Apple iPad Release in Europe Triples Local Tablet Sales

15 Jul 2010 | News | Angela Topchu on Google+

Context Research reports that the official release of the iPad in Europe boosted the local market of tablet computers almost 260%.

The iPad was introduced to the European market in May, making the demand for tablet computers skyrocket. Context Research also points out that it might be due to the introduction of the iPad that the average price of all-in-one mobile computers has gone up by about 3 percent.

 

The public reaction to the appearance of the first iPads in Europe was the same as in the U.S.: many people spent the whole night waiting in front of Apple Stores to be the first to buy the iPad. The spokesmen of Apple have announced that during the first few weeks following the beginning of the official sales on May 28th, hundreds of thousands of iPads were sold in Europe.

Some market analysts are sure that by the end of 2010 Apple will sell over 8,100,000 iPads in total.

It should be said that it’s getting harder and harder for Apple to maintain the lead in the market of tablet computers as more and more competitors release products similar to iPad almost every other day. There days there are already quite some processors to choose from, with x86 and ARM-based chips already among them. The choice of operating system keeps on growing wider as well: at the moment there are Android, Chrome, MeeGo and WebOS out there. Thus, one can tell with a certain degree of confidence that future market fragmentation and dilution are likely.

The Associate Vice President, Asia/Pacific Devices and Peripherals Research at IDC, Mr. Bryan Ma, says that in Asia Apple will most probably have to deal with intense competition from local brands. This will give the consumers the opportunity to choose from a wide number of offerings in different price tiers.

According to Mr. Ma, the local markets will definitely go for tablet devices with maximum choice of localized apps and content available, which is due to the fact that iPad and similar computers are currently regarded mostly as entertainment devices.

Today everybody talks about media tablets but before the producers of this kind of devices decide in what direction they should develop them, they need to know what they are used for most frequently by the customers.

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