Apple iPad mini draws New Yorkers; crowds thin elsewhere

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's iPad mini hit stores around the world on Friday, attracting sparser crowds than previous Apple launches, but the kickoff still drew hundreds of New Yorkers only days after one of the biggest storms to hit the United States.

A proliferation of rival gadgets aimed at the holidays and cheaper tablets from Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc may have sapped interest in Apple's latest bet, resulting in shorter lines outside stores from Tokyo and Amsterdam to Sydney and Hong Kong.

The 7.9-inch iPad mini marks Apple's first foray into the smaller-tablet segment, and is the company's first major new device since the death of its co-founder, Steve Jobs, last year.

In Manhattan, crowds braved crippled public transit and an early morning chill to line up outside Apple's Fifth Avenue flagship store just two blocks from where a damaged crane dangled from a high-rise building - a stark example of how superstorm Sandy ravaged the city.

Some turned up on impulse, lacking power and heat at home.

Lisa Sieber, 59, from Germany, rode a bicycle to the store because she said she was going "stir crazy" at her 81-year-old mother's home in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

"There's not much to do without power and lights," she said. "I didn't think I needed an iPad but once you get your first Mac, you slide into the iPhone and the next one and it makes it easy to get more Apple products."

While the city was still grappling with Sandy's unprecedented devastation, some New Yorkers were angry that Apple delayed the store's opening until 10 a.m.

"Usually it's 8 a.m.," said Vincent Leroy, 27, a student from Long Island City in Queens who showed up at the store at 6:30 a.m. His friends complained loudly in unison when he told them he had found out about the delayed opening.

On the U.S. West Coast, fewer than a hundred people thronged Apple's new outlet in Palo Alto, California, near the company's Cupertino headquarters, and staff appeared to outnumber customers.

Shares of Apple, which hit an all-time high in September, slid as much as 2.7 percent on Friday to $580.14, their lowest level in more than three months. The shares were down 2.5 percent at $581.65 in late afternoon.

LATEST SALVO

The iPad mini marks Apple's assault on the smaller 7-inch-plus tablet segment, hoping to beat back major inroads by Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire this year. It is the latest salvo in a global mobile-device war, with software giant Microsoft Corp angling its Windows 8-driven Surface tablet for the holidays.

Unveiled last week, the iPad mini has won mostly positive reviews but criticism centered on a heftier price tag and a screen considered inferior to those of rival gadgets like the Nexus 7. It replicates most of the features of its full-sized sibling.

Apple will likely sell between 1 million and 1.5 million iPad minis in the first weekend - far short of the 3 million third-generation iPads that sold last March in their first weekend, according to Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster.

"While launch lines and initial weekend sales may not be as impressive as previous iPad launches, the iPad mini will be a hit product for Apple and become a more significant part of the story over the next two to three quarters," Munster said.

The iPad mini is the first device to be added to Apple's compact portfolio under Chief Executive Tim Cook, who took over from Jobs months before his death a year ago. Analysts credit Google and Amazon for influencing the decision.

Some investors worry that Apple might have lost its chief visionary with Jobs, or that new management may struggle to stay ahead of the pack as rivals innovate and encroach on its turf.

Jobs launched the original iPad in 2010, which has since taken a big chunk out of PC sales. On Friday, Apple also began selling the fourth generation of that 9.7-inch device, much the same as before but with a faster A6X processor and better Wi-Fi.

Both devices hit stores across 34 countries on Friday.

HONG KONG, AMSTERDAM

When Apple's flagship Hong Kong store opened on Friday, staff appeared to outnumber those waiting in line. In Amsterdam two hours after the store opened, it looked like a typical day, with no lines outside. An Apple employee told Reuters that people had lined up ahead of the store opening.

There were queues of 100 or more outside Apple stores in Tokyo and Seoul when the device went on sale. But fewer people turned up in Sydney than for previous iPhone launches.

"It's so thin and light and very cute - so cute!" said Ten Ebihara at the Apple store in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district.

Reviewers have applauded Apple for squeezing most of the iPad's features into a smaller package that can be comfortably manipulated with one hand. But at $329 for a Wi-Fi-only model, the iPad mini is a little costlier than predicted, though some analysts see that as Apple's attempt to retain premium positioning.

Some investors fear the gadget will lure buyers away from Apple's $499 flagship iPad, while proving ineffective in combating the threat of Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7, both of which are sold at or near cost.

(Additional reporting by Mariko Lochridge in Tokyo, Stefanie McIntyre in Hong Kong, Miyoung Kim in Seoul, and Roberta Cowan in Amsterdam; writing by Noel Randewich and Edwin Chan in San Francisco, Sinead Carew in New York; editing by Phil Berlowitz, Alex Richardson, Steve Orlofsky and Matthew Lewis)

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Apple unveils new iPad, Apple TV box

Apple unveiled a third-generation iPad enhanced with features aimed at keeping it on top of the booming tablet computer market.

The new iPad boasts a more powerful processor, eye-grabbing resolution on par with that of an iPhone 4S, and the ability to connect to the latest 4G LTE telecom networks that move data faster than their predecessors.

"We think that iPad is the poster child of the post-PC world," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said, noting that iPad sales topped those of any personal computer maker during the final three months of last year.

"We have redefined once again the category Apple created just two years ago with the original iPad," Cook said at a press event in San Francisco, the first major product release by Apple since the death of founder Steve Jobs.

The new iPad will go on sale March 16 in Canada, France, Germany and the United States at the same price as the previous models, which start at $499 for the most basic iPad featuring wireless connectivity only.

An iPad with 16 gigabytes of memory and with both Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity will cost $629 in the United States while a 32GB Wi-Fi/4G model will cost $729 and a 64GB version with Wi-Fi and 4G will cost $829.

In a bid to cater to budget-minded shoppers, Apple will sell a 16GB version of the iPad 2 at a trimmed price of $399.

The new iPad screen was billed as the best display ever on a mobile device. The tablet also features a five-megapixel camera and high-definition video recording.

Apple said the latest model has the same 10-hour battery life as its predecessor, with the span cut by about an hour with constant use of high-performing 4G telecom networks.

The third-generation iPad weighs 1.4 pounds and is 9.4 mm thick, slightly heavier and slightly thicker than the previous model.

Apple showed off an enhanced suite of iPad applications for tasks ranging from movie editing to making music or managing one's life.

A new iPhoto application turns the iPad into a slick tool for editing pictures with simple touches or automated features.

