When talking sales figures, tablets have generally remained in a separate category from the PC. But what if tablet numbers – namely those from Apple's iPad – were combined with PC sales? One analyst suggests that iPad plus Mac would make Apple the number one computer manufacturer in the U.S.
"We believe the iPad should be included," in data about PC sales, Deutsche Bank research analyst Chris Whitmore wrote in a Sunday note to investors.
Whitmore pointed to recent IDC data that said the PC market grew 4 percent in the third quarter compared to the same time period last year. Excluding the iPad, Apple Mac unit sales grew 24 percent, compared to HP, which grew 2.7 percent, and Dell, which declined 4.9 percent.
Factoring in the iPad, however, Apple grew 250 percent year-over-year, Whitmore wrote. With the iPad included, Apple would have a 25 percent market share in U.S. PC sales, followed by HP at 20 percent and Dell at 19 percent.
Far from cannibalizing its Mac sales, Whitmore said "Macs are benefiting from the iPad, while other vendors are all ceding share in both the non-iPad PC market and the total U.S. computer market."
Of course, this is all speculation. Throwing in sales of the iPhone - which some argue is essentially a handheld computer - would probably also help leave HP and Dell in the sales-figure dust.
Hypothetical sales figures aside, Whitmore said the iPad is "positioned to dominate Christmas" due to the lack of competition and expanded distribution options – including Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and Target, as well as Verizon Wireless and AT&T stores.
"The competitive response to the iPad has been remarkably absent and late (from HP, Asus, Acer, Samsung etc) and we expect strong iPad demand into 4Q (additional countries /channels) to support share gains going forward, particularly as the international roll-out gains steam," Whitmore wrote.
Samsung is expected to roll out its Galaxy Tab soon, but pricing has not yet been announced. Research in Motion recently unveiled its PlayBook tablet as well, but in terms of immediate tablet availability, the iPad is one of the only true tablet options.
As a result, "we believe Apple's lead in the tablet market will prove difficult to overcome over the next several quarters," Whitmore wrote. "We view Apple's user interface, applications and lead in content availability as simply unmatched by Android, Blackberry and especially Palm and Windows."