Apple is Destroying the Laptop Market

A new study by IDG Connect reveals that one Apple product is having a negative impact on a hugely popular device.

Laptops. While the study did not answer the obvious question – are users abandoning their standard laptops, MacBooks, or both? – the results are still very intriguing. According to

, IDG Connect interviewed IT and business professionals from all over the world to calculate its “iPad for Business” results. And get this: 12% of survey participants said that the iPad has (to quote the aforementioned article) “completely replaced” their traditional laptop. As if that weren't enough, 54% of survey participants claim that the iPad has “partly” replaced their laptop. Monetarily, these findings might not be so bad. While most people are likely to spend more than $499 (the starting price for an iPad) on a new laptop, there are inevitably some consumers who spend a lot less. With cheap netbooks and atrocious dual-core processor laptops still on the market, it is possible for Joe Clueless to enter Best Buy

with a couple hundred dollars and walk out with a new machine. The manufacturer – whether it's Hewlett-Packard

or Dell

or somebody else – can't guarantee that the machine will run for more than a year. The manufacturer can't even promise that this low-cost device will be able to flawlessly power the latest websites, let alone the latest software. Given the popularity of these electronics, it wouldn't surprise me if 12% of the people surveyed were netbook users. Thus, when they move over to the iPad, it wouldn't just be a change of pace – it would be a massive upgrade. The iPad is vastly superior to every netbook I have tested, including those in the $400 price range. By moving up to the iPad, these consumers are not only getting a better product, but they are also pouring more money into the tech manufacturing industry. On the other hand, it is also possible that these laptop-free iPad users have spent upwards $1,000 on new laptops in the past and may have continued to do so in the future if the iPad had not been released. In this scenario, the iPad isn't simply shifting the market in a new direction – it's actually taking money away from the industry. This is the very danger I wrote about

. If iPads can provide consumers with a cheaper alternative to standard computing, it could slowly train us to expect more for less. Right now, we know we can't get a great Windows PC for less than $800 ($700 is pushing it; anything less and you'd be better off with a paperweight). We are also aware of (and

with) the idea of paying spending more than $1,000 on a new MacBook. But as the iPad continues to raise its status in the business and consumer worlds, it is only a matter of time before shoppers abandon one for the other. Trust me: it won't be the iPad that gets abandoned. This makes me wonder: why isn't Apple doing everything it can to release a touch screen-enabled, iPad-style MacBook Air? One way or other, we know the day will come when touch screens will be attached to every device. They have already cropped up in several laptops. But Apple is holding out, presumably because of the cost, but also because of the wow-factor that a touch screen employs. By saving this functionality for iPads, iPods and iPhones, Apple can put a bit of space between the iDevice and MacBook markets. That's a key part of Apple's strategy: by differentiating between the two markets, the company can convince us to buy more than one Apple product. But if the MacBook Air could double as an iPad, why would we need to buy both? We wouldn't – we would simply cough up the extra dough and buy a MacBook Air. For the next 12 months, it makes sense for Apple to continue down its current path. By releasing the expected upgrades (and, if we're really lucky, an ultra-thin MacBook Pro), consumers will be compelled to continue purchasing new Apple devices. But in the next year or two, Apple needs to start thinking about the long-term effects that the iPad could have on the overall laptop market. While Apple might not want to rush the release of a touch screen laptop, there is one way for the company to ensure that it could coexist with future iPads: separate the two items by price. Apple could, for example, get away with charging $1,500 for a touch-enabled MacBook Air. Is that a ridiculously high price tag? Yes. But it is actually cheaper than the combined cost of the cheapest iPad ($499) and the cheapest Air ($1,100).