Epic Games president Mike Capps joined Cook to show off a version of the Infinity Blade videogame for the iPad, contending the quality was comparable to videogame console play.

"It is an evolutionary upgrade with a lot of revolutionary features," said Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg. "It is going to put a lot more pressure than before on iPad competitors.

"The updates to GarageBand, iMovie, and the new iPhoto will drive this going forward," Gartenberg said.

"At the end of the day it isn't going to be Tim Cook that sells the iPad, it is going to be the iPad that sells the iPad; and they are going to sell a lot of them," he said.

Apple's App Store has more than 200,000 mini-programs, or "apps," tailored for the iPad with offerings including books, games, and software designed for getting work done.

Apple has dominated the tablet market since launching the iPad two years ago and few expect that to change anytime soon.

IMS Research predicted that Apple would increase its tablet market share to 70 percent in 2012 from 62 percent in 2011 and it will ship 70 million iPads this year, up 71 percent over the previous year.

"Apple's insistence on blending hardware innovation with services innovation will keep the iPad at the front of the tablet pack for the foreseeable future," said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

Apple real-world stores will be "critical" since the high-resolution screen is the major improvement in the iPad, and it needs to be seen to be fully appreciated, according to Gartner analyst Van Baker.

"It is astoundingly beautiful, but people are going to have to get it in their hands to see this," Baker said.

A new dictation-taking feature could be a stumbling point for the iPad, since that type of technology has proven to be a bane to other companies, according to independent analyst Rob Enderle of Silicon Valley.

The California-based gadget-maker on Wednesday also released an updated Apple TV box used to stream movies, television shows and other content from the Internet to high-definition TV sets.

The new box features a streamlined new user interface and will sell for the same $99 price as the previous model.

Apple TV was synched with iCloud, on online content storage service that lets people buy films or television shows on the box but have the options of watching them on iPhones, iPads, iPod touch devices, or on computers.

Apple released the first version of Apple TV in 2007 but it has never really caught on with the public.

The iPad event was the second Apple product launch by Cook since he took over for Jobs, and both events showcased improved versions of products.

"Let's wait and see if Apple can bring an astounding new class of product to market," Baker said. "Ultimately, they need to do that."

Investors appeared unsurprised by Apple's announcements, with the company's stock price inching up slightly to $531.05 a share in trading on the NASDAQ.

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Apple iPad 3: Launching in February, March, or later?

Apple rumors -- they seem to work readers, writers and editors up into a frenzy producing an echo of reports around the Internet. These blips of salacious speculation seem to spawn anew multiple times each week and, from time to time, they also fail to line up with one another, instead butting heads in contradiction.

The latest example of such conflicting rumors is the recent reports published on the pending release of what the tech media has dubbed the "iPad 3," Apple's eventual follow-up tablet to the hugely successful iPad 2 of 2011 and first-generation iPad released in 2010.

Late last week, as many tech reporters were hustling to keep up with wacky gadgets and the evolutionary advancement of TVs, smartphones and tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Bloomberg News reported that Apple's next iPad would go on sale in March with 4G LTE connectivity (the first two iPads have Wi-Fi or 3G), a faster processor and a higher resolution touch screen.

Bloomberg didn't mention when it believed Apple would unveil the iPad 3, in its report, which cited three anonymous sources that reportedly have knowledge of Apple's plans.

Aside from the March-debut nugget of information, the rumored iPad 3 specs have been reported and re-reported countless times since Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad 2 on March 2, 2011, ahead of the tablet hitting U.S. stores on March 11, 2011.

On Tuesday, the Japanese website Mackotakara reported that the unveiling of a so-called iPad 3 along with an update to Apple's iOS 5 operating system would take place in February. According to PCMag and Apple Insider, Mackotakara cited an unnamed Asian supplier and an anonymous source in the U.S. for its report.

So, do the Bloomberg and Mackotakara reports line up or contradict? When is the iPad 3 coming -- February or March?

In all likelihood, only Apply really knows when it will launch its next iPad. And Apple, which is known to reschedule its events and product launches up to the last minute, isn't saying. The company never comments on speculation about its product launches.

But it could be that both Mackotakara and Bloomberg are right? Maybe (and yes, I'm speculating here) the iPad 3 will be unveiled in February and go on sale in March?

Apple introduced the original iPad on Jan. 27, 2010, but it didn't go on sale until April 3, 2010.

Complicating matters is the Taiwanese website DigiTimes (which has a reputation for publishing inaccurate tech rumors). The DigiTimes has reported that the iPad 3 would be released sometime this month -- but the site has also said its unnamed sources have also said the iPad 3 may arrive in March or April.

Well, here's one thing you can count on: Whenever Apple's next iPad is released, the Technology blog (and the much of the tech reporting world) will have plenty of coverage of the eagerly anticipated new tablet.

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Nathan Olivarez-Giles on Google+

Twitter.com/nateog

Photo: The Apple iPad 2. Credit: Nathan Olivarez-Giles / Los Angeles Times

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iPad Could Make Apple Tops in Computer Sales Globally

The Tab Is Fab

Soaring sales of last year's iPad and this year's iPad 2 will help drive total 2011 global PC shipments to 415 million, up 15 percent year-on-year, Canalys says, while tablet shipments will reach a whopping 55 million units by year's end. Heavy volume during the holiday season may drive fourth-quarter figures to 22 million, with the iPad dominating the market. Amazon's Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet will also be competitive, the firm said.

But is lumping tablets together with laptops and desktops as personal computers, well, mixing apples and oranges?

No, says Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group.

"Actually tablets historically were PCs, and as we move into next year the new ones, which started out more like big smartphones without the phone part, will be getting four- and five-core processors and begin to run Windows," Enderle said.

Finnish handset giant Nokia has recently signaled that its debut next year in the tablet market will be a Windows 8 device.

Noting that they are competitively priced, Enderle has been suggesting for some time that tablets should be included in PC market share numbers as consumers increasingly choose between the two.

"I've seen a number of reports that actually don't put Apple on the chart in order to make the PC vendors look better and I think that is a huge mistake, because it creates a false sense of confidence," Enderle said.

"The risk for Apple is much of their historic value has been their exclusivity. As the No. 1 vendor in the segment they won't be exclusive anymore, and premium providers typically can't maintain premium status if they become the status quo. "

All Is Not Peachy for Apple

Canalys also believes that Apple has some challenges ahead.

