Apple iPad run rate hits 2m units a month
Bad news for netbook makers
A small snippet of information this, but Apple has ordered enough components to assemble as many as 2.4m iPads this month - and is expected to order the same quantity on a monthly basis through the summer.
The figure comes from Taiwanese newssite DigiTimes' research wing, and is a strong sign that the iPad is proving to be a success.
Interestingly, more than half of the units being produced - up to 60 per cent - are thought to be 3G-enabled models. That suggests punters are picking up the devices with a view to taking them off on summer holidays.
If the monthly estimate is correct, that will put the quarter's total iPad shipments at around 6m units - double previously forecast totals for Q2: just over 3m, according to market watcher DisplaySearch.
Apple is clearly accepting good sales through the summer and into the back-to-school period.
DisplaySearch's figures put the combined total number of netbooks and tablets at just under 10m units worldwide these days - where it's been for the past four quarters. If Apple does shift 6m iPads then that's bad news for netbook manufacturers - it's six million machines they won't themselves sell.
Netbooks may also rise in the back-to-school period, of course. But it's hard to see them matching the estimated growth of the Apple gadget. ®
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COMMENTS
"Bad news for netbook makers"
or" Bad news for Apple"..
As thinner, lighter, better android based tablets are on the way VERY soon...
http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/lg-announces-plans-for-android-tablet-701033
"As for the LG Android tablet, LG is boasting that it "will deliver vastly superior performance than other similar devices currently on the market while still managing to be thinner and lighter than competing devices.""
Oops I did it again
The mobile cos tried to sell netbooks with bundled 3G modems or in some cases proper 3G internal cards for the last few years. All of these flopped in the most spectacular fashion.
This is not surprising as none of them could be bothered with user experience, the modem had to have "yet another applet" to drive it instead of working out of the box. They could not be bothered to spend even a penny of their advertising budget to push it and most importantly they thought that they are too expensive at around 350 a pop.
Apple succeeding where the mobile operators failed and selling a gadget for 200 more than the price mobile cos considered as too high. That is a non-story. It is a daily occurance of what should called "Telco Innovation 2.0".
Frankly, the only thing I am surprised at here is that O2 and other mobile co's marketing departments have not been given their marching orders by now. Actually not surprised that either. Delusions are contagious. Delusions that marketing, bundling and whalesong can succeed over technology and polished UE are probably some of the most contagious of all.
Epic FAIL. Not of Apple that is, of all the mobile cos.
Almost on-topic post..
...Anyone seen what a 7 month old baby does with an ipad?
It's pretty hilarious, and I wish I'd youtubed it, but what struck me was how quickly she was able to master some very simple gestures...swiping, dragging and even pinching.
Either she's a future rocket scientist (and if any of her genes are mine, that's unlikely), or touch interfaces are pretty damned intuiative. And that's appealing to the unwashed masses who have no idea what a command line is.
Whether Apple stay "the leader" or not (and it's doing a sterling job of shooting itself in the foot there right now) I'd put good money on slates/pads/touch phones being here to stay. There will always be a place for keyboards and command lines - there better be, since my mortgage depends on it - but I'm not going to be surprised to see consumer netbooks (the closest competitor to slates/pads) decline over the coming years as users migrate to slates, and the slates genre evolve and diversify.
Note the emphasis on 'Consumer' here.
Works for me
They might have got their act together now, but my girlfriend's Creative Zen V is a nasty piece of plastic user unfriendlyness.
I'll stick to my iPod which sounds good enough to my cloth ears. No Apple earphones though, as they are the work of the devil!
