With all the hyped hullabaloo around just how mobile-icious we are this holiday season — yes, it’s up, but it is also a retailer-cooked trend that reporters grab onto amid the news drought of the Thanksgiving weekend — one of the many statistics spewed out by a variety of sources was rather interesting.

According to IBM, in a report titled “The iPad Factor”:

“The [Apple] iPad generated more traffic than any other tablet or smartphone, reaching nearly 10 percent of online shopping. This was followed by iPhone at 8.7 percent and [Google] Android 5.5 percent. The iPad dominated tablet traffic at 88.3 percent followed by the Barnes & Noble Nook at 3.1 percent, Amazon Kindle at 2.4 percent and the Samsung Galaxy at 1.8 percent.”

And, over at eBay and its PayPal unit — which spewed out all kinds of data on mobile transactions that showed volume was between two and three times greater, mostly on Apple devices — the company noted that one of its bestselling items on Black Friday was the iPad 2, selling 250 per hour from 12 am to 8 am PT.

That tracks on an earlier survey by Nielsen with 48 percent of U.S. children 6 to 12 years old asking for the iPad, followed by iPod touch (36 percent), iPad mini (36 percent) and iPhone (33 percent).

Presumably, which will be used to order more.

Here’s a lovely IBM chart explaining it all:

IBM Holiday Benchmark Infographic BF2012

Thankfully, I was flying Virgin America, which has Wi-Fi on every flight. So, like many people, I was tuned into various liveblogs (including, of course, our own).

Being up here gives a little distance and perspective. So, pardon the pun, here’s my 30,000-foot take on what Apple announced, and how it fits in with some other things going on in the industry.

The iPad mini was the expected star of the show, and it arrived as the final product, though with few surprises. Apple kept the same aspect ratio and pixel count as the iPad 2, so the mini is all set to run any iPad-optimized apps.

Apple isn’t competing aggressively on price — selling the Wi-Fi-only model for $329, well above tablets such as the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 (not to mention a host of other small Android slates). Still, Apple did lower the bar slightly, with the mini selling for $70 less than the cheapest full-size iPad 2.

Apple also introduced an updated fourth-generation iPad that should upset some who thought “the new iPad” wouldn’t become “the old iPad” quite so fast. For all other buyers, they are just getting more bang for the buck — along with the new Lightning connector. That’s a good thing for the future, probably, but, as with the iPhone, it’s a pain if you have lots of existing iPeripherals.

On the desktop Mac side of things, Apple revamped its two main models — the iMac and Mac mini. However, Apple plays in only in a couple segments of the desktop market. For those looking for an all-in-one, the iMac got thinner and more powerful, employing a hybrid drive that combines flash and hard-drive storage.

Here, the iMac will find itself up against a host of touchscreen Windows 8 all-in-ones. Apple continues to make the case that touch is best served on tablets, and that when it comes to the desktop, a nice trackpad will do the trick. Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo and everyone else will be making a different case, as they add touch to lots of their models — particularly tablets, all-in-ones and convertibles.

As for laptops, Apple added one new model to its lineup, introducing a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, offering those who want the high-end screen in a more compact and slightly less pricey machine. As with the 15-incher, choosing the Retina display gets you a thinner, lighter laptop, but at the expense of an optical drive and a bigger hit to the wallet.

Apple didn’t break a ton of new ground on Tuesday, but what it did was expand its reach, covering a larger part of the markets in which it already competes. Plus, Apple ensured that it will have some brand-new products in stores just as Microsoft and PC makers begin their massive Windows 8 push. Google is also expected to update its Nexus lineup, having scheduled an event for Oct. 29 in New York. (Android chief Andy Rubin will be at D: Dive Into Mobile later that day.)

Well, it’s about time to fasten seat belts and turn off electronic devices. That gives me just enough time to ponder which devices might be finding their way onto this year’s holiday shopping list.

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Early this morning, Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal granted Apple’s request for an Adverse Inference Jury Instruction, handing down an order that will see the judge presiding over the case inform jurors that Samsung did not comply with its obligation to preserve relevant evidence, and may have even destroyed what would have been favorable to Apple. Specifically at issue here is Samsung’s failure to provide notes and emails from a March 5, 2011, strategy meeting held to discuss possible alterations to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 that might make it more competitive with the iPad 2.

