Apple’s iPad hurting global notebook PC shipment growth, say sources

“Global shipments of notebooks are expected to grow less than 10% in 2011 compared to a 12-15% growth projected previously, while desktop shipments are likely to gain 7-8% in the year, higher than 3-4% predicted earlier, according to the latest estimates from industry sources in Taiwan,” Monica Chen and Steve Shen report for DigiTimes.

“The popularity of tablet PCs is growing rapidly and the impact of booming sales of tablets on notebooks will be more substantive than what had predicted previously, the sources noted,” Chen and Shen report. “The emergence of tablet PCs is encouraging consumers to opt for a tablet instead of a notebook as a pair of an always on/connected tablet PC and a desktop at home has become a new alternative for consumers, said the sources.”

Read more in the full article here.

23 Comments

  1. A lot of people looking to purchase iPads instead of notebooks and end up disappointed when they find out that it’s not the same thing. They really don’t understand the difference between iOS and OSX.

    Every day I see people that are trying to make their iPads do things that they were not designed to do… where a notebook would do exactly what they need. When you try to convince them that a MacBook Air or MBP is what they need, they prefer the $500 price of the iPad and the size.

    We need to start somewhere, but we have a long way to go if the tablet is going to replace the notebook.

    1. Have Appke told us what they are designed for? I don’t think so. I believe people are bending what they expect to do based ob what they know about the iPad.

      If the software doesn’t support what they hope to accomplish, they simply wait till they get back to their full computer. Or, like me, they travel with both.

      I certainly didn’t need a full MBP while visiting/interviewing schools here in phoenix this week. However, I did bring along the MBP. I’ve only used my iPad (Bento and HULU/NetFlix) and my iPhone (email, RSS) this entire week! I dud use LogMeIn Ignituon once to use my Mac Minitgat was 2500 miles from me… LOL

    2. The trouble with people like you is a complete and total lack of imagination. The iPad isn’t designed as a 1:1 replacement for a netbook. It’s designed for the post-PC world where your interaction with the tablet is on an intimate level that draws you into the app through the touch interface.

      If Apple replicated the functions of a PC in an iPad there would be no one buying it as Microsoft found out to its cost. People like you belong to the Ballmer school of dullards that cannot see where the state of the art should be and moving it forward as opposed to where it is now.

      Because most people use the iPad for its simplicity, easy set up, simple app download process, small and light enough to be carried around, long battery life and the fact that you can just turn it on instantaneously to check on a web resource counts as advantages in many people’s books.

      You can’t blame the tool for people’s inability to extract the most use out of it. If I gave you a block of wood you’d probably return it back to me in its square form but in another person’s hands it would be carved into a beautiful model airplane. Blame your own lack of imagination not the iPad’s shortcomings for your inability to see its disruptive factor to the netbook market.

    3. I’m iPad owner and I am not disappointed. I know exactly why i brought it.
      Disappointed people are those who brought iPads rivals just because they hate apple and not because they really love the rival’s product.

    4. iPad replaced my notebook ….

      Notebook was used for email, photo sharing with clients and some games ……

      My desktop always did the heavy lifting and files / proposals transferred to laptop …. Now it is the iPad …..

      After the laptop sitting idle for two months I gave to grandkid ….

      And the iPad does the job much better than laptop ever did, with the iPad my clients interact, never ever did with laptop ….

  2. Bill, who are these disappointed people you speak of? I don’t know a single individual who doesn’t love their iPad. They understand it isn’t meant to replace a notebook. Sales are through the rood. People really do know what they’re buying, and they’re happy about it.

    1. And the ones who aren’t smart enough to realize that the iPad isn’t meant to be a full-fledged laptop replacement will figure it out sooner or later. Every iPad owner I know is totally thrilled with this device.

    2. I work for an Apple reseller (WestWorld). I’ve had clients who want to read CompactFlash cards (which can be done if you connect a powered hub into Apple’s USB camera connect kit (not exactly an elegant solution). I’ve had clients the want to add studio grade microphones (again through USB). I’ve had clients who want to import large RAW files and then edit them (piRAWnha supports up to 15GB RAW files, there may be other apps that support larger files). I’ve had clients that want to dump the files off of their digital cameras, perform minor editing and then save the file to external storage (because the iPad does not have enough storage).

      Bottom line, every single day I see people wanting to do things with the iPad that it was never designed to do. I could list many more examples.

      So Ballmer’s Left Nut, it is not my limited imagination, that is the issue… it’s the iPad that has limited functionality.

      It is what it is. Like I said up above, it is becoming more and more useful everyday, but it still pales in comparison to a laptop, no matter how good you imagination is.

