21% Of People Keen To Buy Apple's Unannounced Tablet

We may well laugh about Apple addicts and their long-queueing ways, but when a survey finds more than a fifth of those asked would happily pay between $500 and $700 for an Apple tablet, sight-unseen, you have to admire the company's hype machine.  Analysts RBC Capital Markets asked 3,100 people whether they were interested in buying the tablet, and 21-percent said yes; that contrasts to 9-percent of people asked in April 2007 whether they'd be interested in an iPhone, in a similar survey prior to the smartphone's launch.

The results suggest, the analysts believe, that the Apple Tablet may be benefiting from a halo effect from the iPhone, which has proved incredibly successful for the Cupertino company and may have persuaded users that Apple will make a success of any portable device they turn their hand to.  An official debut for the much-rumored tablet is expected in February 2010.

[via BestTabletReview]