Here’s the jury instruction, courtesy of Florian Mueller at FOSS Patents:

Samsung has failed to prevent the destruction of relevant evidence for Apple’s use in this litigation. This is known as the ‘spoliation of evidence.’

I instruct you, as a matter of law, that Samsung failed to preserve evidence after its duty to preserve arose. This failure resulted from its failure to perform its discovery obligations.

You also may presume that Apple has met its burden of proving the following two elements by a preponderance of the evidence: first, that relevant evidence was destroyed after the duty to preserve arose. Evidence is relevant if it would have clarified a fact at issue in the trial and otherwise would naturally have been introduced into evidence; and second, the lost evidence was favorable to Apple.

Whether this finding is important to you in reaching a verdict in this case is for you to decide. You may choose to find it determinative, somewhat determinative, or not at all determinative in reaching your verdict.

As Mueller notes, this isn’t the harshest of adverse inference instructions. The judge could have ordered the jury to presume certain of Apple’s claims proven because relevant evidence in its favor was destroyed. But he didn’t. So, to some extent, Samsung — which argues that the meeting was a harmless rival-product benchmarking session — is getting off easy here. That said, any adverse inference instruction prior to the start of a big case like this casts Samsung in a bad light before the jury, making the company appear potentially untrustworthy. This is certainly not the way you want to kick off an important trial.

Samsung is not off to a great start here.

UPDATE: Here’s Samsung’s statement on the instruction:
Exactly the same arguments of spoliation were rejected in May by Administrative Law Judge Pender at the International Trade Commission. He concluded that Samsung took “reasonable and appropriate steps to preserve evidence” and that Samsung’s document retention policy complied with federal law. We intend to appeal Judge Grewal’s decision to the trial judge, and if necessary, to the Court of Appeals. Samsung remains committed to complying with all information requests from the court.

(Image courtesy of hdwallpapersdesktop.com)

Apple versus Samsung Full Coverage

Consider this: Apple’s third quarter was the second consecutive one in which the education market purchased twice as many iPads as Macs. And Mac sales to education for the period were at an all-time high.

Discussing Apple’s third-quarter earnings during a conference call Tuesday, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said that iPad sales in the U.S. education market had set a new quarterly record, nearly doubling year over year to just under one million iPads. A key driver of those sales: The reduced-price iPad 2. Evidently, the device’s $399 price point has really helped to unlock demand in the sector.

“The reason that we [adopted a lower price point for the iPad 2] was because we believed that sales would be incrementally larger if there was price elasticity,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the earnings call. “We knew there were buyers that really wanted the best product, but needed it to be a little less expensive. … So I think the lower price did help our sales. And I think it’s particularly helping in K-12. The adoption rate of iPad in education is something I’d never seen from any technology product in history. Usually, education tends to be fairly conservative in terms of buying, or K-12 does, and we’re not seeing that at all on the iPad.”

In a research note to clients today, Needham analyst Charlie Wolf raised his estimate for iPad sales for the three months ended June from 13.5 million units to 20 million. That’s more than double the 9.25 million iPads Apple sold in the same quarter a year ago. Wolf’s is the most bullish iPad sales forecast I’ve seen to date, and if Apple manages to hit it, it will be a new record, far exceeding the 15 million iPads the company sold during the first quarter of 2012.

So what made Wolf raise his forecast by 6.5 million units? Two things: First, his initial estimate was simply too low. Second: Accelerating iPad adoption in the enterprise and education markets.

“The increase in our estimate of iPad shipments from 13.5 million to 20.0 million units is based … on anecdotal evidence … that the device is invading businesses in ways that could not have been predicted when Apple introduced the iPad in April 2010,” Wolf explains. “It’s also based on the historical trajectory of iPad sales. When iPad 2 was introduced in March 2011, sales increased 97% in the following (June) quarter. Our forecast of 20 million iPad sales in June implies a 70% sequential increase from March. While this number appears aggressive, it must be remembered that Apple has continued to sell iPad 2 at the lower price of $399. A study by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found that since the introduction of the new iPad in March, iPad 2 has composed 41% of all iPad purchases.”