"Apple has seen its PC market share expand from 9 percent to 15 percent in just four quarters, though iPad shipments in its core market -- the United States -- are likely to come under pressure in Q4 due to the launch of the Fire and Nook at extremely competitive price points," said Canalys Analyst Tim Coulling. "HP and Apple will fight for top position in Q4, but Apple may have to wait for the release of iPad 3 before it passes HP."

Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley Analyst Katy Huberty cited cannibalization of the traditional PC market by tablets in reducing her forecast for PC shipments in 2011 from 7 percent to 2 percent.

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ARM's latest chips hint Apple iPad, iPhone plans - Computerworld (blog)

By Jonny Evans

Apple’s [AAPL] future iPads, iPhones and other mobile devices will deliver unimaginable battery life and much-improved performance, if developments at the company's processor design partner, ARM, are to be seen as harbingers of the future.

[ABOVE: ARM's Cortex-A7 processor design diagram]

Understand history

You can sometimes get a glimpse of the future by taking a peek at the past, and when it comes to Apple and its mobile products, it's always worth taking a look at what's happening at chip designer, ARM.

ARM this week: "Announced the ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore processor -- the most energy-efficient application class processor ARM has ever developed, and big.LITTLE processing -- a flexible approach that redefines the traditional power and performance relationship."

A single Cortex-A7 processor delivers 5x the energy-efficiency and is one fifth the size of the Cortex-A8 processor, while providing significantly greater performance.

Of course, we can't be sure Apple will opt for the ARM design as its reference design in future iterations of Apple's A-series chips, but it seems pretty likely, given that its two previous processors (A4 and A5) have been highly re-imagined versions of previous ARM processors. Even more interesting, these new processors may even allow Apple to lop a few more dollars off of its product prices...

TSMC connection?

It is also interesting that this week ARM announced that it had worked with TSMC to tape out the first 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore processor. This is interesting because some previous rumors have claimed TSMC is working to produce small process chips for Apple iDevices, though these claims have become more contrary in recent weeks. TSMC's 20nm process provides more than a 2X performance increase over preceding generations.

Given Apple's focus on delivering end-to-end media-focused experiences within its family of compatible mobile devices, including the current iteration of the Apple TV, it is interesting that the TSCM process can deliver on so many fronts:

"The Cortex-A15 processor's low-power, high-performance and advanced feature set is perfectly suited to 20nm process implementations. Resulting SoCs will be ideal for a wide variety of markets, including smartphone, tablet, mobile computing, high-end digital home, servers, and wireless infrastructure."

The division bell?

I'm seeing a potential for  a parting of ways here. At present, all Apple's devices eventually migrate to the next-generation processor, so the A4 iPhone became the A5 iPhone. The A4 iPad became the A5 iPad. But, with two distinct chip solutions available to it, will Apple diversify its chip line-up?

Will it perhaps exploit the power of the Cortex-A15 to deliver processors for future iPads (and, potentially, Macs), while using the ARM Cortex-A7 reference build within future smartphones?

This would lend excellence in computing power to the iPad and deliver good performance and phenomenal battery life to the iPhone.

It's all speculatative, of course.

At present Apple has A4 and A5 processors in production for its products. Because it sells millions of these products it benefits from economies of scale when manufacturing its processors -- diversifying the family more would make the production process more expensive. That's true, but with millions of devices sold worldwide, it is possible Apple doesn't need that economy of scale as much as it once did.

Apple likes options

Whatever the plan -- and Apple doesn't always fully commit to a plan until the last minute -- the company's engineers will be looking to maximize performance and battery life in future Apple devices. Already best in class in both departments, iPhones and iPads are cleaning up in their respective fields.

Wired confirms the way Apple deals with strategy:

"Years ago, I heard the back-story on Apple's switch to Intel first-hand from some folks on the IBM side of things, and what I learned was that Steve Jobs agonized over this decision and waited until the morning of the keynote before pulling the trigger on this move. He actually went into that day with two keynote presentations prepared: one for a PowerPC-based product line, and one for The Switch. When he pulled out The Switch presentation, the IBM team was absolutely as stunned as the rest of the world, as was the P.A. Semi team who had been separately assured by Jobs that their dual-core PowerPC part would find its way into Apple portables."

It is worth considering that ARM's Cortex-A7 is a strong attempt to create a System on Chip (SoC) that meets the "conflicting consumer demand for devices with both higher-performance AND extended battery life."

Big.LITTLE processing

To help enable this, ARM has introduced Big.LITTLE processing. This pairs the best of the high-performance Cortex-A15 MPCore and ultra-efficient Cortex-A7 processors. "Big.LITTLE processing allows devices to seamlessly select the right processor for the right task, based on performance requirements. Importantly, this dynamic selection is transparent to the application software or middleware running on the processors," it explains.

It is clear that ARM wants to continue breaking Intel in the smartphone and tablet markets with its new processor designs. And, given that Apple's are the biggest-selling products in both of those industries, that relationship with Cupertino cannot be so far from ARM's mind:

"As smartphones and tablets continue to evolve into users' primary compute device, consumers are demanding performance as well as the always on, always connected service they expect. The challenge for our industry and the ARM ecosystem is how to deliver on this," said Mike Inglis, Executive Vice President, Processor Division, ARM, in a statement.

"The introduction of Cortex-A7 and big.LITTLE addresses this challenge and extends ARM's technology leadership by setting a new standard for energy-efficient processors and redefining the traditional power and performance relationship."

It will be interesting to see just how fast future Apple devices become, how energy efficient, and how much more capable these things will get as they move toward becoming productivity solutions in a post-PC age.

Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld. 

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Could Apple really be starting production on the iPad 3?

Bet you didn’t expect to see a non-iPhone related Apple story on the launch day of the iPhone 4S. AllthingsD is reporting on a rumor floating around that the iPad 3 might already be heading into production. The idea is based around a higher than expected production of iPads for the fourth-quarter.

Financial analyst Jeff Fidacaro is saying that the boost in production is due to Apple building new iPad 3 models along side the current generation iPad. Fidacaro is seeing between 600,000 to one million iPad 3 units being built, which could bring to total number of iPad units built in the fourth-quarter up to 14 million.

Seeing as the iPad typically launches in March we think it might be a little too soon to start building units. This report is also directly conflicting with an earlier report that Apple might actually be cutting iPad 2 production in preparation for the next generation iPad.

We still have around six months until the iPad 3 is expected to be announced in March, so this might just be the start of iPad 3 rumors. Earlier this week we caught wind of a rumor about an iPad mini in the works. With the popularity of Apple there are going to be more rumors surrounding the iPad 3 than any other tablet, but lets just hope the rumors are a little more accurate than all the iPhone 5 rumors.

