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Apple’s iPad: Bigger Than iPhone And Kindle?

Apple’s iPad: Bigger Than iPhone And Kindle?

The public doesn’t care what the technorati think. They still want to buy Apple’s (AAPL) new iPad tablet computer, despite perceived shortcomings noted by the gadget press and tech bloggers.

After Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs demonstrated the iPad at a media event on Jan. 27, the tech elite nitpicked about the device: It doesn’t support Flash animation software. It lacks a Webcam for video conferencing. It uses AT&T’s maligned wireless network. It has a funny name. And on and on.

But that didn’t douse consumer enthusiasm for the touch-screen slate computer, set to go on sale in late March. Update: Apple said Friday the iPad will go on sale in the U.S. on April 3, with pre-orders starting March 12.

Consumer demand for Apple’s iPad is higher than the demand for Apple’s iPhone ahead of its launch three years ago, according to a survey of nearly 3,200 consumers by ChangeWave Research. ChangeWave also says the iPad is poised to topple Amazon’s (AMZN) Kindle.

The research firm says 13% of respondents indicated they are likely to buy the iPad when it becomes available, vs. 9% for the iPhone smart phone before its launch.

“You can’t judge the success of a product based on the pre-launch comments of analysts and the media,” Paul Carton, vice president of research at ChangeWave, told IBD. Many analysts had scoffed at the idea of Apple coming out with a phone, wondering if it would even get a dial tone, he says. But Apple’s iPhone has been a huge success.

Apple’s iPad “could have a profound impact on multiple markets … the e-reader market, the laptop market and the home entertainment market,” Carton said. Consumers see the iPad as the ultimate convergence device, he says.

Apple is pitching the iPad as “a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more.”

The iPad is priced at $499 and up.

[Thanks: http://blogs.investors.com]

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