Apple iPad launch set to spark huge demand for tablet PCs
Market analysts Gartner have released a report that must be music to the ears of Apple executives. They predict that tablet PC and mobile PC sales will account for 90% of the growth in the sector in 2010.
Gartner forecasts that a collosal 10.5 million tablet or next generation devices (cue the Apple iPad) could be sold this year and that by 2012 they could account for a massive 70% of all sector sales.
The sale of netbooks has been the one positive in an otherwise gloomy time of recession and this recent report highlights that desktop PC sales are likely to be restricted to growth in emerging markets alone. On the back of disappointment of what appears to be more expensive pricing than expected for the Apple iPad, the report is sure to ease the fears of many as it may once again confirm that Apple has pulled the big shot with pinpoint timing.
The next 9 months will reveal the truth but with other manufacturers putting plans of action into place to try to draft competition for the iPad it is set to be an exciting year ahead. Sony are reputed to be targeting Apple with their own next generation device and we expect to see others follow suit in the next few months.
All that glistens..
..is not gold. Or so they say. However, if Gartner have got this one right then Apple look set to reap the rewards on a similar scale to that seen with the iPhone.
When April comes and the iPad arrives we'll see a surge of demand. The telling months will be the next 3-6 after that. Real world reviews will give the iPad their approval or condemn it to a life not disimilar to Apple TV.
Everything we've read and seen so far would tend to indicate that the world awaits. Apple has worked wonders with its App Store in particular to dismiss claims that the iPhone was the designer choice and not a practical one. If it can canvass early support on the iPad, with its much larger screen and browsing ease, the market that it could open may well be one its rivals wished they'd gambled on before the innovator.
