Apple iPad has eaten up 50% of the laptop PC sales at Best Buy

Apple has "cannibalized" 50% of the laptop PC sales with the iPad, internal estimates of Best Buy show. The CEO of the largest electronics retailer in the US by revenue claims that, since the iPad launch, Best Buy's laptop and netbook sales have shrunk in half on average.

Best Buy's CEO was interviewed for some guidance to how the holiday shopping season is shaping up, and he spilled more interesting observations. TV sales have remained flat, but motion gaming and mobile computing sales, this time in the form of tablets, e-readers and smartphones, are expected to explode.

Best Buy will be responding to this shift in consumers' sentiment by displaying front and center in the stores motion gaming setups, as well as devices like Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad.

After the iPhone grabbed half of the cell phone industry's profits, does it look like the iPad will do the same to laptop PC sales? Or will the upcoming competition such as the Galaxy Tab slow its expansion quickly enough?

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source: WSJ