The release of the iPad has impacted sales of a range of mobile devices in the US, most heavily the netbook segment, according to data from Morgan Stanley Research.
According to the findings, the netbook segment has fallen from a growth rate of 641 per cent in July 2009, to just five per cent in April this year – the month that the iPad was released.
However, the interpretation of these results has found some controversy, with the Windows Supersite Blog citing IDC results that suggest that the netbook segment slowdown was “as a result of stronger-than-expected sales of larger, full-featured (and more expensive) Windows 7 notebooks.”
“IDC is now forecasting that ‘mininotebooks’ will sell 45.6 million units in 2011 and 60.3 million in 2013,” wrote Windows Supersite’s Paul Thurrott.
“If I remember the numbers from 2009, they were 10 percent of all PCs, or about 30 million units. Explain again how the iPad will beat that. Please. Even the craziest iPad sales predictions are a small percentage of that.”