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Apple releases another security update for iPhone, iPad - msnbc.com

Apple

Not even two weeks have passed since Apple issued a security fix for iOS devices and we're already being prompted to update our gadgets again. The latest software download, iOS 4.3.5, is a minor update which fixes yet another rather pesky security vulnerability.

While Apple's description of the security update is a bit vague — it simply explains that if you don't download iOS 4.3.5, "an attacker with a privileged network position may capture or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS" — the folks at Kaspersky Labs were able to clarify things a bit:

[T]he description implies that an attacker who has already compromised a machine on a given network and has the ability to see and identify SSL sessions might be able to decrypt the traffic and modify it. This kind of man-in-the-middle attack is quite common and would require the attacker to already have a foothold on the network in order to execute it.

In plainer words: Someone could intercept your web-surfing session and steal data — but only if he or she already has access to the network you're using.

You can get the update which will foil any plots to compromise your security in such a manner by plugging your iOS device into your computer and hitting the "check for updates" button in iTunes.

Do note that the 4.3.5 version is intended for the AT&T iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, the iPad 2, the iPad as well as third and fourth generation iPod Touch devices. Folks who own a Verizon iPhone 4 will find an update labeled 4.2.10instead — but it'll offer the same fix.

Related stories:

Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook. Oh, and she can be found on Google+, too.

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Apple iPad Unleashing Creative Destruction On PC Industry

Jul. 26 2011 - 9:46 am | 2,404 views | 0 recommendations | (Image via Wikipedia)

The Apple iPad continues its assault on the mighty PC industry and the market’s voracious appetite for the product indicates that PC makers have yet to feel the full impact of this paradigm-shattering product.

In fact, the most striking revelations in Apple’s stellar quarterly earnings report last week were not that its revenue rose 82% to $28.6 billion, or that its net income surged 125% to $7.3 billion—although those results are certainly striking.

No, what really stood out on the call was the realization that when it comes to the iPad and its impact on enterprise customers and on the PC industry itself, we are not really yet even at the end of the beginning—we are at most in the middle of the beginning.

(About the author: after many years as an editor and writer with InformationWeek and TechWeb, Bob Evans joined SAP in April as VP of strategic communications.)

That is, we are only just starting to be able to gauge the massive and wide-ranging impact that the iPad is having and will continue to have on enterprise computing and on the venerable PC industry itself: the best (or worst, depending on where you sit) is yet to come.

I have five specific reasons for believing that, and I’ll get to those in just a moment.

For the PC industry, the iPad represents something very like the meteor that blasted into the Earth 65 million years ago and made life on the planet unsustainable for dinosaurs. While life went on in countless other variations, for dinosaurs and other animals unable to adapt to the new realities of life on a very different Earth, the clock had simply run out.

Several weeks ago, after analyzing Apple’s first-quarter earnings results, I floated a somewhat similar idea on my SAP.com blog , and as a result some PC companies suggested that the clock had also run out on my ability to think.

They argued that while the new tablet format epitomized by the iPad is certainly shaking things up a bit, the mighty PC—a device that I readily admit will be remembered as one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, if not the past two or three centuries—is more relevant than ever, and that a few permutations and adaptations will give it another 30 years of great success.

Hey, if I were in their shoes, I’d be saying the same thing. But the marketplace is telling us something quite different, and the marketplace always proves to be the best source of objective truth.

The best chance that PC makers have is to be brutally honest with themselves and admit that they need to get out of the spaces in which tablets will simply offer superior performance by virtue of their flexibility, form factor, user interface, immediacy, and growing acceptance as the preferred device through which people want to experience the world—at work, at home, at play, or on the go.

That brutal honesty must also extend to a hard-hearted analysis of which market segments, applications and functions will be dominated by tablets, and the PC companies should then plan to move their PCs out of those categories over the next 18-24 months.

At the same time, that analysis should also reveal areas where the PC’s sophistication, power, application depth, proven levels of security, and universally accepted standards should allow it to outperform tablets by an overwhelming margin—and that’s where the PC companies’ time, money, and innovation should be applied.

So about those five factors powering and accelerating the iPad’s creative destruction of the PC industry: here’s the list, and then I’ll offer a bit more on each.

1) Cannibalization’s Diminishing Returns: while the iPad snacks on Macs, it lives on a non-stop diet of PCs

2) Pilot to Penetration: after a year of playing footsie with enterprise customers, Apple’s getting serious

3) Unexpected Applications: corporate customers are deploying iPads in totally unprecedented ways

4) The Apple-Store Phenomenon: over the past five years, can any retail chain on Earth match Apple’s astonishing financial success?

5) Hooking the Kids: the iPad has been a blowout success in the K-12 market.

As you consider those factors individually and collectively, please bear closely in mind one very important detail that, in the context, is absurdly easy to overlook or to forget entirely:

The iPad is only 15 months old.

So just imagine the momentum the iPad will have generated by the time it hits the ripe old age of, oh, 3 years. As you think about that, bear these factors in mind:

1) Cannibalization: Apple freely admits that the iPad’s chewing into sales of its own Mac PCs. But COO Tim Cook also freely admits that in spite of that dynamic, Mac sales continue to outgrow PC sales by a factor of 5X. “In terms of cannibalization, we do believe that some customers chose to purchase an iPad instead of the new Mac during the quarter, but we also believe that even more customers chose to purchase an iPad over a Windows PC,” Cook said on the earnings call per the transcript from Morningstar. “As I’ve said before, there is a lot more of the Windows PC business to cannibalize than the Mac. Also, we believe that the Mac has many other attributes that would make it continue to do well in the market. We’re very happy that we grew 14% versus the markets growth of 2.6% which is about five times as Peter said earlier.”

2) Pilot to Penetration: In each of its past three earnings calls, Apple has emphasized the unexpected success the iPad’s having in enterprise accounts, in spite of Apple’s admitted lack of focus there. In last week’s call, Cook signaled that Apple’s approach toward corporate customers is starting to shift from surprised acceptance to focused strategy—or as he put it, from pilot to penetration. “We are also gaining traction in the enterprise,” Cook said. “From the numbers that Peter spoke of, obviously now our attention is now turning and we’re starting to get corporations to do not just tests and pilots, but even more—it’s really converted to more of a penetration focus.” In a related comment, Cook expanded on that theme: “I would characterize this as we’re still building it out, and we do a bit better each quarter. We’re very, very happy with the numbers that Peter talked about earlier about the level of interest and taking people to the pilot and initial deployment stages, and now our attention is moving to penetration within those accounts versus sort of getting on the standards lists.”

