Best Buy CEO Says iPad Cannibalizing Up to 50% of Laptop Sales

Best Buy Chief Executive Brian Dunn tells the WSJ that the iPad has cannibalized sales of laptops by up to 50%.

Best Buy said smartphone sales continued to rise compared with a year ago, as did portable computer totals, buoyed by the iPad. However, television sales fell despite the rollout of new 3D models, with both average prices and total volumes notching "low-double digit" declines compared with last year. Mr. Dunn also said internal estimates showed that the iPad had cannibalized sales from laptop PCs by as much as 50%.

"It's a very different environment now," said Stephen Baker, the chief electronics analyst for market researcher NPD Group Inc. "The real cool stuff now will be the tablets, e-readers and probably the higher-end digital cameras."


Best Buy recently announced that it will expand availability of the Apple iPad with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi +3G models to all 1,093 U.S. stores beginning Sept. 26.

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