News from the NPD Research Group today, reported by 9to5mac.com has shown that 25% of all iPad buyers are first time Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) users. The survey viewed just the United States and asked questions of households that owned one or more Apple product. The results reported that out of every four households that had an iPad one identified it as their first Apple device.
After the dominance of the iPod in the MP3 market it seems fantastic that such numbers are even achievable by the Cupertino firm but it continues to surprise. According to its record breaking earnings report released earlier in the week the company sold 11.8 million iPads in the second quarter of 2012. Those figures mean the iPad is the fastest selling Apple product of all time, an accolade not easily achieved.
Apple has long been proud of the “halo effect” which makes users who own an Apple product more likely to purchase another. The theory is based on the usability of the company’s product and the ease of synchronization between their devices. To that effect the news that 25% of new iPad buyers are first time Apple users will bolster the firm’s forecasts of future sales in iPhones and Mac computers.
The iPad’s supremacy in the tablet market despite severe competition from Android products is closer to iPod numbers than it is to iPhone market share figures. Critics, and judging by sale consumers, agree that the original modern tablet is the best on the market. The attraction of tablets, it is obvious from today’s announcement may be the driving force in the company’s range in the years to come, outstripping the iPhone’s eminence.
The ecosystem model in the consumer electronics market has turned many heads. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is planning to roll out its Window 8 platform on tablets and PCs later this year. the operating system will be accompanied by the later introduction of a Windows Phone 8 OS which is hoped to have connectivity and synchronization similar to Apple’s products.
Apple continues to surprise us both with product design and sales figures. The high level of customers unwrapping the glorious iPad will undoubtedly be converted in droves. The halo effect of the Apple ecosystem can surely be lauded as one of the greatest usability features in any range of products and the market agrees. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) can do no wrong at the moment, its forward momentum continues driven by a single major attribute, user experience.