3) Unexpected Applications: Because the iPad—and some other tablets—offer such profoundly different user experiences and intuitive capabilities, businesses are discovering that the iPad can be applied in a wide range of often-unexpected uses, and frequently in applications where no PC has ever gone before. CFO Peter Oppenheimer, after noting that quarterly revenue from sales of iPads and related accessories surged 179% to more than $6 billion, said that 86% of the Fortune 500 are now testing or deploying the iPad, up from 75% just three months ago. “In the 15 months since iPad was shipped, we’ve seen iPad used in the enterprise in ways we could have never imagined,” Oppenheimer said. “Companies like Boston Scientific, Xerox and Salesforce.com are deploying thousands of iPads in revolutionizing how their sales teams engage with customers. iPad is being used inside the country’s top hospitals like HCA and Cedars-Sinai and in retail at Nordstrom and Estee Lauder’s Clinique counters. General Electric, SAP and Standard Chartered have developed internal apps for training, currency tracking and business-process management to help make employees even more productive. Alaska Airlines and American Airlines are using the iPad in cockpits to replace paper-based navigational and reference information that pilots carry with them on every flight. We continue to be delighted by the diverse and sometimes unexpected use cases we see around iPad.”

4) The Apple-Store Phenomenon: While many retailers are retrenching their brick-and-mortar installations, Apple is expanding aggressively across the globe. And the company’s making some breathtaking bets along the way: for some time, Apple has wanted to add a fifth New York City store in the beautiful and densely trafficked Grand Central Station, but couldn’t find a suitable space. So Apple has combined its creative thinking with a sliver of the $76 billion in cash it’s built up and is paying $5 million to an established restaurant in Grand Central to vacate its lease 8 years early. And on top of that, Apple’s also agreed to take on a 300% rental increase for the space: it will pay $1.1 million per year, while the restaurant paid “only” $264,000. Based on the performance of Apple’s 327 stores (and 30 more will be added in Q3) and the brand impact its global retail network helps to create, it’s not unreasonable to expect that one year from now, the Apple Store phenomenon will be generating $5 billion in annual revenue. From last quarter, revenue for the stores was up 36% and retail-segment margin outpaced that by growing at more than 40%.

5) Hooking the Kids: A growing number of digitally native children and teenagers are being exposed to the iPad in schools, and this comment from Cook tells the whole story: “Our K-12 generally takes a very long time for new product categories, but last quarter we sold more iPads in K-12 than we did Macs. To do that after just five quarters is absolutely shocking. We would have never predicted that.”

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iPad 2 Display Dock Brings the Apple Store Look Home - The iPad Guide

For those who have an iPad 2 and enjoy the look of Apple Store docks for their devices, the iPad 2 Display Dock provides a solution. Apple recently unveiled acrylic displays in every retail store anchoring iPads to sales displays so that customers could get information interactively.

This version from NewPCGadgets not only holds your iPad 2 and provides a slot for the charging cable, it can also provide storage space for two iPhones or iPod touch devices. This accessory is made from high-quality clear acrylic that is custom milled and hand polished for that sleek Apple look.

The accessory is designed to provide an optimum iPad viewing angle, and comes in two versions. One version includes the additional slots to keep two small iOS devices on hand, while the other is simplified and only holds the iPad 2. The iPad 2 Display Dock with two additional ports has additional slots for charging cables to hook up with all of your devices and runs $74.95.

The iPad-only model is slightly less expensive at $69.95. Adhesive pads are included should you want to affix the iPad 2 to the acrylic stand, and there are cutouts for headphone cables to connect to your devices as well. This product is the closest thing to Apple retail store iPad displays, and with one inch of high-quality acrylic your friends will never know the difference.

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Apple's new iPad 2 ad sneaks in Lion reference - Apple Insider

Apple's new iPad 2 ad sneaks in Lion reference

By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 12:30 AM EST

Apple on Sunday released a new ad for the iPad 2 containing a subtle reference to the newly-released Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

The ad has been posted to the iPad 2 page on the company's website, as well as its official YouTube account. Entitled "We'll Always," the commercial highlights the way the iPad 2 lets users experience in new ways things they've always done and will never stop doing.

"We'll never stop sharing our memories. Or getting lost in a good book. We'll always cook dinner and cheer for our favorite team. We'll still go to meetings, make home movies and learn new things, but how we do all this will never be the same."

The spot has quickly drawn attention because it contains an oblique reference to Mac OS X Lion. During the "learn new things" section of the ad, a child is shown writing the word "Lion" next to a picture of a lion. Of course, the lion reference could be viewed as mere coincidence, but given the company's tight control, it's likely that the allusion is intentional.

Apple has just recently stabilized inventory of the iPad in the U.S., bringing estimated shipping times to 1-3 business days, down from lead times that measured in weeks for the couple months after the device's launch. The touchscreen tablet continues to be on a phenomenal growth curve, with Apple announcing last week that it had sold 9.25 million iPad units in the June quarter.

Meanwhile, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion arrived on the Mac App Store last Wednesday. The $29.99 upgrade has seen early success, attracting over one million downloads in its first day of availability.

Lion and the iPad share a special connection, as Apple has taken features from the iOS and the iPad and brought them back to the Mac by way of Lion.

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Apple iPad Awaits Back-To-School Boom

The Apple iPad will dominate an influx of  tablet computers into classrooms this fall, according to an education technology expert and industry reports.

"The iPad is the best tablet out there today that we've seen reviewed," said John Connolly, technology director for Chicago Public Schools, during the TechWeek conference this afternoon at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.

The iPad's market dominance will translate to dominance in schools as educators adopt tablet computing this fall, experts agree. The iPad accounted for 90 percent of tablet sales in the third quarter, according to the research firm IDC.

Chicago had 700 iPads in 23 public schools during the past school year. This fall it will add 4,500 iPads in about 50 schools.

This week the U.S. Consumer Electronics Association predicted better-than-average sales for consumer electronics, led by tablets.

"I think they're ideally suited for the classroom for a variety of reasons," Sean Murphy, a senior analyst with CEA, told NPR. "A tablet gives you the functionality of a notebook, but it's easier to use, it's smaller. And I think what we'll see, in addition to the ease-of-use, is professors will be much more interested in incorporating lesson plans."

The CEA predicts tablet sales will grow 157 percent in 2011, with more than 26.5 million units shipped to dealers, resulting in $14 billion in shipment revenue.

