10 Million Sales Suggest iPad Revolution at Hand (Commentary)

By the time you read this Apple will have sold over 10 million iPads. Through September, sales stood at 7.5 million units. An additional 5.5 million units were to ship by the end of December. Those units will result in $3.5 billion of revenue for Apple.

According to Nielsen, people older than 37 purchase 45 percent of all iPads. People over 56 years of age account for 15 percent of all iPad purchases. Thirty-eight percent are purchased by those between the ages of 25 and 36 – the real “sweet spot” of Apple’s market.

But even that could be changing. Nielsen also reports that 31 percent of kids aged 6 to 12 want an iPad for Christmas – the highest percentage of any electronic device mentioned in the survey. Kids want an iPad more than any video game console.

Before you jump to the conclusion the iPad is only for the well-off, you should know that 45 percent of iPad purchasers make less than $50,000 per year.

A recent Business Insider survey reports that 29 percent of those surveyed use the iPad as their primary computer.

Computer industry Gartner projects that media tablets like the iPad will displace around 10 percent of all PC units by 2014 – an estimate I consider very low.

More and more people are finding most of what they do on a personal computer can be accomplished on an iPad, and much more besides. Usage of the iPad actually increases over time after purchases rather than declines, as with most new toys.

What is it about the iPad that people find so attractive?

To start with, it comes on instantly, ready to work when you are. The interface is easy and intuitive. You don’t need a manual or a class to know how to use it.

Surveys show that over 60 percent of the average individual’s time spent in “personal” use of a computer goes towards Web browsing and working in e-mail or social media – things the iPad excels at.

For those who love to “consume content,” the iPad really stands out. Over 75 percent of iPad users read books on the device, with Kindle being the most popular format. Sales of Amazon’s Kindle and Barns & Noble’s Nook devices are down as a result.

Many newspapers and magazines offer reader applications that make their editions available in formats designed specifically for the iPad.

The iPad is great for music and movies. The recent 4.2 software includes Airplay, which allows the iPad to wireless stream out music and video to other devices. With the addition of Apple TV, which is currently the 13th-ranked best-selling gadget on Amazon, the iPad can stream 720p HD video directly to your HDTV.

But let’s get serious. Does the iPad have any use in business?

As in personal use, content is king. Anyone consuming content – documents, spreadsheets, reports, etc. – in their business can make effective use of the iPad. From the Fortune 500 to the local 50, you find businesses currently testing the iPad as a replacement for laptops or handheld devices.

Apple has optimized its iWorks applications for the device so users have seamless access to receive, view, modify and send Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files.

Evernote is a popular note-taking applications that allows notes to be taken and referenced from the iPad, iPhone or laptop/desktop as if one notebook exists.

With the addition of a stylus pen the iPad can be used to take handwritten notes that can be saved in separate “notebooks” and shared as PDF files. We are test driving this at Accio.US today and finding it works very well.

Goodreader not only allows you to read and e-mail PDF documents, but also to highlight, draw or add notes that others can see when they receive the documents.

With AirSharing you can treat you iPad as a portable hard disk, dragging documents and files to and from it over a wireless network.

With “Print n Share” your iPad can coordinate with your PC for printing documents.

Business IT departments are developing applications for the iPad at an increasing pace.

Many business laptop users are finding the iPad can completely replace their laptop. Perhaps you are one of these.

E-mail me and tell me what you think of the iPad. 

Steve Hankins is CEO and co-founder of Accio.US, a technology company providing advisory and management services for small- to medium-sized businesses. He may be reached at [email protected].