Apple’s popular iPad currently dominates the relatively nascent tablet market. But could the industry eventually reclassify the powerful device as a full-fledged PC?
Well, Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank believes the iPad should at least be included in future PC sales statistics.
As Whitmore explains, such a move would “catapult” the company past Dell and HP, transforming Apple into the number one computer manufacturer in the US.
“Apple’s share in the US computer market is [now] ~25%, including [the] iPad which makes it the market leader after an 18 point share jump in only 2 quarters, followed by ~20% for HP and ~19% for Dell,” Whitmore wrote in an investors note obtained by AppleInsider.
“[Of course], we believe the lack of meaningful competition in the tablet space and expanded channel distribution (Target, Walmart, etc) entering the holiday will further expand Apple’s competitive lead/first mover advantage.”
He added that all PC vendors will undoubtedly be impacted by the success of the iPad, with the “greatest losses” attributed to Hewlett Packard – which is currently ranked as the largest US-based PC vendor.
“The competitive response to the iPad has been remarkably absent and late (from HP, Asus, Acer, Samsung etc) and we expect strong iPad demand into 4Q (additional countries/channels) to support share gains going forward, particularly as the international roll-out gains steam.”