“One year ago, tablets were a new and unproven market, and now they, along with other mobile connected devices including smartphones and eReaders, are leading the entire industry to positive growth,” said Steve Koenig, CEA’s director of industry analysis. “The revenue boost from these innovative products is undeniable as a number of other CE segments are reaching maturity and sales are naturally declining.”

Also this week, IDC predicted tablet sales would triple in the coming year.

While Connolly expects iPads to dominate the 2011-12 school year, he does not they'll retain that position for long.

"I know there's like ten more tablets that have come down the road since we took that route," Connolly said. "If I had to predict three years down the road, it's not going to be one device. It's going to be a mixture of devices."

It's not clear yet whether schools or students will bear the cost of technological transformation in the classroom: "I think in the next year we'll know whether it's a bring-your-own or a district-supported" effort, Connolly said.

CPS purchased the 4,500 iPads coming to Chicago classrooms this year with Illinois state grant funds. Its current iPads were published through a federal grant.

In the short term, districts will have to purchase educational apps to operate on iPads and other tablets, Connolly said.

"When we look at content and we start discussing content, today, CPS and other public school systems need to purchase that content because we don't possess it."

But Connelly predicted that would change as well, as school districts nationwide collaborate and utilize their own experts to develop their own apps.

"Years down the road we may not need to purchase content. That's what I foresee happening," Connolly said. "The markets not there yet, the system may not be there to deliver the content to the teachers."

Also Read

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New Display Dock for the iPad 2 - Bring the Apple Store Look Home

The new Display Dock for the iPad 2 showcases the iPad 2, iPhone or iPod in one convenient and easy to use docking base.

San Diego, California (PRWEB) July 25, 2011

newPCgadgets has announced the availability of the new Display Dock for the Ipad 2. Consumers can now dock their iPad 2 and iPhone/iPod just like the professionals at the Apple Store.

This is the first retail product to combine the iPad 2 and iPhone/iPod into one convenient and easy to use dockinh base. Perfect for home or business, the Display Dock meets the growing mobile needs of Apple users.

The new Display Dock is designed from high-quality clear acrylic and is similar to the look and feel of the Apple Store display. This elegant base provides the optimum viewing angle for the iPad 2 while also providing dual docks for the iPhone or iPod.

According to founder Michael Schriner, "We surveyed dozens of Southern California Apple Stores and discovered that customers were repeatedly asking to purchase the Apple iPad 2 display because they loved the look. It just made sense to produce a similar product for resale."

While similar in look, newPCgadgets has modified the design to make the Display Dock consumer friendly. This includes adding slots for headphones and charging cables, adding a finger slot for easy removal of the iPad 2, non-skid clear feet to prevent scratching and support brackets to enable use of the iPhone or iPod while in the dock.

Available in two models, the Display Dock is offered with dual ports and without. Each version has the same overall dimensions: 10"W x 9.25D x 1.25H and weighs 2 lbs. Cables are not included.

The iPad 2 Display Dock with dual ports is the ideal solution for combining multiple Apple devices into one docking base. The Display Dock without ports holds the iPad 2 only. This version is targeted towards retail, business displays or home use.

The Display Dock is custom milled and hand polished. Pricing ranges from $69.95 to $74.95 depending on model.

The new Display Dock will compliment any retail, home or office environment and showcase Apple's latest products.

# # #

Mike Schriner
info@newpcgadgets.com
(619) 729-6147
Email Information

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Is A Windows 8 Tablet PC That's Like An Apple iPad 2 Possible? - Tablets Planet

Posted on 24. Jul, 2011 by Paul in Tablets

The Apple iPad 2 running Windows 8 is nothing more than a fantasy.

Now before you go all crazy I don’t mean making a Windows 8 tablet that’s running a mobile operating system like iOS on the Apple iPad 2. What I mean by building a Windows 8 tablet PC that offers iPad 2 benefits. Benefits that include 10 hours of battery life, quick boot and instant-on from sleep, speedy operation throughout the operating system, and a physical weight of 1.33 pounds. Is a Windows tablet with those features even possible?

In the history of the tablet PC there have been some lightweight models but those models were supplied with some very low-end specifications which ruined the Windows experiences. Also in the tablet PC’s history there have been some very powerful models released but they were also very expensive (close to $1000 starting prices), heavy (more than 3x an iPad 2), and battery life was iffy.

Everything about the Windows tablet PC’s past says that an iPad 2-like tablet is not possible. However Microsoft has unveiled Windows 8, and unlike previous Windows tablets the Windows 8 models can use ARM processors instead of the X86 Intel or AMD chips.

Microsoft has shown off Windows 8 running on ARM in a few live demonstrations but those demos haven’t shown anything that could be considered really amazing. In the demos the presenters have only shown Windows 8 on ARM doing one major task (playing a H.264 HD video or running Notepad), basically the demos have shown things that people already knew modern ARM processors were able to do. I haven’t seen a demo that shows multiple programs running at once.

I don’t know about you but when I’m using a full operating system like Windows I’m doing more than just one thing at a time. As I write this article on my Windows 7 computer I’m running 83 processes with six major programs running (Google Chrome, Firefox, Foobar2000, WordPad, VLC Player, and MajicJack) and my computer isn’t lagging at all.

Microsoft presents Windows 8 like it will be a Windows 7-like experience but with a new touch-friendly mode that’s available for users to mess around with on a touchscreen. Right now with Windows 7 Microsoft offers various versions for buyers to run on their PC, there is even a stripped down version for low-powered computers like netbooks (Windows 7 Starter Edition). Will Microsoft have a Windows 8 Tablet Edition available for ARM-powered tablets?

The Apple iPad 2 runs on an ARM processor and the operating system that was built specifically for that type of processor. When Microsoft launches Windows 8 it’s not really clear if they will offer an ARM only edition but my guess is they won’t it due to the extra confusion that would create. You see all the applications that Windows 7 can run right now on X86 processors aren’t coded for ARM support. Microsoft has spoken about creating tailored apps for Windows 8 that work for ARM powered tablet PC’s but it’s only talk about this point.

Microsoft is expected to launch Windows 8 sometime in the early part of 2012, and tablet PC’s running the OS might get shown off at CES in early January of 2012. Now whether a Windows 8 OEM or even Microsoft themselves will have a tablet ready, that can offer those iPad 2 benefits mentioned above, by early 2012 for a live demonstration is unknown.

