Apple have all of this worked out in both their pricing and what functions are left off each device.

The iPod touch is only really at risk from other smartphones phones which do far more for less money.

Yeah, I see that I'm not the first to comment on this.... But the product is sold as an iPad, not some other spelling. Don't really care what Apple's purpose was for this spelling, it's the product name. This article appears as a high school attempt at journalism when the names of the subjects aren't spelled properly. It's simply not an "Ipad" .... Check your sources: it's an iPad. Simple. Please correct this mistake.

Big ass Microsoft Lover, too busy sucking balls with a mouth full of pubic hair

Lets just say we are too early to comment on iPad's success or how its going to impact Apple, but stories like this spells doom for theInquIrer

Apple losing out to Google in smart phone market.

Apple Fanboys, where do you all come from? Please stop coming to The Inq just because your apple priest told you too ;-)

The sad thing about the iphone is that it's hardware is out of date.

HTC FTW.

For pete's sake, can't people write Apple product names correctly!?!? It's not Ipad, nor I-pad, nor IPAD... Is iPad so really hard to write!?!?

Ipad is cheaper than a macbook but more expensive than an ipod touch. Therefore, an ipad sold instead of an ipod touch offsets the loss from an ipad sold instead of a macbook. Theinquirer.net wants to be negative about apple no matter what. This is not journalism.

There was such second-guessing around the introduction of the iphone too (wrt/cannibalization of ipod), but guess what? The iphone costs more and, more importantly, it generates billions of dollars in recurring service revenue to Apple. iPad data plans will do the same thing vs. ipod touch. And since there's no way this can be your only computer, the potential Mac cannibalization is limited.

All Fanbois must go here

www.cupidtino.com

If you don't have an apple in your iPants you are not allowed on that website !

I certainly see that some sensible readers are very offended when iPad, or iPod, or any delicate and perfect iDevice is spelled incorrectly, such as:

IpAd, eye-pad, aye-pAd, ohy-Pad, ohy-pOd, iPaad, Ipaid, IPaaad, eyePOD, eyePopped, ipLod, eYePlod, PadI, Paddy-Pod, Pad-Eye, eyePooped, Eye-Pope, iPope, iPadded, iPlopped, iPloppedmeknickers and so on.

(Oh, I hope I have not upset anyone with this spelling-sacrilege. These were just harmless words, just sequences of letters, really, no offense intended).

Actually, IpAd is one of those words that if you look at long enough, looks like it is spelled wrong in any form. Maybe aPPle screwed up (namely, sTeve jOBs) in choosing such a silly name (even though it seems appropriate for such a silly product aimed at a silly market segment).

What a pointless article.

Of-course they want people to buy the I-pad instead of its other products. Thats the whole point of releasing a new product.

He's just trying to belittle the beast that apple is and show that its in trouble when in fact there just making money.

Nick, youmake an ineteresting point, but it is incomplete.

Agreed that iPad is cannibalizing sales of iPod and MacPortables. But you just assume in your analysis that iPad has less margins than iPod/macPortables.

What might happen is Apple might re-define the netbook industry, which has so-far making very low margin netbooks with something which is high margin like iPad.

They advance of Android-Arm and Windows-Atom based netbooks would anyway have killed of macPortables. So I basically think that Apple is just taking pre-emptive action.

Farrell could get any sillier.

Did Jobs pee in his beer or something? Or maybe Apple refused to sell him their shiny new gadget because he's smelly or whatever.

Take an example from olivier, he breaks it down in 2 lines instead of needing 600, of which 595 are announcement of complete adoration for apple like so many other comments.

The iPad was always going to sell extremely well...maybe even better then the iPhone or touch.
It's a great product IF you are not tech savvy.
If you are looking for a complete product, the iPad is not for you. It is simply too gimped. For the majority of Apple users, the iPad is the perfect gadget for them.

Just noticed that all the negative quotes attack Nick Farrell without providing much in the way of factual information arguing his points. If you do a search on twitter there is a link with the the heading "nick farrell is a jerk" again no factual information as to WHY his points are wrong.
It would seem to me that there is an orchestrated campaign to shut nick up. I guess it is only a matter of time before they get the police to knock on his door, search his house, and steal his computer looking for "evidence".

What the writer does is giving his opinion. If you don't like it, click on.
You don't have to agree. Anyway, who cares.
Buy an iPad if you like, or don't

Yes, the iPad is currently cannibalising some sales from iPod and MacBook, what of it?

It is genuinely the birth of a new computing category which will be killing off at a conservative estimate 40-60% of the netbook and laptop markets. By taking an early leadership position there, the gains will be huge.

It was a big gamble - but it's paying off in spades, and will likely continue to do so.

"Can't stand their lack of respect for brands anymore..."

Kindly let the door hit you on the way out. If the INQ's fixed spelling of Apple's English-language degrading "branding" causes more Apple rubes to leave, they need to do more of it!

