Shocker: Apple’s iPad is Cannibalising Notebook Sales

Way back when Apple first announced the iPad last year,
the Cupertino outfit was very careful not to put its new device up against the notebook market. ‘The iPad is a new class of device,” it said, claiming that it fitted in-between the smartphone and notebook, filling the gap with a large, touchscreen display that filled our hearts with joy and wonder.
Fast-forward a year and a handful of months, and it’s clear that the iPad has taken sales away from at least some notebook manufacturers. The netbook market is all but dead, and the same companies who tried to sell $300 laptops are now selling $500 iPad competitors…
When the men with the calculators look at notebook market share though, the iPad isn’t included, because they say it’s not a computer. A new graph coming from of Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore however, begs to differ.
In his note to clients on Monday, Whitmore included a new graph which charts notebook market share. With the iPad excluded as usual, Apple finds itself in last place based on market share. Interestingly, though, Whitmore included an addition on the far-right of his graph, showing how the landscape changes when iPad sales are taken into account.

The new part of the aforementioned graph sees Apple leapfrog its five competitors — Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Samsung — and end up in the top spot.
A sure sign that Apple’s iPad is indeed a real player in the notebook market, despite its lack of a keyboard? Quite possibly, but Whitmore also adds that Apple is well placed to take the top spot, with or without its super-tab.

“Within the computing market, we see significant opportunity for Apple to take meaningful share in the second half as the Microsoft / PC ecosystem is relatively stagnant, lacking meaningful new offerings. On the other hand, Apple will be competing with an upgraded Mac OS, new MacBook Airs (and other forthcoming Macs) and a new iPad iOS. Within the Tablet market, the iPad remains the Gold Standard as competitors struggle for mindshare and traction (note HP’s price cuts on the TouchPad). Meanwhile, competing PC manufacturers have suggested Ultrabooks won’t ramp in material volumes until 2012 due to challenges driving price points meaningfully below Apple’s Air. As such, Apple appears particularly well positioned for more share gains heading into the back-to- school and holiday selling season.”

Some much needed good news for Apple there, what with its increasingly poor sales and lack of profit currently.
Oh, wait.