The VAR Guy

Here’s another quick food-for-thought story as tablet computing finally picks up speed. The tablet won’t replace your traditional desktop computer, but will it replace your laptop to netbook? We’ve made this argument before, but the Wall Street Journal has some interesting figures about the market. Here’s the deal…

The Wall Street Journal, in an article focused on how mobile devices are ousting our more traditional ball-and-chain devices, spoke to Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn about the shift in the market; especially since the demand for devices spurred Best Buy to started carrying iPads…

“People are willing to disproportionately spend for these devices because they are becoming so important to their lives…We are really positioning the company to be the place where people can come and see the best of the connected world.”

But more interesting than that, was the figures that Dunn provided.

Mr. Dunn also said internal estimates showed that the iPad had cannibalized sales from laptop PCs by as much as 50%.

That means every one in two people who were thinking about buying a laptop decided that an iPad was pretty much all they needed and/or wanted. That says a lot about half of mobile-buying consumers and what they’re looking for to make their lives easier on the go.

So what does this mean for the channel? Although the consumer market doesn’t always dictate the business world, it often leaks into it as demand for features and functions find their way into productivity driven niches. The iPhone is a perfect example of this. This blogger predicts that notebook sales in the channel will drop in favor of Android or iOS flavored tablets, and if HP has anything to say with their webOS tablet, it may be the best option to boot.

But what we really want to know is if any of you in the channel world are already seeing the demand for tablet based computing over traditional means. Let us know in the comments. This blogger is tracking the topic heavily.

Sign up for The VAR Guy’s Weekly Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook;   Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.

Read More About This Topic

• The Hidden Cost of — and Potential Opportunity in — LTE 4G
• Feelin’ Hot, Hot, Hot: The New iPad Heats Up … Itself
• Did Samsung Spill the Beans on Apple iPad Mini Development?
• Why Windows 8 Tablets Could Knock Google out of the Game
• Rumor: Apple Currently Working on Two New Mobile CPUs