When it comes to PC’s, Apple is not the immediate name to recall. You have HP, Compaq, Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba. But a new report by Canalys puts Apple in the third spot for the last quarter. Reason : Canalys considers iPad as a PC. Luckily Apple has sold 11.5 million iPads in 2010.
HP and Acer occupy the first two spots. Apple has edged Dell to the third spot. Lenovo is seated at fifth position.
And here’s rationale for including iPad in the report :
“With screen sizes seven inches or above, ample processing power, and a growing number of applications, pads offer a computing experiences comparable to netbooks. They compete for the same customers and will happily coexist. As with smart phones, some users will require a physical keyboard, while others will do without.”
Agreed. It is hard to argue. If this notation is widely accepted then we will have a 
problem with the device categories. What makes a tablet? Is it based on screen size or computing power or input devices? Or is it a combination of all three with thresholds for each? Samsung Sliding series could be a serious contender for PC category. But iPad? If we include iPad, then why not Galaxy Tab and Dell Streak for that matter. That would put Dell ahead of Apple in the chart above. Most of the smartphones have superior computing power with 600 MHz processor and 256 MB RAM. That could be easily passed on as a personal computer.
Some companies are releasing 4.8 inch screen devices and calling them as tablets. If we include them as well, then this picture would look entirely different. If we can’t include the 4.8 inch screen devices in the PC category, then can we make a clear distinction between a PC category and tablet category? A lot of questions just keep coming up and this report is adding to the existing chaos. Isn’t it better to just have separate category for things like iPad? You know Tablet PC or MID or something.
[Source : Apple Insider]
