iPad cannibalises notebook and iPod Touch market

Two new research reports have pointed to Apple's iPad cannibalising the US netbook market, with growth rates in the sector stalling.

A Morgan Stanley/Alphawise study in March found that 44 percent of US consumers buying an iPad were getting the product instead of a netbook or notebook. Of those buyers nearly a quarter were buying iPads instead of Apple laptops, indicating the company may be eroding its most profitable hardware.

The research data, published in Fortune, also found that 41 per cent of buyers were were getting the device instead of an iPod Touch. The Touch line is widely expected to be discontinued as Apple develops its product line.

There was more gloomy news in a note from Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty this morning warning of the stagnation of the netbook market. Growth has peaked, her data shows, and year on year unit growth has shrink to virtually nothing.

Unit growth has been declining steadily since July last year when it peaked at 641 percent. It is now down to five percent.

Huberty linked the two data sets to suggest that the iPad may have had a serious impact on the portable sector.