iPad cannibalises notebook and iPod Touch sales

The iPad could be cutting into sales of notebooks and iPods

Two new research reports have pointed to Apple's iPad cannibalising the netbook market, and that growth rates in the sector are stalling.

A Morgan Stanley/Alphawise study in March found that 44 per cent of US consumers buying an iPad were getting the product instead of a netbook or notebook.

Nearly a quarter of those consumers were buying iPads instead of Apple laptops, indicating that the company may be eroding sales of its most profitable hardware.

The research data, published in Fortune, also found that 41 per cent of buyers are getting the device instead of an iPod Touch. Apple is widely expected to discontinue the Touch range as it develops its iPad product line.

There was more gloomy news in a note from Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty this morning, warning of the stagnation of the netbook market. Growth has peaked, her data shows, and year-on-year unit growth has shrunk to virtually nothing.

Unit growth has been declining steadily since July last year when it peaked at 641 per cent. It is now down to five per cent.

Huberty linked the two data sets to suggest that the iPad may have had a serious impact on the portable sector.