According to Best Buy’s CEO announcement, iPad sales has dampened laptop sales by as much as 50%,

Announcing sales of $11.3bn and profits of $254m for the second quarter Best Buy's boss Brian Dunn said internal research found that half of potential laptop buyers had chosen an iPad instead of a traditional laptop.

Best Buy pushed profits up by 61% even though sales in established stores were flat. It reckons iPads, Kindles and motion-sensing game add-ons from Sony and Microsoft will be the big sellers in the run-up to Christmas.

The company plans to make iPads available in all its 1,093 shops. As Dunn reported, customers are likely to disproportionately spend for these devices because they are becoming necessary part of their lives.