As usual, this writer looks at 'news' from a very single sided perspective. This time it lacks even the normal humoristic approach, so basically it isn't worth reading at all. The thing the writer overlooks and thus disqualifies him for his job is that a more expensive MacBookPro is a computer with a one-off transaction since Apple doesn't make much money on the software you buy for you MacBookPro afterwards (Apple applications aside). The iPad is part of the iTunes eco-system. Basically you buy a piece of kit that will force you to buy stuff through that lovely online store and Apple makes millions there. For Apple the iPad is what the Oil Lamp was to Rockefeller.

With that said, it's time to bid the Inquirer farewell. Can't stand their lack of respect for brands anymore and am tired with the degrading quality. When you left Mike, we knew it would go downhill. But this harsh... yeeh.

Roy

Are grown men here (I assume not a single one of you is female) arguing over which letter of a silly made-up word should be a capital?

Did any of you lose wages or get the sack because of it?

Saaaaad.

i disagree
most people don't have money to burn
the ipad does a credible job of replacing both an ipod touch and a laptop for people that want to use it as a home appliance or an, on the go lightweight laptop
plus, i think that depsite all the naysayers, a decent tablet is preferable for most people especially one that is well designed and easy to use
now that the web is maturing people want simplicity

I can't see spending $500 for a device that does less than a Netbook and is really just a giant iPod touch. Those who require less from a computing device may enjoy the iPad,but since I do content creation as well as content consumption, a $500 content consumption device is useless to me. Since I'm already paying for unlimited data service on my Blackberry, a 3G iPad would be more of a waste of money for me. The idle rich as well as bankers, stock brokers, and oil industry dandies may enjoy an over priced content device like this, but I'm neither rich nor overly fascinated with Apple products. Unless I win some contest and someone gives me such a device, I won't be spending money to purchase one.

By the author's line of reasoning, Toyota never should have introduced the Corolla because it discouraged people from buying a Camry. Same for the Nintendo Wii and DS, and EVERY other product that expands a company's market segment.

Yuck.

It's one thing to think the iPad is a waste of money - that's defensible, it's quite another to draw ridiculous conclusions from market data.

"This Ipad downside for Apple was indicated earlier this year just after the shiny new toy went on sale. Then Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster surveyed 448 Ipad buyers and found that 99 per cent of respondents had not considered either an Ipod Touch or Iphone before making the purchase."

That isn't a "downside", that's a previously-untapped market segment buying a new Apple product. it would have actually been more worrisome, from Apple's viewpoint, if a significant number had answered that they *had* considered an iPhone or iPad Touch.

Complete nonsense. Any guide on correct English will tell you you're wrong. Trademarks, company and product names should be reproduced without alteration. That's why you'll see newspapers referring to, eg, St Thomas' Hospital, even though that possessive apostrophe makes no sense. That's what they call themselves, so that's what they're called.

Thanks for the laugh though, suggesting The Inquirer is the only professional media outlet in the world.

Hey! Raskolnikov plagiarised my comment from an earlier article!!! I'll see you in the Supreme Doom Court!

Pity I can't remember what ID I posted that comment under...

IN ENGLISH, THE *FIRST* LETTER AND *ONLY* THE FIRST LETTER OF A PROPER NOUN IS CAPITALISED!

...Apple's own behaviour of having a lower case 'i' and capitalising the 2nd letter constitutes a *trademark* i.e. a marketing exercise, which it is perfectly entitled to do, so "iPad" is just a marketing symbol for the Ipad. It would be extremely unprofessional for a media outlet to participate in this marketing exercise, therefore the Inquirer is doing the right thing by capitalising the initial of the name of the device and not using the corporate logo of the manufacturer outside of occasional illustrations (e.g. a photo of the back of the device where the symbol for the name - replete with 'i' is printed).

When Nick's predictions of doom about iPad sales turned out to be wrong, I somehow knew that he'd be back with some other trash. He hasn't disappointed me.

Apple probably makes higher margins on the $500 iPad (let alone the higher priced models) than they do on a Macbook ($1k). If not higher margins, then they probably make up for it in bulk shipments and the long revenue stream of selling Apps and media via said device.

Either way, it means that Apple sells more devices and sells more software. Also of note is that upwards of 50% of iPad buyers own a PC, not a Mac. But selling them an iPad has the possibility to bring them into the Apple fold when they buy a new computer down the road.

And they will need a computer. The iPad really is no replacement for a notebook when it comes to doing anything beyond basic web browsing. It's not good for document creation or email in reality. It's simply a media device.

I realize the US press is pretty tame when it comes to Apple. That said, you're misinformed diatribes against anything and everything Apple are as bad or worse from a journalistic standpoint. You've been flat out wrong on Apple product specifications before and have even used gambling sites as sources for iPad future sales.

