Retrevo has a new study out that suggests 1 in 3 potential U.S. netbook buyers opted for the iPad as opposed to the keyboarded alternative. The study — whose “sample size was over 1,000 [and] distributed across gender, age, income and location in the United States” — asked: “Did you hold off on buying a netbook after the iPad was announced in January?” Thirty percent of those 1,000 respondents answered: “Yes. And I bought an iPad.” Of those who were contemplating a netbook or iPad, 78% said they were leaning towards an iPad, while the remaining 22% said they were leaning more towards a netbook. The study is obviously not definitive. A 1,000 person sample is enough to be statistically significant; however, questions about how many of the respondents already own a laptop or smartphone, or how many of these respondents (if any) plan to use the iPad or netbook as a primary computing device were not asked — these factors would, undoubtedly affect a respondents answer.
The study concludes:
… don’t expect to see the record growth continue for netbook sales in the U.S. As consumers find the iPad irresistible and inexpensive laptops more practical we predict netbook sales will get squeezed from two sides and will not be able to maintain past growth rates. That said, netbooks should continue to get cheaper and faster and will continue to be an attractive alternative to laptops or other mobile Internet devices.
What say you? If you had the choice between a netbook or an iPad/iPad-like Android device, which one would you pick and why? Do you think these new slab-lets will seriously cannibalize netbook sales?
Note: As a contrast, see Retrevo’s February poll which asked 1,000 “randomly selected Retrevo users” if they were interested in buying an iPad. That pole had only 9% of respondents indicate they were interested in an iPad purchase.
[Via Venture Beat]
