Report: Tablet PCs Cutting Into Netbook PC Demand

What impact are tablet PCs having on the PC and netbook market? That's the question on the mind of many hardware vendors and analysts nowadays. If a new survey by ChangeWave is to be believed, the effect is already significant...and will only get more drastic as more tablets hit the streets.

ChangeWave surveyed 3,108 consumers last month, asking them about their PC, netbook and tablet PC buying plans. While the percentage of respondents interested in buying a desktop went up slightly (a percentage point) consumer interested in netbooks dropped considerably in the past year.

So, just 14% of those who plan on buying a laptop in the next 90 days say it will be a netbook--10 points below netbooks peak back in June 2009. ChangeWave attributes the decline of netbooks to a combination of factors, including the end of the recession and the mounting penetration of tablet computers, especially Apple iPad.

In a close-up look at tablet demand trends for the holidays, the ChangeWave survey confirmed continuing momentum for the iPad. Also, importantly for Apple, nearly three-quarters of current iPad owners said they’re very satisfied with their device and another 23% said they’re somewhat satisfied.

One in four of the people surveyed, a remarkably high number, said they would likely buy a new tablet-- be it an iPad or another model such as the HP Slate, Samsung Galaxy Tab, or the Research In Motion PlayBook--in the future, with four-in-five of those likely tablet buyers eyeing the iPad specifically.

Overall, Research In Motion’s yet-to-be-released PlayBook tablet, at 8%, came in a distant second to the iPad followed by the Samsung Galaxy Tab (3%) and the HP Slate (2%). See here for the full story.