Tags: apple ipad 2, ARM processor, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows 8, tablet, Tablet PC, Tablets, touch tablet, Windows 8 tablet, windows tablet

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Apple, Conde Nast reach "New Yorker" iPad deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple Inc and magazine publisher Conde Nast reached a deal to offer the New Yorker on the iPad device in the latest sign that relationships are improving between the technology company and content owners.

Conde Nast said iPad editions of other magazines will also be available by subscription through Apple's In-App Purchase system on the popular App Store. Titles including Vanity Fair, Glamour, Golf Digest, Allure, Wired, Self and GQ will be available in coming weeks.

Publishers have eyed fancy digital versions of print publications for tablet computers like the iPad but have held back because of what they considered onerous terms.

"Over time, we'll see subscriptions leading to greater and greater scale, helping to drive overall industry growth," said Robert Sauerberg, Conde Nast president, in a statement.

Apple clashed with publishers in February when it introduced a standard 30 percent fee on all sales within the App Store, including paid subscriptions.

Many publishers have complained that the fee is too onerous to establish profitable subscription sales via the increasingly popular iPad. Also at issue: whether the publisher or Apple owned the customer relationship.

Conde Nast focused on customer relationship data in its negotiations with Apple's Internet services executive, Eddie Cue.

Under the agreement Conde Nast now has with Apple, when customers subscribe to magazines via the App Store they will receive a prompt to share their email and establish a log-in to access additional content, according to a Conde Nast spokeswoman.

The magazine publisher also convinced Apple to let the 1 million existing subscribers of the print edition of the New Yorker download and read iPad versions of the magazine for no additional fee.

"We are confident we will have data we need to make this a strong business long-term," said Conde Nast spokeswoman Mistrella Murphy.

Conde Nast also pushed for pricing flexibility with Apple. In February Apple said publishers would not be allowed to sell a subscription via the App Store at a higher price than it does elsewhere. Conde Nast said it will offer print and digital bundles of some of its titles like Wired for the same price as it sells the iPad edition on its own.

Following the uproar over its February announcement, Apple has in recent weeks started reaching individual deals with major publishers, including Time Warner Inc's Time Inc and Hearst Corp. Hearst, which publishes Esquire and O: the Oprah magazine, will have more access to customer information from subscriptions sold through the App Store.

Time Inc's improved relationship with Apple has already inspired it to begin testing the limits of getting online readers accustomed to paying to read Fortune, a publication that hitherto has been available for free.

Fortune magazine, owned by Time, made a widely discussed feature story about Apple available only to customers of its print and iPad editions. The story was kept off Fortune.com.

(Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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GO-Global iPad Client Now Available from Apple App Store

{"s" : "gojo.ob","k" : "a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00","o" : "","j" : ""} Press Release Source: GraphOn Corporation On Wednesday June 15, 2011, 6:00 am EDT

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GraphOn Corporation (OTCBB:GOJO.ob - News), a leading worldwide developer of cloud application delivery solutions, today announced that its new GO-Global iPad Client is now available as a free app from Apple’s App Store. The GO-Global iPad Client allows the user to view and interact with Windows applications on the Apple iPad when used in conjunction with GraphOn’s GO-Global Windows Host 4 application virtualization solution.

GO-Global Windows Host 4 provides instant and secure access to server-resident Windows applications from virtually any location, platform, and operating system. The solution delivers legacy applications over LANs, WANs, VPNs, or the Internet for easy and secure remote access from cross-platform clients and mobile users.

GO-Global 4 customers can download the free GO-Global iPad Client at http://itunes.apple.com/app/go-global/id441263366?mt=8# for immediate access to GO-Global-enabled Windows applications. iPad users who are not currently using GO-Global, but wish to evaluate its capabilities, can download the GO-Global iPad Client and then use the app to connect to GraphOn’s online demonstration server.

“Our GO-Global iPad Client includes a number of advanced usability features,” said Asaf Doron, GraphOn vice president of product marketing. “For example, when viewing Microsoft Office applications on an iPad, the auto-zoom feature will detect the section of the screen that is currently active in the desktop Office application and automatically zoom in on that area.”

“This is the first product resulting from our new mobile client initiative that will allow for easy cloud delivery of legacy desktop applications to popular smartphone and tablet platforms, ranging from Apple iOS devices such as iPad and iPhone to Android smartphone and tablets,” continued Doron. “This means that the millions of existing Windows, UNIX and Linux legacy applications can be easily and seamlessly delivered to smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.”

Further information about GO-Global iPad Client and a positioning paper on GraphOn’s mobile client initiative are available at www.graphon.com/products-and-solutions/mobile-clients.

About GraphOn

Founded in 1996, GraphOn Corporation is a publicly-traded company headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. The company is an innovator of cost-effective, advanced solutions that help customers access applications from anywhere. GraphOn’s high-performance software solutions provide fast remote access, cross-platform connectivity, and a centralized architecture that delivers a dramatically lower cost of ownership. The company’s GO-Global solutions can be used with Microsoft (MSFT) Windows, IBM AIX, Oracle (ORCL) Solaris, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) HP-UX, Linux, Apple (AAPL) OS X and iOS, and other operating systems. For more information, call 1.800.GRAPHON in the USA, +44.1344.206549 in Europe, or visit http://www.graphon.com or http://www.facebook.com/graphon.

This press release contains statements that are forward looking as that term is defined by the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results will differ due to factors such as shifts in customer demand, product shipment schedules, product mix, competitive products and pricing, technological shifts and other variables. Readers are referred to GraphOn's most recent periodic and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

GraphOn and GO-Global are trademarks of GraphOn Corp. Other trademarks belong to their owners.

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Apple Compensates Man Injured In iPad 2 Launch Melee - ITProPortal

It seems that the iPad 2 frenzy in China has been the biggest of them all, as it culminated in fights between customers and the sales staff. Apple has compensated a customer who was injured on Saturday after a fight broke out, and crowds smashed store’s glass shop front, rushing for the iPad 2 and the white iPhone 4 smartphone.

 "The Apple Store Sanlitun was closed for several hours on Saturday after a group outside the store became unruly. The store team acted to protect themselves and our customers by closing the doors and preventing the group from entering. The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority." Carolyn Wu, an Apple spokesperson, said.

Ding Wencheng, the Chinese customer that suffered injuries during the brawl, reached a $3,000 settlement with the store. But he wasn’t the only one injured. At least three other customers were reportedly hospitalized, but there hasn’t been any other reports yet about any of them being compensated. 

