Apple iPad Hoopla

A follow-up Retrevo Pulse study indicates that potential iPad buyers aren’t sure if they actually need one, even though Apple did a great job of getting the word out. The number of respondents who had heard about the iPad nearly doubled after the official announcement -from 48% just beforehand to over 80% after. What did double was the number of people not interesting in purchasing an iPad –from 25% before the announcement to over 50% afterward. On the upside: the number of respondents indicating interested in an iPad tripled from 3% to 9%. Also, 30% responded as being potential iPad buyers.Retrevo’s Buzzmeter took the liberty of measuring Twitter activity surrounding the announcement, which fell on the eve of Obama’s State of the Union Address. Not surprisingly, the 7,000 tweets Per Minute (TPM) peak rivaled the 9,000 TPM peak value for President Obama.Bad news for Apple: before the announcement 49% of respondents answered “no” to needing the iPad, with 30% needing more information to decide. Post the announcement, the number of people who needed more info was cut in half, with a landslide of those armed with sufficient knowledge indicating they didn’t need the iPad. In fact, 61% of respondents said “no” to the tablet after the announcement.Especially unpopular: paying $130 for optional 3G connectivity with assisted GPS. Wi-Fi to wireless router connectivity is standard.Saved by the AppsApps help sell smartphones, and they could be the tipping point that pushes potential buyers toward an iPad purchase.