Apple iPad: Product positioning, component supply chain, and impact on PC products and e-readers

TAIWAN: MIC TrendTracker has released the research report -- The Apple iPad: Product Positioning, Component Supply Chain, and Impact on PC Products and E-Readers.

Apple iPad product positioning
Before 2010, Apple had the Mac series for the desktop and notebook PC market. In the portable product segment the company had the iPod and iPhone series, which feature innovative user interfaces and have become popular products around the world.

The company's desktop PC and notebook PC products had screen sizes between 13" and 27", while its portable products ranged from 2.2" to 4.5". In the 4.5" to 13" size segment, the company did not have any new products.

For the product positioning of the iPad, Apple has aimed at the market gap between Smartphones and notebook PCs. The 9.7" size of the product is between these two product types, and computing power has also been designed so as to fall in between
these two products.

The iPad adopts an ARM-based 1GHz CPU, and prices start at $499. The product features and prices of the iPad will fill the market gap that exists between the iPhone and the MacBook.Source: MIC, Taiwan

Impact of Apple iPad on notebooks, netbooks and smartbooks
No obvious immediate impact likely on the notebook PC (>10.4") industry.

The Apple iPad is not expected to have an immediate impact on notebook PC industry shipments, as the iPad is different from notebook PCs in terms of both software and hardware usage.

Notebook PC product sizes are relatively large, and there are differences in terms of the usage model of the two products. Furthermore, consumers have a different motivation for buying notebook PCs than for the iPad. Due to these factors, the iPad is not expected to pose a threat to notebook PCs in the near-term future.

In the mid- to long-term future, the notebook PC industry could possibly use the smooth user experience of the iPad as a benchmark for future product design.