The chief operating officer of Apple, a consumer electronics and computer vendor, said that comparing netbooks with Apple iPad was a “no-brainer” since the former cannot do anything well. According to Timothy Cook, Apple iPad is much more robust and can provide better functionality than netbooks.

“In terms of the iPad competing for customers, who were considering a netbook, you know, I am the wrong person to ask that because to me it is a no-brainer. iPad [vs.] a netbook, it is a sort of one hundred to zero. I cannot think of a single thing the netbook does well; the iPad does so many things very well. I am already personally addicted to mine and could not live without it,” said Timothy Cook, chief operating officer of Apple, during the company’s quarterly conference call with financial analysts.

Netbooks, most of which are based on low-cost low-power Intel Atom central processing unit, represent the ultra low-cost breed of personal computers and quite naturally they cannot deliver experience in-line with premium PCs. Nevertheless, they still allow using proper keyboards to write emails, work with Microsoft Office applications and other productivity software.

On the other hand, Apple iPad is a device for consumption of various multimedia content sold by Apple. The product seems to have been designed with only its main task in mind, as a result, Apple seems to have sacrificed too many capabilities that would make it comparable to a netbook.

More than 40% of the Apple iPad manufacturing cost is dedicated to the display, touch-screen and other user interface components, Apple’s iPad represents a radical departure in electronic design compared to conventional products, according to a teardown conducted by iSuppli market tracking firm. Apple’s approach to invest maximum into design, display, touch-screen and other user interface components has a lot of shortcomings. In particular, the company decided to save on other components, which resulted in massive amount of drawbacks:

• One of the most important shortcomings of Apple iPad is the absence of Adobe Flash support.
• Another crucial disadvantage of the Apple iPad is the lack of web-cam. Even the cheapest netbooks are usually equipped with one and the vast majority of modern smartphones (excluding iPhone and cheapest versions from major manufacturers) can make video calls.
• The nonexistence of multi-tasking is a yet another strong disadvantage of the iPad. It makes impossible to leave tasks (instant messenger, a book, a game, etc) in the background to quickly check a web-site and write an email, a rather strange thing for an Internet-centric mobile device.
• The absence of high-definition screen (1024x768 resolution supported) and high-definition output (up to 576p resolution supported) on the iPad seems to be odd.
• A very strange thing about the iPad is the lack of support of GSM voice calls. Of course, Apple needs to sell iPhones, hardly anyone will use a 680 gram device as a mobile phone in general and besides, no notebooks or netbooks with WWAN support allow to make voice calls. Nevertheless, the feature might be appreciated by some users.
• Apple iPad does not have USB ports.
• Apple iPad does not feature SD card reader to transfer photos or other content.
• Despite of a long list of shortcomings, Apple has managed to sell over half a million of iPad slates.

Apple this week announced financial results for its fiscal 2010 second quarter ended March 27, 2010. The company posted revenue of $13.50 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.07 billion, or $3.33 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $9.08 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.62 billion, or $1.79 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 41.7%, up from 39.9% in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58% of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple sold 2.94 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing a 33% unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 8.75 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 131% unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 10.89 million iPods during the quarter, representing a 1% unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

Tags: Apple, iPad, Intel