Apple owners more likely to buy iPad

Market analyst NPD has found that consumers who already own an Apple product are considerably more likely to buy an iPad than the rest of the market.

The research found that although around 18 per cent were interested in owning the soon-to-be-released tablet device, that figure rose to 24 per cent among Apple owners. Of those Apple owners, 37 per cent cited “liking the Apple brand” as their main reason for interest.

The highest level of interest came from the 18-34 year old market segment, where 27 per cent said they would be interested in owning an iPad, however 57 per cent of that age bracket said that they considered the price to be too high.

“The most interested potential iPad customers see it primarily as a music device, or for its internet access capabilities,” said NPD’s vice president of industry analysis Stephen Baker.

“Considering what people are planning to use the iPad for, it’s not hard to understand why people who have these capabilities on other devices, such as the iPod Touch or a notebook/netbook, may not want to spend $500 or more on a similar device. This points to the need for Apple to close the content deals that focus the iPad on what is likely to be its best long-range value proposition around high quality media consumption.”