Some anonymous sources in the crowd told the press that the melee was actually started by a “foreign” Apple employee who beat people that he accused of queue jumping. Right after the iPad was launched, big lines started to gather both in Beijing and Shanghai, as the highly popular iPad 2 returned “home”. 

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Apple Recalls 'Extremely Small' Number of Verizon iPad 2 Tablets

The iPad 2 is available as a Wi-Fi-only device, or with 3G access from ATT or Verizon. (Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com)

Apple recalled an unspecified number of Verizon-carried iPad 2 tablets because of connectivity issues related to their mobile equipment identifier codes.

Late last week, a number of people reported in online forums that their iPad 2s were being returned to China mid-shipment, prompting rumors of a recall. After getting shipment notification for an iPad 2 from FedEx, some who had placed orders received a delivery exception notification that Apple had requested the unit’s return.

9to5 Mac first brought the issue to light on Thursday, with a number of readers confirming via e-mail or comments on the initial blog post.

One such reader, a recent iPad 2 purchaser from Louisville, Kentucky, said:

I bought an iPad2 on Wednesday (6/8) from the Apple Store in Louisville, KY. It is a 16GB black Verizon 3G edition. Have been using it for past couple days on wi-fi and went to activate the 3G service on it today. Had trouble doing it on the iPad, so I called Verizon for assistance. They told me that there is a batch of iPad2’s with duplicate MEID’s (which I believe are hardcoded into the device) out there and apparently I have one of them. Only way to fix is to bring my iPad2 back to the store for exchange to new iPad.

An Apple spokesperson confirmed this and the limited recall, saying, “Duplicate MEID codes were flashed onto an extremely small number of iPad units for the Verizon 3G network.” An MEID is a one-of-a-kind numerical code that is used to identify a mobile device when it connects to a CDMA network, which is why only the Verizon units were affected.

Apple unveiled its second generation tablet earlier this year, and the device originally went on sale March 11. Network connectivity is available in three options: Wi-Fi only, or 3G service provided by either AT&T or Verizon.

An Apple Store employee commented on instructions for identifying the affected tablets:

Apple has given all the stores a list of serial numbers to scan, if it’s a match we were told to set aside and ship back to Apple, these are only for Verizon iPads. This was to be done on Monday and continue to scan all shipments thru June 11. I had over one hundred to send back.

The exact number of affected units has not been released, but Apple is in the process of replacing affected iPad 2s with new ones.

See also:

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Apple iPad 2 As Powerful As 1985 Supercomputer - ITProPortal

The Apple iPad 2 might just be a tablet but according to one expert who specialises in tracking performance in the sphere of super computers, the device could easily have rivalled one of the world's fastest supercomputers, the Cray 2, which was launched a quarter of a century ago.

The New York Times cites Dr Jack Dongarra, a researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and one of the guys in charge of the Linpack computing benchmark, the defacto test application that is used to determine the theoretical capabilities on any computer regardless of the platform.

His team found out that the iPad 2, which sports a dual core Apple A5 system on chip clocked at 1GHz, reached around 1.5 to 1.65 gigaflops, which would have meant that the tablet would have stayed on the top 500 list of the world's fastest computers until 1994.

The Cray 2 had a peak performance of 1.9 GFLOPs and that was with eight processors; it managed to stay on top for a whopping five years and had 256 million 64-bit words of RAM and a clock speed of around 260MHz.

With a list price of $17 million, the supercomputer is roughly 40,000 times more expensive than the iPad 2 which meant that rather than buying it outright, the computer had to be rented out on a per hour basis with prices starting from $140.

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iPad Zips Apple Past Dell, Lenovo

Jan. 26 2011 - 4:23 pm | Image via CrunchBase

The iPad may be just a one-and-a-half pound sliver of a machine, but it’s got enough weight to tip an entire industry in Apple’s favor.

Count the iPad and Apple is now the third-biggest PC vendor in the world, tech market tracker Canalysis said Wednesday.

Apple’s fourth-quarter PC sales surged 241% over the year-ago period, Canalysis reckons. That’s enough to grab 10.8% of the computer market, or 11.5 million units, up from just 3.8%, or 3.4 million units, during the year-ago period.

Overall, the PC industry grew 19% in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to Canalysis. Of course, that figure includes tablet computers, too.

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IPad Makes Apple Third-largest PC Maker, Canalys Says

Apple was the world's third-largest PC vendor during the fourth quarter last year if iPad shipments are included, research firm Canalys said in a study released Wednesday.

With iPads included, Apple's worldwide PC shipments grew 241 percent, which put the company in third place behind Hewlett-Packard and Acer, Canalys said. Apple held a 10.8 percent PC market share with 11.5 million PC units shipped and was neck and neck with Dell, which also held a 10.8 percent market share with 11.4 million units shipped.

Research firms IDC and Gartner have not included tablets in their worldwide PC shipment numbers, and their quarterly studies have not listed Apple as one of the world's top five PC vendors. But Canalys said that tablets, just like netbooks, are becoming popular enough that they need to be included in PC shipment numbers.

Worldwide PC shipments during the fourth quarter grew by 19.2 percent to 105.8 million units, Canalys said. In addition to strong iPad sales, Apple also recorded strong Mac sales, which helped push the company into the third spot.

When reporting financial results last week, Apple said it sold 7.33 million iPads during the first fiscal quarter for 2011, ending on Dec. 25, compared to 4.19 million tablets for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010. The company also sold 4.13 million Macs during the first fiscal quarter, a 23 percent year-over-year increase.

Apple is benefiting from tablets just like Acer, Asus and Samsung benefited from netbooks a few years ago, said Daryl Chiam, senior analyst at Canalys.

Acer overtook Dell as the world's second-largest PC vendor during the third quarter of 2009, partly due to growing momentum in netbook shipments, according to IDC. At the time, Acer was the world's largest netbook vendor, while netbooks were a small portion of Dell's PC shipments.

Apple dominates the tablet market with the iPad, but there is increasing competition coming from Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Apple could face more competition in the next few months from Hewlett-Packard, Research In Motion, Dell, Acer, Asus and Motorola, which are all due to release tablets soon. More than 100 tablets were announced at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, many with Google's Android 3.0 operating system, which is code-named Honeycomb.

The top two PC makers, HP and Acer, recorded single-digit PC growth rates during the fourth quarter last year, according to Canalys. HP shipped 18.7 million PCs worldwide, growing by only 2.9 percent year over year and holding a 17.7 percent market share. Acer fared better, with shipments growing by 8.8 percent to 13.6 million units, a 12.8 percent market share.

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