@Loverock Davidson
Whether you all see them or not, the iPad is selling as well or better than any new consumer electronics device. It will have sold close to 15 million units by year's end and some projections are running around 50 million units for 2011.
The Mac has been selling in record numbers for years now so much so that Apple is now in the top 5 computer makers. That should really annoy PC OEMs. But the iPad is already OUTSELLING the Mac in less than a year. That should scare the crap out of them. And what's even scarier is that they can't even come up with a credible 10 inch tablet in time for Christmas after nine months.
The iPad is filling all those gaps where a powerful, relatively inexpensive computing device is needed, yet without the hassles of a traditional OS, short battery life and complicated/overpriced software and peripherals--drawbacks of virtually every other current solution out there. There are already gobs of medical apps, POS apps--(look at Apple's own retail chain, all sales are rung up on iPads and iPod touches), restaurants, mobile sales, warehouse/inventory management, hotel concierge, in-flight entertainment systems (Qantas Airlines), home theatre/security, auto entertainment systems, etc.
The iDevice universe combined with Airplay is already creating a multi-billion dollar business for third party home theater components. And iPhone/iPad combined with an AppleTV and Airplay is a killer roadwarrior presentation system. Stand anywhere in a 300 or 3000 seat room and give a presentation with an iPad on any HDTV or projector.
I'm telling you right now, the iPad is going to rule the slate market just like the iPod has ruled the mp3 player market. There are three very big differences between the slate market and the phone market:
1. No neanderthal telcos with their artificial, prehistoric limitations and technical barriers. (Note how Apple completely bypassed the telcos on Facetime) Note how Apple got the wifi iPad in China in less than nine months instead of futzing around with telcos for over 2 years like it did with the iPhone.
2. The entire ecosystem is already in place-retail network/distribution, apps, peripherals, media, podcasts, etc. iPhone didn't have half the ecosystem that the iPad has. Is there any retail chain that doesn't sell iPads now, in less than 9 months? I mean, Apple is already selling iPads at Verizon, fer cryin' out loud! This Christmas, consumers won't even be able to see any other tablet because the iPad IS the forest and the trees.
3. Apple is going for the pricing jugular this time. Apple can already risk producing tens of millions of units and get the lowest component prices--no one else can make that risk, so they are stuck in a very real chicken and egg pricing dilemma. And because Apple shares multiple major components between all four of its iDevices--iPod touch, iPhone, iPad and iTV--it has further economies of scale that the competition can't touch. Except for the screen, virtually every component inside the iPad comes from the iPhone.
Again, it is very telling that NO ONE else has a credible 10" tablet ready in time for Christmas even though several OEMs have been making tablets for years. They simply can't match the Apple quality/battery life and were caught completely flatfooted by the $499 entry price.
