The outlook for hard drive manufacturers is getting jolted by the popularity of Apple's iPad as the market wakes up to the reality that a significant segment of personal computers will no longer user mechanical hard drives.
Reports from a variety of analysts predict a huge swell in tablet computer sales next year ranging from 35 to 100 million units in total, with Apple's iPad accounting for the largest number sold by far.
In a surprise appearance during the company's quarterly earnings call, Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs hailed the success of the iPhone and Pod while painting a bleak outlook for RIM's Blackberry smartphones, Google's fragmented Android smartphone platform, and the coming trickle of 7inch tablets.
Asked about the potential for iPad sales to cannibalize Mac sales, Apple executives shrugged off the issue as insignificant, then pointed toward the potential of iPads to sell even more Macs and iPhones as part of an overall halo effect.
A Verizon Wireless web promo for its Droid-branded Android phones originally promoted the upcoming Droid X as having a "720p screen," stoking some brief excitement that iPhone 4 and its Retina Display might be eclipsed, at least until the error was corrected.
In a recent survey of customer experience, Apple ranked above its main competitors in the personal computing space, but consumers found iTunes to be behind rivals Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Apple has captured nearly half of all desktop revenue in the United States as iPhone sales in China have lagged.
Macs made up a whopping 91 percent of the $1,000 and up computer market in June, up significantly from early 2008 when Apple's premium market share was 66 percent, according to new data released this week.
Continuing its advertising campaign which seeks to promote generic PCs running Windows as more attractive than Macs, Microsoft's latest spot plays up specifications over aesthetics as opposed to just suggesting that PCs are simply cheaper as the previous spot did. However, it ends up making the opposite point instead.
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Daniel Eran Dilger
Prince McLean
Brian Garner
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