this already, but I will recap for you one more time to illustrate what I mean. I use my iPad while teaching. Firstly, I am a specialist teacher and don't have my own classroom (I travel from class to class). So, everything I need---for the whole day---has to fit into a tote bag. And that includes my own teaching props, photocopies of work pages for the kids and so on. A smaller form factor, plus the lack of need for a power brick is a huge benefit for me. And since I really can go all day without charging it, it's easy to use. Not every classroom is optimally set up with power plugs where they are both easy to access and where the tech can be plugged in so that the kids can see it. Being cordless is a huge, huge improvement for me over the netbook days, where I had to crawl under tables to access out of the way power plugs, and then have the kids twiddling their thumbs for five MORE minutes while Windows booted up. It really IS like night and day for me, and the iPad really IS superior. The whole 'but you could just use a netbook' thing just does not hold true for my situation.

Now, could I use a tablet brand other than an iPad? Maybe. But when the iPad came out, I had an iPod Touch already and so already had apps for it. And I have bought further apps that I can use on both devices. So for me, that makes more sense than buying a different brand and having to get all new apps. The other tablet makers are just too late into the game to be a factor for me. I already have the i-stuff.

[stonetools]

I'd appreciate it if we could keep the discussion on a professional and objective level. You don't know me, I don't know you and I don't know why you'd think that I'd qualify as a "poster boy". I'm very sceptical about the tablet-hype and I have some rational arguments for my position. This is nothing that deserves a personal attack.

I apolgise. My problem with your post is exasperation. I don't know if you actually read the link in the OP, but I suspect that you simply went ahead and posted same tired argument that geeks have been making since April 1, 2010, to wit:

Ipads are inferior to netbooks, because netbooks are cheaper, they can do Flash, etc, etc, etc.
That argument is not new and it represents a category mistake. Let's try this again:

The Ipad is not , and was never intended to be a laptop replacement.
You really have to understand that point, because if it wasn't intended to be a laptop replacement, then it is silly saying that it is not as capable as a laptop. For example, you wouldn't argue that a flat-screen TV is inferior to a laptop, because it can't run computer programs; No, its a different category of device altogether.
In the same way, an Ipad is NOT, and was not meant to be, a PC. What is it then? Well, its an advanced type of Ipod.
THis is not surprising. Indeed, IPad detractors originally noted that "it 's just a big Ipod touch". What detractors failed to realize that this was just what consumers wanted-a device that was as easy to use and intuitive as the Ipod touch, but with a great screen that they could use to surf the web, play games, watch video,and do visual stuff with.
So there you have it. You could either understand and accept that consumers are buying the Ipad because they are using it as an Ipod for audio-visual content and apps, or you can fulminate that consumers are too dumb to understand that its not a good replacement for a laptop. Cheers.