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Looming on the horizon like tomorrows sunrise:
Netbook Sales Sag as the iPad Arrives
Apple’s (AAPL) iPad is helping cool the computer industry’s netbook fever. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs has made no secret of his disdain for the popular, inexpensive mini-notebooks. “Netbooks aren’t better than anything. They’re just cheap laptops,” Jobs said at the Jan. 27 launch of the iPad tablet computer in San Francisco.
PC makers are starting to worry that consumers agree. The sales growth of netbooks, priced from $200 to $500 and resembling shrunk-down laptops, slowed markedly in the first quarter, according to market researcher IDC.
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Falling sales aren’t the only problem dogging netbooks. There’s evidence that demand for netbook components is declining. The Web site DigiTimes reported on Mar. 30 that makers of the liquid-crystal-display panels used in netbooks are cutting production because of declining orders. PC makers including Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL), and Acer declined to comment on whether inventories of unsold netbooks are on the rise.
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Could iPad be sold out by early afternoon Saturday?
After weeks of buildup, iPads hit stores at 9 a.m. Saturday. They will be sold out by “early afternoon,” predicts tech analyst Richard Doherty of Envisioneering Group. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates Apple will sell 200,000 to 300,000 iPads this weekend and 1 million in the quarter.