A nosebleeder of a forecast, to be sure. But according to Wolf, it’s entirely plausible, and there’s plenty of evidence to support it. “The iPad is invading the business market at a much faster pace than the iPhone,” he said. “In our view, it’s only a matter of time before iPad shipments exceed iPhone shipments.”

Apple is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, July 24.

Very well, turns out.

According to new data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), the breakdown in sales of the iPad 2 and the new iPad between February and April of 2012 were roughly similar. The research firm says that since the March 16th launch date of the new iPad, that device accounted for 59 percent of total iPad sales, while the iPad 2, which costs $100 less, accounted for 41 percent.

In other words, demand for the-second generation iPad, at its reduced price, isn’t all that much less than demand for the new iPad at full price. And according to Apple, “the new iPad is on fire. We’re selling them as fast as we can make them.”

So keeping the iPad 2 around is proving to be a savvy business move, and one that’s almost certainly buttressing Apple’s already dominant share of the tablet market.

“The lower price of the iPad 2 seems to be attracting many new buyers, and bringing thriftier customers into the fold,” CIRP partner Josh Lowitz told AllThingsD. “In contrast with how customers behave when Apple launches new iPhone models, our data suggests that a lot of iPad buyers bought iPad 2s right up to and after the launch of the new iPad.”

So it’s pretty clear that the iPad 2 is commanding the attention of budget-conscious consumers. Which lends further credence to theories suggesting that it’s taking market share away from lower-priced tablets like Amazon’s Kindle Fire. According to the latest data from IDC, global Fire shipments dropped from 4.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 to less than 750,000 units last quarter. Meanwhile, the iPad’s share rose to 68 percent from 54.7 percent.

If the lower-priced iPad 2 is selling as well as CIRP’s data suggests, there may well be a correlation between strong demand for it and weakening demand for the Fire.

From 16.8 percent to about 4 percent worldwide market share in a single quarter. That is a swift and ugly decline. What’s causing it?

Kindle Fire demand could be dropping off as customers postpone their purchases in anticipation of a new version of the device. Or it could be declining because the Fire was a really well-executed holiday play whose novelty has since worn off.

Or it could be that the iPad 2, which Apple continues to sell alongside the new iPad at a lower price, is winning over some of the same consumers that Amazon has been targeting with the Fire.

Or, because the number of units shipped isn’t the same as units sold, the dropoff in shipments in the Fire’s latest quarter could primarily be the result of a large inventory buildup in the product’s first months on the market.

At $399, the iPad 2 is still twice the price of the Fire. But it’s also $100 cheaper than the new iPad, and comes accompanied by the same vast app and content ecosystem, iCloud, Facetime and other slick features. And that may be discount enough to command the attention of budget-conscious consumers. Indeed, during Apple’s last earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said the iPad 2′s new lower price point was unlocking demand among price-sensitive customers.

If that’s the case, perhaps it’s unlocking demand among potential Kindle Fire buyers as well. It’s worth noting that during the same period, IDC claims that while the Fire’s share of the market fell to 4 percent from nearly 17 percent, the iPad’s share rose to 68 percent from 54.7 percent.

Could there be a correlation there?

Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes thinks there might be.

“The lower priced iPad 2 has seemed to offset some of the original threat of the lower priced Fire,” he says. “Many consumers seem willing to pay $399 for a feature packed tablet with a strong and developed ecosystem rather than $199 for a relatively underpowered tablet.”

Certainly plausible. Anecdotally, I know a few folks who had planned to buy the Fire, only to balk later and cough up the extra money for an iPad 2. Perhaps there are lots more of them out there. Your thoughts?

The accessory maker today revealed its Solar Keyboard Folio, an iPad case with a built-in Bluetooth keyboard.

Add-on keyboards for the iPad certainly aren’t a new thing. What sets the Solar Keyboard Folio apart from the rest is that it doesn’t require a cable or battery for power or recharging. Instead, the case features integrated solar cells that draw juice from indoor and outdoor light.

