Apple Resellers: The iPad Is A Subnotebook Killer

The Monday after the long lines and big initial sales, Apple resellers are convinced the new Apple iPad tablet is a game changer that will eat into sales of subnotebooks.

Raul De Arriz, CEO of Absolute Mac, an Apple specialist in Gaithersburg, Md. that sold out of iPads on Saturday, said Apple has delivered a breakthrough product in a new Tablet category that is going to eat into sales of subnotebooks and ultimately cause more businesses using PCs to move to Apple products.

"Before Saturday, Apple didn't have an entry in the subnotebook market, the fastest growing segment of the PC industry," said De Arriz. "Now Apple has a product in that market that people can use without dumping the Windows clunker on their desktop. This is a better quality experience than any subnotebook on the market at a price point that is comfortable."

What's more, he said, the Apple iPad provides a far superior and more intuitive applications experience than any subnotebook, said De Arriz. Apple iPad users immediately gain access to 1,000 applications out of the gate that have been specifically designed for the iPad and 150,000 iPhone Apps, said De Arriz. "It's not about the processor or the hardware," he said. "It's about the software stupid!"

De Arriz sees Apple capturing as much as 20 to 30 percent of the subnotebook market with the iPad tablet in two to three years. "The iPhone went from zero to 25 percent of the smartphone market in two and a half years," he said. "I think the iPad will be equally successful."

De Arriz predicted that PC competitors will be scrambling to introduce Tablet like products in the wake of the Apple iPad launch.

"You will see companies like Microsoft scramble and try to get companies to release competing Tablets in the next few months even if they are half baked," said De Arriz. "They are all scared that Apple has suddenly opened up a new category of product that could displace a subnotebook as the under $500 home computer everybody wants. Who wants a clunky subnotebook when you can have a sexy Tablet that does everything you want and at the same time looks great and feels fabulous?

NEXT: An Even Bigger Hit Than The iPhone

Mark Gregory, president and CEO of MacAuthority, a four store Apple retail chain headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., said he thinks the iPad will be an even bigger hit the iPhone.

"We sold everything we could get our hands on," said Gregory. "I was pessimistic about this being a different class of product, but it's true. When you get your hands on it and touch it you are going to see why!"

Gregory said Amazon's Kindle pales in comparison to the Apple iPad. "I have a Kindle and it is not even close to the iPad," he said. "The iPad screen is so much more legible and you can do so much more with it. When you look at what the iPad costs it's a great deal."

MacAuthority sold out of just under 200 iPads by mid-afternoon, Gregory said. He is hoping to get a new shipment next week.

"It is a great consumer product but I don't think people fully realize how well this is going to do in vertical markets," he said. "The education market is going to love it! And it's going to be big in medical and publishing. Several businesses we are talking to are already looking at using it."

Gregory said it's a great time to be an Apple reseller. He said MacAuthority's sales were up 20 percent in 2009 and he expects an even bigger sales gain this year. "We're really happy that we're an Apple reseller," he said.

Nick Gold, sales manager of Chesapeake Systems, Baltimore, Md., one of the leading Apple video VARs in the country, said he sees the iPad reshaping the computing landscape for both businesses and consumers.

"This is the slickest piece of technology I have ever held in my hands," he said. "It is better than the iPhone. Apple has leveraged everything they have learned from the iPhone over the last three years and put it into the iPad. The bigger screen and user interface allows a much richer and more fluid level of interaction than the iPhone."

Gold said he sees himself using his new Apple iPad much more than his Apple laptop because the iPad provides what he called "effortless casual computing and internet access. This allows my connection to the internet to be much more ingrained in my day to day activities as a consumer and a professional."

"I think you are looking at one of the most successful consumer electronics products launches ever," he said of the iPad. "And you have to realize this is a completely new category most people have no experience with. When people start seeing others out in public interacting with their iPads, browsing the Web in a much richer way, that is going to drive more and more demand."