iPad is a Netbook Killer

Right now, you may have been inundated with news that the time for notebooks and netbooks is almost over- due to the rise of tablet devices. Particularly, the Apple iPad has been cited as the major reason for the demise of the netbook. And the comments of Best Buy’s CEO, have added most of the fuel to this fire. But now, he says that tablets are not usurping netbooks!

The original quotes appeared in the Wall Street Journal said that iPad had reduced netbook sales by 50%. And since Best Buy is the leading electronics retailer in the US, this statement was taken very seriously as an indicator of the present and the future. So, most laptop and netbook doom-mongers started harping about a new era in computing ushered in by the internet tablets. But be sure that the days of conventional computing are far from over!

And Best Buy has just released a press statement stating that these claims were never made to the press. The CEO for his part, has used Twitter to say that the claims that conventional portable computers are dying is a ‘gross exaggeration’. So, while he is not detaching himself from the quotes, he is trying to indicate a misinterpretation on the part of the media.
So, did he actually say those things about the future of computing?
It is highly unlikely that he did not, because the CEO of Best Buy will not actually cough up imaginary facts to the Wall Street Journal. But then, perhaps he was misquoted or is now being forced to backtrack on his comments by netbooks and notebook companies. After all, Best Buy doesn’t sell only iPads!
So now, iPads and other tablets are being described as an ‘incremental opportunity’ rather than a ‘netbook killer’, in a new stance from Best Buy. Microsoft has also focused on retweeting this statement to calm down more than a few ruffled feathers.
It is interesting to note that even Morgan Stanley Research recently released some numbers showing that laptop sales are heading south. Will those be covered up too? Logically though, there is room enough for both the notebook and the tablet to survive and thrive.