After numerous projections, reports, and speculations that a consumer-centric consumption tablet would cannibalize netbook sales, the newly launched MacBook Air is now seen as potentially taking away sales from the iPad. Although the MacBook Air isn’t technically a netbook, it’s ultra-light, ultra-portable form factor is given as “anecdotal evidence” by Rodman & Renshaw’s Ashok Kumar that “A fully functional notebook in a very attractive form factor may be resonating more with consumers than a content consumption only device.” With the iPad, there are a number of limitations, such as no Adobe Flash content, lack of native desktop and high-end productivity applications, and a sandboxed ecosystem that aren’t found on a traditional laptop or netbook. As users discover that an ultra-portable laptop the size of an iPad can do more than the tablet, and priced around the same as a high-end iPad with WiFi, 3G, and 64 GB of storage, the choice may boil down to features and the MacBook Air and others in the ultra-portable notebook category may come out ahead.
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