There's some truth to Apple's prediction that the iPad would win over potential netbook buyers, according to a survey of consumers.
Retrevo, an online store and guide to consumer electronics, polled 1,000 people -- not necessarily Retrevo shoppers -- through an independent firm. Of all the people who thought about buying a netbook before Apple announced its tablet device in January, 30 percent of them bought an iPad instead. Four out of 10 waited for Apple's announcement, but bought a netbook anyway, and the other 30 percent got a netbook outright.
Another pie chart from Retrevo bodes even worse for netbooks. Asked straight-up whether they were planning on getting an iPad or a netbook, 78 percent favored the former, and 22 percent favored the latter.
Here's what Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said after Apple introduced the iPad, according to Macworld:
"The netbook is not an experience people are going to continue wanting to have," Cook said. "When they play with the iPad and experience the magic of using it… I have a hard time believing they’re going to go for a netbook."
The whole "magic" thing is getting played out, but the iPad -- and the tablet concept in general -- brings something special to the table. It's more portable and accessible than a netbook by virtue of its design, and the app concept works really well. With the iPad specifically, the drawback is an inability to perform certain tasks, like run Flash Web pages, transfer files or, in my case, write a blog post.
Nonetheless, between laptops and smartphones, there's not really a lot of room for both tablets and netbooks. They're both low-powered devices with an emphasis on Web browsing, checking e-mail and light word processing. It's easy to justify having a laptop to do the things a tablet cannot, but four devices is really pushing it. So I don't think Retrevo's survey is a fluke. I'm sure we'll see more just like it as the tablet market expands.
