Epress.am News from Armenia
Is the notebook going the way of the dinosaur? Not a chance, says Best Buy.
Earlier today, a report made the rounds, depicting the decline of notebook sales since the launch of Apple’s wildly popular iPad tablet. According to the report, U.S. retail notebook unit growth rose by 70% in December 2009 while it actually shrank by 4% in August 2010, reports Mashable.com.
The story gained further traction after Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn was cited in a report from The Wall Street Journal. In the story, he told the Journal that “internal estimates showed that the iPad had cannibalized sales from laptop PCs, especially netbooks, by as much as 50%.”
Except Best Buy is now saying that the comments weren’t quite accurate, and the company has released a statement to set the record straight:
“The reports of the demise of these devices are grossly exaggerated. While they were fueled in part by a comment in the Wall Street Journal that was attributed to me, they are not an accurate depiction of what we’re currently seeing. In fact, we see some shifts in consumption patterns, with tablet sales being an incremental opportunity. And as we said during our recent earnings call, we believe computers will remain a very popular gift this holiday because of the very distinct and desirable benefits they offer consumers. That’s why we intend to carry a broad selection of computing products and accessories to address the demand we anticipate this season.”
The statement pumps up computers as a core part of Best Buy’s line of products. What it doesn’t do though is refute the stats credited to him in The Wall Street Journal’s report. It’s clear though that the iPad is transforming the entire computer market in its favor, and no statement from Best Buy is going to change that.