Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn tonight responded to claims that the iPad cut notebook sales in half at his stores. In a statement, he did see “The reports of the demise of these devices are grossly exaggerated,” Dunn said. “While they were fueled in part by a comment in the Wall Street Journal that was attributed to me, they are not an accurate depiction of what we’re currently seeing.”
In the statement he characterized it more as an “incremental opportunity” than the market redefining shift it was first thought to be. He didn’t accuse the WSJ of misquoting him but likened his view on notebooks to Mark Twain’s after the legendary false obituary.
“The reports of the demise of these devices are grossly exaggerated,” Dunn said.
The new attitude changes the cast of an earlier by Katy Huberty wich made reference to Dunn’s earlier remarks in the WSJ as evidence, but it doesn’t necessarily alter views that the iPad is taking away sales of traditional portables, especially netbooks. NPD data showed notebook sales growth having dropped rapidly in the US since the iPad’s April launch and having swung to a decline by August.
