Apple’s iPad dissected

As Steve Jobs said at the launch, the team at Apple have pondered for years over whether there really is room in the market for a third form factor, and the iPad would have to be very good at some applications. Judging from the launch, it is difficult to say that they have focused on a few specific apps, because it seems to do just about everything, and the swarms of developers out there will make certain of that. 

Personally I would not read books on my notebook PC (why would I want to spend even more time anti-socially staring at my PC) but I certainly would read Books on a Kindle or iPad.  The New York Times screen-shots also looked very appealing on the iPad.  Those of us who already consume newspapers on our PCs would be more than comfortable with that application on an iPad, but perhaps this is not such a killer app for iPad because most of us don’t spend hours reading newspapers and notebook PCs and smartphones already provide this function adequately. 

My colleague Astrid Hamilton has a Kindle and it seems to be a really great device for its niche application, namely eBooks (which are now outselling real books on Amazon), and with built-in 3G and all-you-can-eat pricing for data downloading it is appealing, but in comparison, it certainly lacks the sex appeal of the iPad.  She believes that the price in SA will be quite high, most likely more than double that of the Kindle, and it just doesn’t seem to have enough to justify that price tag.

For my money ( $499 plus whatever else for apps), I would probably go for it as a third device, and I think a lot of other people would concur, especially if it was offered on a mobile contract.  However, I am not sure how many South Africans would fork out R6,000+ from their own pockets (because it definitely won’t sell for $499 in SA), so adoption would have to be some fraction of that of notebook PCs and smartphones for the majority of us.

Both my colleagues, Astrid Hamilton and Ryan Smit, say they are going to wait for the second generation of the iPad, when Apple will surely have added some missing features, such as a camera, or a USB port, but many won’t wait that long, and, like me, will be inclined to give in to their appetites for a bite of the juicy new Apple right now!

The iPad should do very well in the market, but will not cause nearly as big a revolution as the iPhone was.  Neither will it be the panacea or salvation the newspaper industry (and journalist profession) is looking for.   However, it stands a good chance of starting a bigger fad than netbooks, particularly in the leisure and entertainment space, particularly if it gains popularity as a must-have status symbol.  What would also unlock significant sales growth in South Africa will be mobile service providers’ contract offerings –not only a subsidy on the device itself, but also free data bandwidth for selected applications, as is currently the case for the Kindle.

Apple iPad opinions << give your view on the iPad

Brian Neilson is a director and senior consultant at BMI-T.  Astrid Hamilton and Ryan Smit are lead analysts in BMI-T’s Consumer Digital Media Business Unit.