Thanks genius. This kind of story makes my day. Wish I got paid to express things I will almost certainly regret. You realise your words will live forever, right?

I have an Ipad, and this is nothing short of a tech revolution. Those things are here to stay

Hey guys, reading this article was lots of fun, one of the biggest troll we've ever seen!

There is obvisouly a risk of cannibalizing the laptops sales since 90% of Internet users aren't necessarly techies and once at home, mostly browse stuff on Facebook, read news or send emails. Ipads are perfectly calibrated for that and will even do more (games, etc). So the key point of the article makes sense: there is a risk. Period.

Let's reorganize things. Laptops are the natural evolution of our good old beige towers with iMacs right in between. IPads are the natural evolution of laptops. What's next?

just goes to show how stupid some writers are on the net, and from the InQuRiRerRR as well... oops. didn't they just announce that sales of desktops, iphone and ipod touch has not dropped in the US since the release of the iPad? DuH do you research before being specialist in a topic.

Yes, the iPad will likely take a chunk out of the netbook and budget price laptop market.

Here's the funny thing, Nick: Apple doesn't make any netbooks or budget priced laptops! No cannibalization of Apple products there.

The iPad starts at $499 for the entry level model and goes to $829 for the top model. Why do you think Apple priced the iPad this way? I'll tell you why: Because Apple doesn't have any laptop or netbook computers in this price range. The MacBook starts at $999.

You see what Apple did there? They did their homework and made damn sure that the only market the iPad will "cannibalize" is the low end laptop/netbook market - a market in which Apple has no products. Now they do. The iPad.
Clever, huh?

Terrible article; other, more insightful articles suggest that Job's is indeed betting the company on this device and it's associated appstore /iTunes ecosystem for future growth that seems much more focused on mobile devices. One could question the timing or the execution, but come on, give Apple some credit it being able to visualize what they think the future will look like.

Just like the iPhone/Touch 'cannibalized' iPod sales, the iPad will probably cannibalize lower cost laptop sales. Guess what: that was bound to happen in the future anyways, if not by Apple itself than by one of its competitors.

Nick is talking about the Ipad, not the iPad !

The Ipad, along with the Ipod and Iphone, are illusive make-believe gadgets that only exist in Nick's very own make-believe world, NickWorld.

These non-existing gadgets only have a passing name resemblance with actual existing Apple products.

In the REAL world, the iPad is a very succesful product for Apple, while the illusive Ipad in NickWorld is a catastrophic product that has "doomed Apple", no less.

I think we better leave Nick to his own devices in NickWorld. He seems much more comfortable with that alternative reality.

Nick, what colour is the sky in your world?

Everything you're describing sounds so unlike the world the rest of us live in. Fascinating.

Uh-huh. Yeah. Right.

In English, the correct spelling of a product name is whatever the hell the creator says it is.

Condescendingly "correcting" the capitalization of product names is a dead giveaway of a troll.

This is the worst piece of trash Nick the Ferret has EVER produced.

WHY hasn't this idiot been FIRED yet?

The Inq. has seriously gone downhill if it approves drivel like this....

If Apple can manage to sell 7 million iPads this year it will easily balance out any losses of consumers not buying MacBooks. Apple has got the strategy of ASP (Average Selling Price) down to a T. They are always balancing all their products in the lineup. The iPad is supposedly very inexpensive to make so if they sell two iPads they'll still come out way ahead of not selling a MacBook. The iPad will absolutely not replace a MacBook Pro in function so forget about trading off sales at that level.

There is no guarantee at all that the iPad will significantly cut into the sales of any other product in the lineup. That's why very few features in the iPad overlap other products. The most important thing to remember about the Apple community. They are the ones willing to spend money. They're not the cheapsters saying they'll buy one product to replace all. Apple buyers are the type to get every Apple product they can possibly afford to get. Sorry, but there is no way Apple will ever regret selling the iPad. They wouldn't have done it if they even remotely thought they would eat into their own product lineup without them still making money. Apple isn't stupid like most Windows PC vendors.

If you don't like Apple products or can't afford Apple products that's just too bad. Apple will go on its merry way pulling in revenue like an angry vacuum cleaner. Microsoft is already dead in the water with no place to go but down. The Courier was MS fanboy's wet dream and now Microsoft has no answer for the iPad and probably never will. This "toy" is going to make billions of dollars for Apple and that's going to put Steve Ballmer out of a job.

Sorry about that last sentence. It should be: "The iPad, due to its size, will not be replaced by the b iPod /b for such occasions which I suspect are the majority of uses." (see? this is why Apple should have come up with a better name. Jobs and his hatred of buttons and syllables. @$%@!#

And Inquirer. Why do you have a "Complain about this comment" link and not a "Reply to this comment" link? You are purposely instigating sensationalistic, negative behaviour. I'm out. Your site is deleted from my bookmarks.

