The Apple iPad may not be for everyone, but it looks like pre-orders are going well.
Apple will ship between 8 and 10 million iPads by the end of the year forecasts Morgan Stanley, noting 2.5 million will ship in the first three months, reports AppleInsider.
Apple has already sold out of its initial shipment of online Apple Store iPad stock and is now citing an April 12 ship date.
The Morgan Stanley report says Apple is going after the 30-million unit notebook market initially, and down the road, it will target a unique tablet market, as Apple closes deals on content for books, magazines and video.
NPD Group however, cautions that mass appeal for the iPad is certainly a ways off given most people view it as a pricey netbook or notebook. NPD found that in the U.S., only 18 percent of all consumers surveyed expressed a “real interest” in owning an iPad (starting at $500) and only nine percent are very likely to purchase one in the next six months, because of its high price and redundant use-case. Sixty-six percent of consumers surveyed don’t plan to buy one, mainly because they see it as an expensive notebook or netbook. NPD said about half of current Apple product owners surveyed said they’d rather use a notebook or netbook instead.
NPD’s advice to Apple: “close the content deals that focus the iPad…around high quality media consumption.” I think Apple gets that.
Source: AppleInsider, The NPD Group
