Public Loses Interest in iPad After Unveiling, Survey Says

By Dena Cassella February 8, 2010

retrevo-ipad-survey — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apparently, the majority of consumers have lost complete interest and spending-lust for Apple’s iPad. The follow-up to the Retrevo Pulse study showed that not only did Apple fail to convince new buyers, it lost most potential buyers as well. In a survey of more than 1,000 randomly selected customers, Retrevo found that 52 percent of respondents have heard of Apple’s iPad, but are not interested in buying one. Another 18 percent said they had not heard of the product, but also were not interested.

The main deterrent for iPad buyers was that the tablet lacked any urgent necessity—no one thinks they need the device. “After the announcement the percentage of respondents indicating they needed more info had dropped by half but the overwhelming majority of those who felt they now had sufficient knowledge, decided they didn’t need a tablet,” Retrevo reports. “This raised the total number of respondents saying “no” to the iPad, after the announcement, to 61%.”

retrevo-ipad-survey2 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The study also showed that people were put off by the pricing and all of the extra costs for essential specs and features. More than half of the respondents in the study said they would not pay an extra $130 for 3G. Apple’s been getting a lot of criticism lately—now that folks had time to process their announcement—for the pricing of their iPad. A report from the Wall Street Journal claims that Apple executives said they would lower the pricing of the iPad if the market called for it.

Hey Apple execs—we think the market’s calling.

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