Let's start with this quote:
"This Ipad downside for Apple was indicated earlier this year just after the shiny new toy went on sale. Then Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster surveyed 448 Ipad buyers and found that 99 per cent of respondents had not considered either an Ipod Touch or Iphone before making the purchase."

How is that a downside? 99% surveyed were NOT going to buy an Apple iPod or iPhone. So, the iPad cannibalized sales to 4-5 people. BUT, the iPad caused 443-444 people to buy an Apple product that they otherwise wouldn't have. How the hell is this a downside?

And Jobs knows the scoop. Laptops are soon to be passe. Who cares about cannibalizing them? Haven't you ever watched Stargate: Atlantis? Mark my word. Adobe CS7 will be an App Store app and we will be creating InDesign documents with our fingers. (you heard it here first). And we'll be loving it. Tablets are the new laptops and I think that most sensible people see this.

And cannibalizing the iPod??? Seriously??? I have an iPad and an iPod and I will continue to use the iPod for what it was intended-music. Do you seriously think that people are going to use a 10", 1.5 pound tablet to listen to music portably? Are people going to strap the iPad to their arm while exercising at the gym or when they go jogging? Are people going to toss the iPad into their pocket to listen to music on their bus/train commute or walk around the neighborhood? No. The iPad, due to its size, will not be replaced by the iPad for such occasions which I suspect are the majority of uses.

I have come to the conclusion that the inq is becoming a sensation seeking tabloid. Calling the Apple users stupid for buying overpriced toys is journalism? They are insulting its reader’s intelligence.
It’s like telling people that they should not buy a BMW because you can get a Toyota for 50% less; Therefore all BMW drivers are stupid. I'm intelligent enough to know the pros and cons of my products and purchases.
So Please Inq. Stop this stupid articles and bring back the old Inq or my visits to websites like CNET,ZD, ect will only keep increasing.

Err_ Me. Not so much.
hypothetical situation; Which do you prefer, a girlfriend missing one breast or half a brain?

Decide which it is. You say that people will soon realize that "it's only really useful as a heavy drinks tray", but it's success has doomed them. And perhaps the vast riches you derive from your brilliant analysis will bankrupt you?

Doomed!!! MWAHAHAHA!!!

"Then Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster surveyed 448 Ipad (sic) buyers and found that 99 per cent (sic) of respondents had not considered either an Ipod (sic) Touch (sic) or Iphone (sic) before making the purchase."

...so Apple sold iPads to people who wouldn't have otherwise considered Apple products? Isn't this the very *opposite* of cannibalization?

yep, I'm gonna go right out and instead of buying a nice, compact ipod touch to put around my arm to work out with, I'm gonna duct tape my new iPad to my arm instead!

did you think before you wrote this? scratch that...do you think, period?

Wow.
Let quickly destroy the entire stupidity of the link-bait article point by point:
1- Spelling. : it’s iPad, iPod, MacBooks, and iMac. Since Apple gets to name their products whatever they want, the rules of English do not apply to the names, raskolnikov.
2- “The Ipad has doomed Apple”. : Hahahaha, no. Since Apple makes money from every iPad, it will not have a loss at the end day. It may (and it probably won’t) have a loss of revenue from quarter to quarter but it will not have a loss in earnings; hardly a “doomed” scenario.
3- “... an oversized Iphone...”. : Hahahaha, no. It may resemble an oversized iPod Touch, but functionality-wise, the iPhone is a phone and the iPad a tablet. Have you ever used either?
4- “It seems the buyers of Ipads would normally have got a more expensive Macbook or an Ipod Touch”. : Given than the iPad is more expensive than the iPod Touch, how exactly is forgoing a purchase for an iPod Touch over an iPad bad for the company?
5- 44% of iPad owners would not buy a notebook, of which roughly half would not buy an Apple notebook. : Let’s try a simple exercise: 1000 people buy an iPad, of which only 240 don’t buy a notebook. Even if we go with a $1500 Macbook Air (not the cheapest MacBook) and the cheapest iPad at $500, we are saying that Apple will make $500,000 instead of making $360,000 in MacBooks. Which do you think Apple would rather have? Nick, can you use a simple calculator? This also means that Apple just took away 20% of iPad sales from notebooks from other companies. In other words, 20% of iPad purchasers are getting an iPad in lieu of another company’s product. How is this a bad thing for Apple?
6- “... shiny new toy...”: your bias is not obvious at all.
7- “...99 percent of respondents had not considered either an Ipod Touch or Iphone before making the purchase...”. : a) most of them had and iPod Touch or an iPhone already; b) that’s not what the survey really says; c) what you are saying here, which is not what the survey says or suggests, goes against your very point of doom for Apple: if these peple hadn’t considered and iPod Touch or iPhone but they bought an iPad, that only means that Apple is getting more customers that did not previously own an Apple mobile product (such as an iPhone or iPod). Let me rephrase that: If I don’t have an iPhone or iPod but buy an iPad, Apple is getting a brand new customer.
8- Decreasing sale of iPods blamed on iPod Touch means iPad has killed the iPod Touch. : What? No. iPods have decresed in sales because the iPhone is not counted in this number – the iPhone is also an iPod. And how did you jump from iPod Touch cannibalizing iPod sales to iPad killing the iPod Touch? And again, even if that were true, how is that a bad thing when the iPad brings in more earning?
9- “Jobs may as well forget launching an Apple version of a Kindle or a PSP, then.”: Hahahahaha. Apple already launched a Kindle and PSP in the form of the the iPod Touch, iPhone, and surprise, the iPad. This is a stupid as saying that BMW better not try to sell a small car because the MINI is selling too well – MINI’s are made by BMW, just in case.
10- “Where Steve Jobs made his mistake ... that company more harm than it would other firms.” : Hahahahaha. So if Apple keeps selling hardware as iPads, music via iTues, Apps via the App Store and makes a ton of money on it while taking away customers from other firms, how is that damaging Apple? If “many of Apple’s sales are to repeat customers”, what makes you think that getting more customers that will be buy more Apple products will hurt Apple more than other firms? See point 5 for you own argument against the iPad hurting Apple more than other companies.
11- Believing that people will realize the iPad is not better than any device and so people will stop buying it. : And after this “blinding realization” from people, they will go back to buying things as before, completely countering most of the laughable points you had before. And no, people will not think that they have “gear that is only really useful as a heavy drinks tray” and even if for some odd reason they did, Apple already has their money, had a phenomenal marketing promotion to get people to use Apple devices, and will keep more customers because “many of Apple’s sales are to repeat customers”.
This was fun and easy but not something I would too often. Rather, this will hopefully the last article I read here until they start writing stuff that has at the very least a hint of logic and a little less bias.
-jdt

