Do It Yourself

The sale of iPads is proving detrimental for Apple’s laptop sales. Two and half times the amount of iPads were sold in comparison to laptops in the final quarter of 2010.

In Steve Job’s absence, Apple’s chief operating officer Tim Cook has stepped in at the helm of the company. Cook failed to indicate that cannibalisation had affected Mac laptop sales and cited the fact that Apple’s desktop and notebook sales combined to post a 23 per cent year-over-year growth rate.

He said: “Was there any cannibalisation by iPad? To be honest, I don’t know for certain. There may be some cannibalisation. There is a long anticipated future for laptops; they still have an integral role to play in the market.”

The popularity of the tablet market has had an impact in sales of laptops across all the leading manufacturers. This is the first case in which laptop sales have decreased year over year. Statistics show that there is a still a negative 4 per cent growth rate for the first week of September.

Acer officials denied that netbooks would be eventually phased out by tablets. Acer officials have neglected any notion to phase out the Acer laptops. Moreover, the officials said that tablets “based on Intel’s Sandy Bridge is not yet foreseen.”

With a new emphasis on apps created by iPhone and Android smartphones, tablets are becoming more attractive that the heavier software running on laptops.

3D technology will also play a role in the future of the laptop. As frontrunners in the 3D market, it may not be too long until we see 3D Sony laptops. Toshiba and other manufacturers could be years behind Sony offering autostereoscopic (non-glasses) in the living room and the office. Toshiba laptops with 3D technology may be some time away.