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Study: For Many, iPad May Replace Need For Dedicated Portable Console
by Staff [PC, Console/PC]
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July 8, 2010
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Although most buyers of Apple's iPad tablet device aren't brought to the device because of its gaming capabilities, that may be how they end up spending much of their time with it -- and for many of them, that decreases the need to buy a dedicated portable video game console.
Prior to actually owning the device, a good majority (60 percent) of iPad buyers said they perceived a standalone portable game console as being the ideal way to play mobile games, followed by only 23 percent who thought the iPad would be ideal and 8 percent who selected smartphones, according to Resolve Market Research data released by Mashable.
But after owning the device, 38 percent of iPad users said they had no need to buy a portable console. In fact, the iPad displaced portable consoles for more users than it displaced any other device except e-readers (49 percent), which have been a major target in Apple's iPad marketing. Standard gaming consoles fell much further down the list, with only 27 percent of users saying the iPad filled that need.
Of those who bought iPads, more than half (56 percent) said it was for entertainment purposes; 42 percent said it was primarily for the "cool factor."
The device's price tag and unclear primary function is likely still dissuading many potential consumers, however. According to Resolve, a majority of consumers (55 percent) still perceive the iPad to be "a very expensive toy." It's a polarizing product; the next most-common perception of the device (33 percent) is that it is "a technological breakthrough."
As for those who chose not to buy an iPad? More than half of them (54 percent) say they simply "don't see the need for it," and 46 percent believe it's too expensive.
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And at $499. to 829. theres no need for nintendo or sony to worry about the ipad taking many if any of thier users.
After owning the iPad, 62% said they would still buy a portable game console.
So what exactly is the shocking news here? It looks like the iPad has had virtually no affect on whether or not people would buy portable game consoles...
the 1st question is
"Which of the following devices do you think is the most enjoyable for playing games?"
Here 60% answered, they think it is a dedicated gaming console
the 2nd question is
"Which of the following devices would you not buy after owning an iPad?"
This question allowed obviously multiple answers, cause the percentage adds up to more then 100%.
Three problems occur to me with linking this 2 questions.
First, just because somebody says, he would not buy a dedicated gaming console, after he bought an iPad, it must not mean, he would say a dedicatged gaming console isn't the most enjoyable device for playing portable games. It can also mean, he isn't interested in games in anyway.
Second, if you look at the answers given, 27% of the people answered, they would not buy a gaming console (which means stationary here) after they bought an iPad, but would anybody seriously say, for a quarter of the iPad owners, the need for a stationary console is replaced by an iPad? Seems not very plausible to me.
Third, the survey finds out, that 38% of the participants say, they wouldn't buy a portable gaming console after they bought an iPad. This means 62% of the people would consider to buy such a device. In the first question 60% said, they think a dedicated device is the best for portable gaming. Who says, the 60% of the first question aren't in the 62% of the second question.
This is a very flawed survey, that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, because of it's obvious methodical problems, that end up in something, that can be read as another advertisement for Apple from the marketing/market research industry.
By the way, apart from that 8% of the people said, a smart phone is the most enjoyble platform for portable gaming, hadn't anybody in the industry told us for years, that the iPhone is the future of portable gaming? According to this study, most people (92%) don't think so.
I can see Nintendo having some cause for concern, as the iPad could well eat into the "mature" casual-gaming market (i.e. mums and older gamers): games like Nintendogs, Brain Age and Cooking Mama are fairly easy to reproduce on the iPad - and they can also log onto Facebook and play the casual games there. However, the "younger" casual-gaming segment should be less likely to shift over, as should the hardcore segment for several reasons: physical size (as per above), cost (the iPad is 4-6 times as expensive as a DS/PSP) and controls: the touchscreen is not a substitute for a dedicated d-pad and control buttons and many games suffer as a result.
The main way in which the iphone/ipad competes with the portable market is with the adult audience and with females which are generally less represented in games. As an adult, I would prefer only to carry around one device which is why I own a smart phone and an ipad. If the ipad had good gaming on it, I would likely ditch the psp and ds lite altogether. This is a big market apple would do well to tap.
I'm excited where this bubbling new spirit will take everything.
@Jamie, that and who buys an iPad for their kid? Yeah...
Basically, this tells us what we already know: casual/non gamers would rather have an iPad than a PSP or a DS. They would rather have a device with many functions and mediocre-at-best games, than a dedicated gaming device with awesome games. How blatantly obvious...