Nick's bio pretty much says everything you need to know about his work as a "journalist."

"While I was doing this I was filling in a few freelance shifts for the British tabloids. Not many, but enough to realise I didn't like it much. However they did teach me one important thing, which appears in my novel, Tree Falls. That is that it is not the facts which are important as much as the story. That does not mean that a story is made up, although some are, but there are certain components which make up a story and if a news story does not have them, it is not 'news'."

and don't forget this gem:

"Nick Farrell journalist only has similarities with the one who is involved in occultism. They both need each other and it would be nice if they were totally integrated, but they cannot be completely. While we are both a bit cynical and look to shove one-liners into everything we do, the journalist likes to wind people up more. Apple fanboys have been a target over recent years. Apple is no better or worse than any other evil company who wants to make a buck, but it has somehow convinced people that it is superior. Its cult of emotionally immature Apple fanboys police the Internet screaming their religious doctrine of superiority found in owning an expensive gadget to any hack who dares say that there is."

-----

As someone who's written about technology and actually worked in startups and large tech companies the past 16+ years...I find it hard to imagine they'd hire a guy with no actual tech background...I mean really...is this what tech writing has come to these days?

i cannot stop laughing. wad an idiot article! obviously this guy is new to apple.

Totally ridiculous.

Whether Apple releases iPad or not, tablets are here. They are going to replace notebooks for the many users who do only Web, email, and video on their notebooks. You can't fight it. If Apple had not released an iPod in 2001, that doesn't mean that all the iPod owners today would have Macs in oversized pockets with headphones attached, listening to their digital music. The PC is not the solution to our hundreds of digital problems. Killing new form factors will not protect the old, it would just open up opportunities for Apple's competitors.

By your own numbers, the majority of iPad purchases -- 56% -- are not replacing a notebook. Those sales are new sales for Apple. In other words: growth. 20% are replacing PC notebooks, which means those sales are also growth for Apple and as a bonus, a loss for their PC-making competitors, who don't have iPads of their own. That is more than 3/4 of iPad sales -- 76% -- that are new growth for Apple. Huge win.

The remaining 24% may represent a lost Mac sale, but Apple may make more from an iPad sale than Mac sale due to accessories, apps, music, movie, and book sales. And what iPad cannibalizes now it will likely make up for later with a halo: iPad+PC users will have to get a new PC eventually, and now that they have an iPad, that is more likely to be a Mac. Especially once they hit their first post-iPad PC virus meltdown and just lose patience with Windows once and for all. Another route is they get more into digital photography and movies after getting an iPad and realize they want a Mac plus iLife. Or they may just start hanging out at Apple Store and eventually discover all the ways a Mac is better than a Windows PC.

Not to mention, Mac sales have been growing for the past 5 years, the Mac can afford to lose a few sales. PC sales are static. It's HP/Dell you ought to be writing doom and gloom articles about. Or Microsoft, who have no mobile system. Or Intel, who have no mobile CPU's.