Logitech says that when fully charged, the keyboard’s battery can last up to two years, based on two hours of usage per day.

When not in use, the Solar Keyboard Folio doubles as a protective case for your tablet, and like the Smart Cover, the iPad automatically wakes up when you open the case, and goes to sleep when in the closed position.

The book-style case can be positioned at two different angles, one that places the iPad in an upright position for full access to the keyboard, and one that’s better suited for viewing media.

The Logitech Solar Keyboard Folio works with the third-generation iPad and iPad 2, so unfortunately, if you have an original iPad, you’re out of luck. It will be available in the U.S. and Europe this month for $129.99.

According to a new survey from ChangeWave, consumer satisfaction with Apple’s new iPad is running high — significantly higher than its predecessors. Some 98 percent of new iPad owners polled by the research firm last week said they were satisified with the device. Of those, 82 percent professed to being “very satisfied,” while 16 percent said they were “somewhat satisifed.” Only 2 percent were “somewhat unsatisfied.” And no one was “very unsatisfied.”

Impressive results, and a nice jump over the satisfaction ratings given the iPad 2 in a similar survey, which found 74 percent of the tablet’s owners to be very satisifed and 23 percent somewhat satisifed.

So what drove them? The new iPad’s high-resolution Retina display was cited by 75 percent of those polled as the device’s best feature. Long battery life and 4G LTE capability were also highly rated, with 22 percent and 21 percent dubbing them favorite features.

There were criticisms as well, of course. The new iPad’s price was cited by 26 percent of respondents as their most disliked feature. And the cost of its wireless data plan was noted by another 23 percent. Notably, claims that the new iPad is unusually warm was a non-issue among those polled, with just 7 percent reporting it as a dislike and 89 percent saying it’s not a problem.

That said, it is helpful to see that demand quantified, which is exactly what Baird Equity Research has done in its latest iPad survey. Among a group of 488 tech-savvy consumers between the ages of 18 and 34, Baird found that 24 percent of U.S. respondents planned to purchase the new iPad in the next three months. Among international respondents, that number rose to 29 percent. Interestingly, 42 percent of respondents (both U.S. and international) said the purchase would be their first tablet, while the remaining 48 percent said they already owned the iPad 2 or its predecessor.

A few more notable findings:

• 15 percent of U.S respondents and 22 percent of international ones said that they plan to purchase an iPad 2 at its newly discounted price.
• A quarter of the 59 Kindle Fire owners in the survey said they plan to purchase an iPad in the next three months. Says Baird, “We would note that the Kindle Fire was released in mid-November, marking a fairly quick turn-around.”
• Respondents who planned to purchase the 4G iPad favored Verizon and AT&T equally.
• The 16 gigabyte iPad was by far the most popular model among consumers Baird surveyed.

Three million is a big number — bigger than expected, perhaps. And with the device headed to 24 more countries this Friday, Apple is just getting started.

Indeed, UBS analyst Maynard Um says sales for this quarter could be massive.

“Apple has sold ~750,000 new iPads per day since launch on Friday,” Um said in a note to clients. “If there are no supply shortages, this would imply a run rate of ~12 million new iPads between launch and the end of the quarter. We continue to believe there could be upside to our 12 million estimate for the quarter.”

Notably, Um here is referring to sales of the new iPad only. Which means there’s likely even more upside to that upside he mentions when it comes to sales of the new iPad and iPad 2 both.

And if you are tired of hearing about the new iPad, this story might still bring a smile to your face.

The folks at gadget insurer SquareTrade have been putting new devices to the drop test for some time. So, naturally, they have put the new Apple tablet through similar torture, comparing it to the iPad 2 in drops from shoulder height and waist height. It should be noted that Apple has a new $99 AppleCare+ plan that covers accidental damage, for a $49 deductible. It’s good that the SquareTrade folks can take care of their own warranties, though, as I doubt their use counts as “accidental.”

I don’t want to spoil all the fun, but it’s fair to say you’ve never seen this many pixels tortured so much: