Consumer interest fades in iPad; Apple may slash price

Despite the unparalleled buzz and excitement prior to its announcement, it seems the consumer interest is fading in the product.

Retrevo conducted a survey prior to and after the iPad announcement. Though the number of respondents who heard about iPad increased after the announcement, unfortunately the number of respondents not interested in the product doubled from 26 percent to 52 percent.

Further, the number of respondents who said that they do not need an iPad increased from 49 percent before the announcement to 61 percent after it.

iPad fails to make a mark
Many experts believe that the Apple tablet has not been able to live up to its hype due to the fact that it lacks basic features like flash, full GPS support, built-in camera, UBS, replaceable battery and so on.

No doubt that iPad symbolizes a whole new class of consumer-electronic devices, allowing users to surf Internet, play music, videos and games, and read books, all on one platform, but the device has not cut the mustard with consumers.

Though the tablet’s price is lower than what many had expected prior to the announcement, consumers still believe that it weighs heavy on the pocket.

Concerns have even been raised over its network as it is tied to AT&T for the 3G service.

A week ago, a reader named Frank_Black posted his view on mashable.com, “I can't see spending more and getting less. I won't be getting one because quite honestly, I can get much more done with a Netbook for half the cost.”

Another reader named MikeyBoom commented on engadget.com that Apple needs “to drop the price on this to really make it move. It's like one of those cool products that Apple makes that no one really has the need for. Like Apple TV or the Macbook Air.”

Apple considering price reduction?
Realizing the fact that consumers are increasingly losing interest in the tablet, many are speculating that Apple may soon slash the price of its iPad.

According to Credit Suisse analyst Bill Shope, Apple may be considering slashing the price of iPad if the company is not able to meet targets.

The move by Apple will definitely not be surprising as Cupertino, California-based company in the past has introduced price cuts on its products.

For instance, Apple had cut the price of its first gen iPhone by $200, only a few months after it was launched. As a result, the company was able to register strong sales.

The price cut move is just being anticipated. Whether the company will actually resort to this measure or not will be clear when iPad is finally up for sale.