So please, no crying for Apple. They could buy HP with cash and have enough money left over to buy Adobe. They're doing just fine. They already outsold every other previous tablet of every kind, going back to the 80's, and that is in iPad's first month. I have friends who tried to buy their 3rd iPad and were turned away because they're still limiting them to 2 per customer.

Ya know, before Charlie saw the INQ handwriting on the wall and jumped ship, there was one thing you could say about his work - love him or hate him, at least he rubbed a few brain cells together before writing an article.

This author's work is substandard beyond words... his articles, ne'er well thought out, come in the form of:
- Sensationalist headliners having scant to do with the body of the article,
-Vacuous articles, and his favorite,
-Troll articles - iPad sucks, Jobs sucks, blah blah blah

This article adds a new twist:
Quoting a sapsucking idiot anal-ist on matters computational.

Oh Inq, how far ye sink. :-(

Actually, if the iPad kills off Macbook and iPod sales, it will also take market share from OTHER companies' music players and laptops. Moreover, while the iPad may put a dent in Apple's laptops, it's more likely Apple is finding NEW markets with the product.

And I very much doubt anyone is going to take their iPad out to the gym or jogging, instead of their iPod. Get real.

I've read some pretty good troll/flaming articles from Mr. Farrell in the past, but this one is pretty rich and he's taken it to new levels.

Yes...the iPad will cannibalize the iPod Touch...as soon as the iPants are available that can hold an iPad in the pocket.

Apple doesn't need to sell more MacBooks dear sir, as the laptop isn't a gateway into further Apple sales...no...the iPad, where Apple get's a cut of all music, video, book, and app sales is where the growth is. Apple makes 30% on every app sold through the store...already over 4,000,000,000+ apps have been downloaded. To date the average person has spent about $4.50 a month on apps...last December alone the revenue from apps was $250 million.

Each iPad will make up the lost revenue in margins by app and media sales.

They don't care how they get your money...as long as they get your money.

Anyway...Nick please...stop with the stupid articles...it really is insulting to everyone's intelligence.

"Jobs may as well forget launching an Apple version of a Kindle or a PSP, then."

It seems as if you don't quite understand the breadth of Apple's current product line. the iPad IS an Apple Kindle and the iPod Touch IS an Apple PSP. There is no reason for them to make any of these devices because they already have them.

At least it says "might" in the headline. So I'll cut them some slack. Still a dumb article.

But then, remember how the iPhone was going to destroy the iPod?

I got my new MacBook Pro within days of getting my iPad 3G. :|

If a technology company is not constantly cannibalizing sales of its own products with new products, some other company will do it for them.

When Apple introduced the nano, people wondering why they would kill of the iPod mini.

When Apple introduced the iPhone, people bemoaned that it would kill off the iPod.

Now that Apple has introduced the iPad, people are moaning that it will kill off the iPod and laptops.

News flash: the iPod is already dead. So are low-end laptops. The question for a company like Apple is will they be ahead of this curve, in which case they will be playing catch-up with consumer demand, or will they dictate this curve, in which case they keep their customers and leading market position?

They've chosen the latter for the last 7 years. Always killing off a previous gen iPod. I'm sure the minute they can deliver a 120gig iPod touch the iPod Classic will die too.

This isn't rocket science. This is grade-school analysis in a search for page views.

Of course, I'm here, so the author has won the $$ battle, if not the battle of reputation or intelligence.

Although what you are saying might have some validity, I can't help but be completely annoyed by the way it's delivered. It's not professional and the reader looses respect. I've realized that this site is like the FOX NEWS of the Internet. You ooze a illogical hatred and are incapable of delivering any news without a spin.

I have much better word for it, but it would violate the Terms of Service of several websites.

Why would the author say that the iPad now keeps Jobs from releasing some kind of Kindle competitor?? THE IPAD IS MARKETED AS AN EBOOK READER. ie, it IS a Kindle competitor.

I think Nick Farrell is much more likely to regret having this crap on the record than Apple is for creating the iPad.

Well according to the article, it looks like the author hates Apple. Also, it is stupid enough to quote that mac sales will hurt and what not.

The answer to all these questions is: SHUTUP and wait for the next quarter announcement.

If my phone does all the work, I need not buy a mac/PC, bla bla is all bullshit. You might have surveyed a thousand people but there are millions of consumers and they have their own taste.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to buy two macbook pros and 3 imac's, two ipads and 4 iphones. Please add them to the list. I'm not a fanboy. I'm a consumer and I know what to buy and what not to.

Apple is becoming huge and things are going their way. Stop bitching.

I recently bought a MacBook knowing full well that the iPad was coming out -- and knowing full well what the present iPad could and couldn't do. I told my wife, "Mark my words, this will be the last non-touch-screen computer I buy from Apple." By the time the Macbook runs it's course, the iPad will have already become the new way of "computing" (as opposed to just being the media player it is now), and I will gladly pay $1,000 for the model that has 500GB of memory, multi-tasking, video-editing capability, and a front-facing camera. Can't wait.

