The first figure of Apple iPad sales in the US shows that this new product could well be cannibalising the sales of the humble iPod, another popular product made by the computing giant based in Cupertino, California.
Luckily though, the successful launch sales of Apple’s iPads came as healthy sales of Macintosh products were recorded this year, a recent market data released by the NPD Group showed.
NPD Group’s latest research report shows a 17% drop of iPod sales in April in a year-to-year basis, but an increase of 39% in Mac sales was recorded, compared with figures the same time last month.
While Apple fans in the UK are still waiting for its release, the iPad was already launched in the US on 3 April. Analyst Gene Munster from Piper Jaffray believes that the release of the tablet PC is badly affecting iPod sales, claiming that the data from the NPD Group shows: The first sign of the degree to which the iPad cannibalises iPod or Mac sales”.
Munster added that: from the early NPD data, it appears that the iPad has a minimal cannibalization impact on Mac sales, and could be slightly cannibalising iPod sales”.
Whether the iPad will have a significant impact on the sales of laptop or netbook from other manufacturers is still not clear. However, some industry analysts are closely watching those developments.