Look Out, Dell, HP, Lenovo: iPad Is $499

Uh-oh.

As he usually does to competitors, Apple CEO Steve Jobs smacked the netbook market upside the head with a $499 intro price for the iPad tablet computer unveiled today at a live event in San Francisco.

What this means for makers of netbooks–such as Dell (DELL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Lenovo–is clear: Ouch.

Jobs insulted the category of small, cheap minicomputers right at the start of the Apple (AAPL) iPad event, saying they were mostly useless though cheap.

But the real punch came later when he announced the price for the 16-gigabyte base model at $499.

As Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski writes in the liveblog of the event:

“iPad pricing starts not at $999, but $499,” Jobs says to a huge round of applause.

$499 for 16GB base model
32GB for $599
64GB for $699

Adding 3G requires an additional fee.

Apple will be shipping Wi-Fi models in 60 days and the 3G models in 90.

In other words, Apple is now competing in the low-price market with a more innovative device packed with a huge number of robust multimedia and mobile features and slick software.

While some are calling the iPad nothing more than a supersized iPod touch, it will still be interesting to see how netbooks react to the challenge.

Anonymous

This doesn’t strike me as a very aggressive price for what you’re getting. If the $499 version offered 32gb or better yet 64, I might be inclined to think otherwise. I think the average consumer is going to look at this and think – I could get a netbook (keyboard included and 160gb storage) that does more for $349. Or get a Kindle if I want to just read books for $259 (with included 3g and no monthly fees). The HP/Dell/Lenovo offerings are essentially full powered high end laptops, and not direct competitors to what the iPad offers. This is a new category of device altogether. The question is whether consumers will bite. I think this may share the fate of the Macbook Air – much desired, but not a huge seller
Ramshambo

“In other words, Apple is now competing in the low-price market with a very slick device, packed with a huge number of robust features.”

Competing? It's not even a computer. It's a big smartphone with less storage then my current phone at $499, that doesn't make calls, and that I have to pay extra for to type on a keyboard.
Super2online

PC users will steer away from this without thinking twice. It's an iPhone without the phone, in other words a large iPod. I will be looking at the HP Slate as soon as it releases.
samharrison

it's a larger version of the iPod Touch…not so revolutionary really…evolutionary
billbucy

If I have to schlep it around in a bag I might as well get an AirBook and enjoy a keyboard and slightly larger screen.
cozzas

It was originally reported that Apple did not want to compete with netbook pricing. The original price reported just yesterday was $1,000. Announcing a $499 price just cut deeply into the market share of the netbook.
Chillipepper

Ground breaking device???? Is it a computer? Is it an iphone? Is it an ipod? I am just confuse. It does a little of all things but not all of all things.. This device is totally useless when compared to a netbook. So what with a $499 price? I could even make calls from my netbook using skype. I meant real calls to phone for $8 a month to 52 countries UNLIMITED!!!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1189866744 facebook-1189866744

So, the iPad is merely a “giant iPhone” or “giant iPod Touch” with no value because it can't compare to a netbook which is by all accounts, a miniature desktop computer that is often underpowered. But for how long will the full-fledged OS running on mobile device be an acceptable or desired thing? How long does the mouse/menu bar input method on a mobile device going to hold sway? (It will be interesting to note the silence that will probably occur when Google releases a ChromeOS tablet that uses the same metaphor as the iPad). What was most striking during the presentation was the Keynote demo: how natural is it to create a presentation using your fingers as you might sketch out something on a legal pad? The potential of that seemed far more impressive than merely creating a PowerPoint presentation on a netbook.

People are going to use and buy what they want, based on their own economic choice. But for myself, extending the iPhone OS on a larger device seems much more intriguing than wanting Windows 7 on the HP Slate.
iham

Are you kidding me
The others mentioned are COMPUTERS
Laptop substitutes
The iPAD is a large iPOD with basic everything
you'd have to compare the 64GB $699 anyway as that will still be less storage than any of the FULL OPERATING SYSTEM competition.
iPad is the worst idea of the decade.
http://www.ipadsforsalecheap.com KIM JOHN

I love DELL but I bought Ipads.

Look Out, Dell, HP, Lenovo: iPad Is $499

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