Apple is Doomed! (TM)*

* You forgot the (TM)! LOL!

"Jobs may as well forget launching an Apple version of a Kindle or a PSP, then."

Somebody didn't do his homework, the iPad/iPod Touch/iPhone are designed to do what a Kindle or PSP (or DS) does -- and then some -- without carrying around a bunch of single purposed devices.

I hope this "analyst" doesn't get himself fired, I heard he needs this job to move out of his mother's basement...

Obviously, an idiot wrote this article. Wake up man and get a clue! The iPad is about touch and simplicity----nothing more. It doesn't replace a laptop or a desktop----it falls between the two.

After TOUCH is VOICE! The keyboard is on the way out!

you know, Cassandra was right, she was just cursed so that no one ever believed her

Bla Bla the real question is:
"When will there be an inquirer App for the iPad?"

Even if the iPad cannibalizes iPod touch sales, so what? Apple will make fewer iPod touch's more iPad's. And macbooks? Perhaps some people who would've bought a macbook air or low-end macbook will buy an iPad instead. I very well might among them. But if that's the case, surely many others who would never have bought an apple, but instead a cheap netbook will buy this instead.

This article is a bit like saying that sales of the Macintosh will cannibalize sales of the Apple II. Who the fuck cares? It's the same company.

anyone contending that a 10" device is killing off a 3" devices is an idiot. there might be some very slight cannibalization at the margin, but come on...

As usual analysts seem to say things without actually thinking them through ... how exactly does a sale of an ipad affect ipod touch to Apple? it's simply shifting revenue from one line to a a HIGHER REVENUE model. If there were no iphone, you could argue taht another form is R&D costs, etc, etc ... but the ipod touch is simply the iphone without a phone chip (essentially) so Apple trading 1 touch sale for 1 ipad sale is hardly a tragedy and in fact will probably make Apple MORE MONEY - certainly in the short term as the revenue is higher and you coudl argue that the ipad will consume media at a higher rate (more itunes movies/tv shows), etc ...

As for the mac, yes, it's possible but Apple is NOT taking a loss on ipad sales so again, Apple is simply trading revenue from one line to another - Apple might make less per ipad sale upfront versus a mac BUT with the mac, Apple is not going to make a lot more on software sales versus the ipad where apple makes 30% of EVERYTHING sold on it so you could argue it's more profitable for apple to sell ipads since the revenue stream is clearly going to be persistant ...

you could argue people are more likely to buy additional ipads for different floors of the house and or HH members AND the halo effect might mean when it's time to replace a computer, it's a mac but of course, it's easier to think negatively.

The bigger question is of course, why this analyst would even panic - if you release a new detergent, of course, some users of your other detergernt are going to migrate, it's natural and like saying people will eat lunch tomorrow but Apple is clealy NOT STUPID (well, not as stipid as the analyst) - they have cleverly priced it so it's a few hundreds less than a macbook which clearly has more of everything and higher than a touch ... maybe Apple is smarter than this ninny.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that if people buy iPad instead of iPod Touch, Apple will be pleased as punch - iPad is more expensive and has similar margins, so overall profits will be higher.

The more interesting issue is whether iPad will cannibalize sales of MacBooks or MacBook Pros.

Well, I think most people buying MacBook Pros are software developers, photo editors, video editors or similar professionals needing high computing power. Macs are for them and they are not going to change. The $2,000+ computers are still going to sell for the same reasons people have always bought them.

However, there may be a trend worth watching: Those who need some portability, but also supreme computing power, may buy a combination of an iMac or similar desktop and an iPad, instead of a MacBook Pro. About six months ago, I noticed the MacBook Pro line was stagnant but the iMacs now had super-fast processors. So I replaced my MacBook Pro with an iMac and have been absolutely delighted with it.

Once you have an iMac and add an iPad, you have more power for the majority of the time, when you are computing from your regular location, but you have a user-friendly device that you can always take with you for notes, doodles, web browsing and so on. I have done this and so far I love the combination, especially since I can get iPad with 3G and have continuous, always-on Internet anywhere I go. I use both devices heavily and definitely believe I have gotten more than my money's worth out of them.

But for people who just need to read email and browse the web, many of them would be better served by an iPad than a MacBook or netbook. The question is how many netbook customers Apple gains versus how many MacBook customers who become iPad customers. suspect the answer is as time goes on and the word of mouth on iPad spreads, more netbook customers are going to be attracted to the platform and sales will increase.

Overall, then, I think iPad will increase Apple's revenues significantly. Only marginal MacBook customers are going to look at the iPad, while people who would otherwise buy cheaper iPods will be lured to spend money on iPad.

And plenty of PC-using people are going to be attracted by the iPad's sleekness, ease of use and freedom from malware.

