Calling the thirst for the Apple iPad a "feeding frenzy," Savant is discontinuing several of its dedicated touchpanel lines.

The company will phase out its 5-, 7-, 9- and 12-inch touchpanel lines, replacing them all with the iPad. Savant will continue to make its 18- and 24-inch panels, which are primarily for commercial applications. CEO Bob Madonna cited the 3 million iPads Apple sold in 80 days, comparing that to the estimated 1 million touchpanels the entire custom industry has sold in more than 40 years.

Piggybacking on iPad
Savant has spent four years developing a dealer base around its Rosie Apple-based whole-house control system. Savant thinks the demand for iPads has put Savant in a strong position in terms of technology and mindshare.

Madonna said that because Savant does all its programming in Apple, its applications run faster. He also pointed out that the iPad screen is "totally customizable. It's not true what the competitors are saying. All the buttons, colors, etc. can be changed without writing code," he adds. So far, Savant has had 800-900 downloads of its $9.99 Savant iPad demo app.

What will the other home control vendors, like Crestron and Control4 do with their touchpanels?

Rodman and Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar is telling several publications that Nokia plans to follow quickly in Apple’s footsteps with a mobile computing tablet of its own. Kumar told Reuters:

    “You don’t want to give that much of a lead to Apple because it otherwise becomes insurmountable. … Right now the supply chain (for a Nokia tablet) is being primed up for a fall release. It has to be on the shelf by September-October to meet demand for the holiday window”

Apparently Nokia isn’t the only one. HP and Dell reportedly have plans for tablets of their own, and Lenovo already has a similar device on the market. Though it’s hard to measure success of a device that has only been on the market for two days, Apple’s reported 300,000 units sold is nothing to scoff at.

Also, if you’re not already inundated with iPad material, check out Connected Planet writer Susanna Schwartz’s analysis of whether the love customers have for Apple can rub off on AT&T.

According to an posting at electronichouse.com

The Apple-based home automation manufacturer is ready to embrace the iPad to go beyond what iPhone apps can offer.

Since Apple unveiled its iPad, custom electronics professionals have had questions, especially to what could be a potentially major application of the new device.

Will the 9.7-inch screen tablet impact home automation?

Will it benefit Savant, an Apple Proprietary Solutions Provider, which already leverages Apple’s popularity with its Rosie control app?

Savant’s responses: yes and yes.

“When we look back on this two years from now, we’re going to say this was a watershed event, not just for Savant but for the industry in general,” says Savant president Jim Carroll. He says consumers will see the iPad as having “the same or similar touch hardware” to other control offerings.

Read the complete article.

The debut of the iPad promises significant opportunities well beyond just Apple. The iPad promises to energize the emerging tablet PC segment, creating a potential semiconductor opportunity of over US$4.1 billion in 2014, reports In-Stat. Other component vendors will capitalize on the new opportunity for batteries and displays, as well.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• The potential unit Total Available Market (TAM) for Tablets is about 50 million in 2014.
• Based on device Bill of Material (BoM) estimates, initial pricing of mainstream tablets should be in the $400–$500 range. 
• Thus far, only Apple and ICD have indicated carrier strategies, and only Apple offers an entire solution that includes content and applications. 
• Positioned between smartphones and PCs, tablets are attracting the interest of consumer electronics (CE) and computing OEMs.