      1. You do realise that when Apple releases a product as revolutionary as the iPad it has to balance aesthetics against throwing in every imaginable port on the outer shell. If your clients want a tablet that’s festooned with USB ports, SD card readers and the like, they can always opt for a butt ugly Acer Iconia.

        For the rest of us a svelte form factor with a minimalist outlook serves our needs perfectly. Plus as you said there’s an external USB dongle. Attach that to your iPad and transfer the pictures over. What could be simpler? I can’t speak for people retarded enough not to be able to manipulate a USB dongle but it seems easy enough to me. I’d rather do that than have 10 useless ports running along the side of an iPad.

        1. None of the things I mentioned would require adding additional ports to the iPad.

          I said… the connection through the USB dongle simply doesn’t have enough power to import CompactFlash cards.
          Any notebook on the planet provides enough power to connect a CompactFlash reader via USB and it will import photos.

  3. Those people never saw when Steve Jobs introduced the iPad and told them it fits a space between the smartphone and notebook. Anyone who believes the iPad will completely replace their notebooks are honestly missing the point. Apple just doesn’t do devices that completely replaces another in their own product line. That’s something the cheapskate iHaters fail to understand. They always want Apple to build this one device that will replace all others. Personally, I don’t think that is possible and still make it affordable using today’s technology. Besides, Apple doesn’t want to cut its own throat of having a varied product line.

    The main reason I think that tablets running Windows desktop will continue to fail. It tries to do too much for one compact device.

    So, the iPad was never intended to completely replace the notebook or smartphone and that’s just how it is. The iPad only overlaps a bit of both of them and consumers need to realize that get used to fact.

    1. Ditto with me, the iPad did replace my laptop as I never did any heavy lifting on laptop …..

      My laptop was simply a file carrying extension of my desktop …..

      And with the iPad I am doing more than ever did on laptop including some neat photo layouts and I’m using iCal for almost everything where hardly used before because I did not always have laptop with but do have iPad with …..

      So in my case I actually get more value, a lot more value, from iPad than MacBook ……

  4. I came across a woman who doesn’t like her iPhone 4. She says that she can’t get used to the virtual keyboard and wants her BB back. She has long nails – perhaps they block her view of the keyboard and make it difficult to verify if she is typing the right letters.

    Some portion of the population do not or will not like the iPad, iPhone, or even iPod. It took my boss forever to get comfortable with syncing his iPod touch. It was a source of great frustration to him, and I had to talk it through with him several times.

    1. My wife has the same problem with my iPhone. She loves the functionality, but can’t use the virtual keypad with her nails. It’s not that she can’t see the keys: the problem is she can’t use her fingertips. She tries to use the pads of her fingers, but on a screen like the iPhone, the keys are simply too small and too close together to use it that way.

      That said, she LOVES our iPad 2, and can use the key pad with no problem, due to the size of the keys and the additional space between them.

        1. In the meantime, we can suggest the latest fashion accessory, the iClip…brushed stainless steel finish, exclusive Apple logo, wildly overpriced Gucci (yes, that phrase is redundant) micro carrying case. At $129.95 a pop, the gals will be breaking down the doors. And if you think that is expensive, know that my wife’s pedicure/manicure bills equal the national debt…

  5. The inability to log in once and forever and the requirement to enter user name and email for every post is a real pain in the mental and physical extra typing ass.

  6. I’m teaching iOS & iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch to seniors and I think iPad absolutely replaces Notebook-Desktop as long as the user is not trying to do things that can only be done in OS X. But I’m still using my MacBook beside my iPad 2 to teach the class. I think there’s a large part of the universe of computer users who can use an iPad 2 to their advantage way better than they ever would have or did the Laptops & Desktops.

    But not with the iPad 1. There is a radical difference between last year’s iPad and the new one. Productivity is serious on an iPad 2 that will never be possible on an iPad 1. Anyone who is happy with their iPad 1 is blissfully ignorant of that fact. I spent $829 both times on day one and I can guarantee you I will spend $829 or whatever the top AT&T model costs every year ahead.

    Soon I will be dead. This revolution is too exciting to miss my last few years of existence without the state of the art every year. Man I am so pumped about the iPad 2’s powerful maturation. I can hardly sleep every night just obsessing about it all the time. This time reminds me of 1984 when the 128k Mac came out – only on legal steroids.

  7. IPad is not meant to replace pro apps, it enhances them…I use my ipad2 as a mixer for pro tools running on a mac so I can wirelessly press record from within the vocal booth in my recording studio…The iPad actually SAVED me $$ as I didn’t need to buy another mixer! I also use it to read sheet music so I don’t need to lug a laptop or books to gigs…

    my dad who never had a PC in his life was able to learn how to use iPad witin a week to email and surf…thats all some people need and no PC needed.

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