Apple iPad Poised To Shake Up eReader Market

The iPad isn't even available to touch and hold, but the latest consumer survey suggests the Apple iPad is about to shake up the market and become the number one leader.  

A survey by ChangeWave conducted among 3,171 consumers found that of those who plan to purchase an e-reader in the next 90 days, 40 percent said they will buy the Apple iPad, 28 percent will buy a Kindle, 6 percent will buy the Nook from Barnes & Noble and only 1 percent opted for a Sony Reader.  And price does not seem to be an issue as only 8 percent said they would not buy it based on price.

Demand is certainly going to be hot for the iPad.  In 2007, when the iPhone was introduced, only 9 percent of consumers said they intended to purchase it.  

This survey suggests trouble for the Kindle, the current market leader.  Once the iPad is available (beginning of April), Amazon and the rest will have to play catch-up fast.  

The other interesting fact to emerge from this survey is that consumers said they intend to use their iPad for a variety of functions, suggesting it will also compete with netbooks (as I previously predicted in my Blog).  Watch out for the next wave of Apple announcements in June, likely to take the iPad format even further into the netbook space.