iPad: Fastest adoption ever, lead over rivals called overwhelming
Apple has another mega hit on its hands and the competition looks to be roadkill before any of them manage to launch a single credible wannabe iPad killer. From the supply chain to ecosystem integration, the Apple tablet is looking unstoppable as we head into the meat of the 2010 holiday shopping season.
Quoting commentary and data from Bernstein Research, CNBC confirms what the market’s been telling us for months — the iPad is a runaway hit. Moreover, the Apple tablet looks set to become the fastest selling new consumer electronic device of all-time.
“The iPad did not seem destined to be a runaway product success straight out of the box,” said Colin McGranahan, retail analyst, Bernstein Research. “By any account, the iPad is a runaway success of unprecedented proportion.”
At its current rate of growth, the iPad will pass gaming hardware and mobile phone to become the fourth largest consumer electronics category with estimated sales of more than $9 billion in the US alone next year. TVs, smart phones and notebook PCs are the current top three sellers.
A speck on the horizon
“We believe Apple’s lead in the tablet market will prove difficult to close by the onslaught of competing products coming over the next several quarters,” wrote Deutsche Bank ananlyst Chris Whitmore. “Ultimately, we expect the slew of upcoming competition to fall flat from a user experience standpoint while struggl[ing] to materially undercut the iPad on price.”
So, how far ahead of the competition does he reckon the Apple tablet is just six months after its initial release?
- • 12-18 months in content
• Two or more years in terms of other media acquisition and integration via iTunes
• Untold dollars in terms of component pricing
On the latter point, because Apple purchases one-fifth to one-quarter of the world’s Flash memory supply and nearly has a lock on the touch-panel market, the company can command superior pricing and access to available supplies.
It took years for Apple to lock down the media player market with the iPod. Now, because of all of that initial legwork with the iPod and iPhone vis-a-vis content, apps and supply chain, the iPad comes out of the gate with an immense lead.
Without question the iPad is this year’s Tickle Me Elmo — once again Apple owns Christmas 2010. That said, will the company dominate tablets the way it does media players?
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