We know a lot about the iPad, but we don’t really know why people are buying it, and especially how they are using it. That’s the key to understand why the iPad is so successful and how it will impact sales of other gadgets, which the iPad replaces to some extent. A recent sturdy by Resolve Market Research sheds a light on this matter and what they reveal is pretty astonishing, at least to me.

    When asked which one of the following, portable gaming console, the iPad and smartphones, are better at playing games, 23% of the interviewed people answered the iPad, with 60% saying it’s the portable console. This straight answer brings us to the second question, which asks what are the main functions performed by the iPad (the exact question was “which of the following device you would not buy after purchasing the iPad”). The answers were exactly in this order: eReader, Portable Gaming Device, Netbook/Laptop, MP3 player, Gaming console, MID, Smartphone.

    iPad studyThis clearly outlines the fact that iPad users are reading a lot and probably Amazon has a lot to worry about Kindle sales, which will plummet if they don’t do something quick, and that something might just as well be launching their own tablet.

    What’s also interesting about this study is that reveals the fact Apple managed to attract a lot of new users (37% of them being first customers), which means Apple not only did a great job at selling a new product, but also at attracting potential buyers for their next gadgets. And I believe those new customers will buy again from Apple if they have a nice time with the iPad. If only they could get over the impression that the iPad is just an expensive toy, as this study reveals in the end.