The reviews are coming in for Apple's iPad which is being launched tomorrow and the reviewers are falling over themselves trumpeting its qualities. But the question is who's going to buy it? How will consumers respond to something that's bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a laptop? It's a whole new category of computer.
The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg calls the iPad a "game changer". USA Today's Edward Baig calls it a "winner".
But how many people are actually going to buy it?
Apple expects to sell six million iPads this year but as Bloomberg's Connie Guglielmo says, estimating the number of sales is anyone's guess. As she says, it's a revolutionary device but it's a completely new market.
The Inquirer reports that the demographic group most interested in the Ipad are younger adults and anyone who will buy whatever Steve Jobs tells them is good. "Overall more than 66 per cent thought that they will buy an Ipad when hell freezes over. More than 60 per cent of those who already own Apple gear thought they will give the Ipad a miss," the Inquirer reports.
According to NPD research, only 18 per cent of consumers surveyed expressed a real interest in owning one. True, 27 per cent 18-34 year olds and 24 per cent of Apple owners said they were extremely or very interested. But there is a difference between saying you're interested and actually going out to buy one. In any case, most think the iPad is just too expensive.
What's more likely is that consumers are going to wait until the iPad gets cheaper and newer more sophisticated versions are released. If iPad is a game changer, it will be a case of evolution, not revolution.
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