D

On eof my good friends is a Iphone guy his is Jail broke ect. I asked him if he was gonna get the 4G when it comes out he said NOPE Im getting the Ipad!Dont care about the 4G dont want one. I was like WOW!! Thsi guy has had EVERY one since they cmae out. now he doesnt wat a 4G he wants to replace his Iphone with a Ipad 3G .. LOL Sux to be Apple.

Apple loves to introduce 'revolutionary' new kit with serious build in flaws mandated by marketing, so they can start flogging slightly less flawed products six to nine months later. Look at the history: iPod, iPhone, MacBook, Mac mini, iMac... all the way back to the IIci (the cycles were longer back then).

Apple's position with the Pod line was that it was better to cannibalize yourself rather than have someone else do it.

One thing that the author is missing is that many people who are purchasing the iPad never had a computer before. Many buyers are Windows converts, too. So, who is cannibalizing whom?

Hello sir,

You must be new to reading The Inquirer.

THE CORRECT SPELLING OF A PROPER NOUN IS WITH CAPITALISATION OF THE ***FIRST*** LETTER AND ***ONLY*** OF THE FIRST LETTER!!!!!

(in English)

Regards,

Why would anybody pay $500 for 1 iPad when you go to the drug store and get a box of maxiPads for $10?

It's madness I tell you, MADNESS!

on Steve Jobs/Apple's thinking on the matter. His theory is that inside of the next 5 years the traditional desktop or laptop market is going to crater, being replaced by cloud computing and software as a service.

Jobs's thinking seems to be that he needs to be out of that marketplace by that point, and on that basis he couldn't give a damn if he cuts into the sales of his current product lines with this new class of machine. He WANTS people to switch to the new iPad class hardware and to be in the position of selling services to them.

See http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/04/why-steve-jobs-hates-flash.html

Your original assertion about the loss of iTouch and MacBook sales due to iPad sales may be correct, but your conclusion about it hurting Apple is wrong.

iPad sales would "cannibalise" other products only if lower volumes of these other products reduced their marginal profits significantly, and that's not true for Apple. First, Apple doesn't own the manufacturing assets that might cause such an effect, pushing any effect to their vendors, and second, the costs of producing these components don't exhibit this feature for the volumes involved anyway.

Apple is rather taking some of its profits from the iPad rather than from their other products. These substitutions are important for stock analysts trying to assess how much extra profit Apple is receiving from its iPad, as these substitutions create no new profits, but they don't harm Apple either.

This is one of the stupidest articles I have ever read. Just stupid. Inquirer, you are no longer worth even paying attention to.

capitalization

The spelling is indeed correct. As are all the (capitilation) variations in the title to this comment.

I bought a Imac or iMAC or whatever, does not matter to me what it's called, just matter what it is. I think at least for a few $500. is the most some people can afford. If I can buy a apple product for $500. why spend $1,500 if it all does the same thing. Many of us would know that's not true but many don't and don't care.
They just want the internet send email and want it to be simple. Apple wants $500 for a 2tb hdd on it's Mac pro, even though you can buy 3 for that price. I like O SX but don't like apple, it should be called what it is "GREED".

How are you to be taken seriously when you can't even spell the name of the device correctly that you are talking about?

Haven't you figured out that Apple is successful because they continue to make even their own devices outdated? iPod- iPod Touch- iPad. Notice how they get a little more expensive for more features and functionality? If Apple were resting instead of innovating they would still be selling the original iPod.

Once again The Inquirer is staying true to form. Apple is DOOMED™!

The author does bring up some valid points. I've had my iPad 3G 64Gb for the past week now, and I've hardly used my desktop since I've gotten it. And when I DO end up using my desktop, it's for menial tasks, such as uploading photos and whatnot that the iPad just can't do at this point in time.

So if you were to imagine a family that has a computer, maybe a few years old, and decide they're gonna upgrade it, but then hear about the iPad that can do so many things... why the hell would they go and get an entirely new computer, when a portable device can apparently do the same tasks magnitudes better and more intuitively?

So as the author said, Apple can prolly expect to see sales of their other computing devices drop as the iPad's sales increase. Why buy a Macbook Air, when you can buy an iPad?

Still, every piece of technology out there has a niche, and the iPad is a bit too cumbersome (for a lot of people) for carrying around as your default music player.

Lordy, lordy - how many times must the Inq rehash these sorts of stories? Yes, we get it - you don't think the iPad's that great. How irritated you must be to see so many idiots buying the damn thing. So now it's "analysts" (who they?) saying that it will doom Apple because it's a success. No matter that Apple have always stated that they'd rather cannibalise their own products than have someone else do it.

The same lazy argument was used about the iPhone (will cannibalise iPod sales), iMac (cannibalise PowerMacs), iBook, etc., etc., etc....

You probably an Apple hater and an idiot for writing such an awful article.