Web Tablet Survey: Apple’s iPad Hits Right Notes

1. Summary

Apple had the attention of the technology world last week as it finally unveiled its new web tablet, the iPad.  The long-rumored product met most, if not all, of the pre-announcement expectations with an impressive array of features and Apple’s trademark design. But will technology enthusiasts race to the closest Apple store come March 2010, when the product hits the streets? Not necessarily.

In a survey of both Apple enthusiasts and general mobile enthusiasts — derived from our readership at TheAppleBlog and JkOnTheRun – all 1,000 survey panel respondents were very aware of the iPad, but technology enthusiasts can be fairly discerning buyers.

Perhaps the most important factor for our respondents was cost. No matter whether they were an Apple enthusiasts, a general mobile enthusiast, young, old, college-educated or not, our respondents indicated that price matters.

Respondents also indicated that other considerations impact their purchase decision. Key considerations included:

• support for a variety of connectivity capabilities, 
• choice of wireless carrier 
• other technology specifications, such as power consumption

Overall, advanced technology consumers – those most likely to buy a newly released product in an unfamiliar category (such as web tablets) – have high expectations

Good web connectivity is non-negotiable for nearly every respondent. In fact, no matter whether young or old, Apple lover or just general mobile tech user, the one thing that pretty much everyone wants in a web tablet is good connectivity and web access.

E-reader features are the second-most in-demand capability. While Amazon may still have some built-in advantages such as price and a contract-less 3G capability for book downloads, overall Apple looks like it is possibly tapping into a significantly large market of unmet demand demand for e-readers with the iPad.

Entertainment features also placed high on the list of desired capabilities. In particular, respondents indicated a preference for HD video capability and music playback. Video games were only rated as important or very important by 39% of our respondents.