A quarter of Americans plan to buy the new iPad, research shows. Respondents in the survey are thrilled by 4G and LTE, only a tiny percentage knew what the acronyms meant.
The survey was done by Baird Equity Research and reported on CNN Fortune magazine.
Existing user demand strong. Among existing iPad owners, 48% indicated they plan to purchase the new iPad, with 35% of those already owning an iPad 2.
New buyers flocking as well. Almost half of those planning to purchase the new iPad have never owned an iPad or other tablet.
iPad 2 still in demand. 15% of U.S. respondents plan to purchase the discounted iPad 2.
Retinal display key new feature. When asked about reasons for purchasing the new iPad, 28% cited the Retina Display as the top reason, followed by the A5X processor at 26% and LTE at 17%.
Replacing laptops. 28% of respondents suggested they were purchasing an iPad instead of a laptop, though close to 50% overall suggested the iPad purchase wouldn’t delay the purchase of other electronic purchases.
Reasons not to buy. High price was the largest reason for not purchasing an iPad, cited by 60% of non-buyers.
LTE version popular. 36% of respondents plan to purchase an LTE-enabled version, with previous industry estimates suggesting 80% or more of iPad sales have been WiFi only. In addition, a majority of our respondents claim they plan to use the cellular connectivity daily.
Apple Inc. is guaranteed new customers for the new iPad, plus many more when they launch the eagerly awaited iPhone 5 later in the year.