Shanghai Motor Show: The Pad Fad

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: April 22nd, 2011

Aren’t iPads supposed to be in short supply, affected by the parts paralysis? The visitor of the Shanghai Auto Show wouldn’t know. Actually, if everybody would stop using the flat gizmos, just supplying car shows with them would be a great business. They are everywhere.At most large automakers, someone said: “I have a great idea: We will give all our booth ba …. I mean, productspecialists one of these iPads with a multimedia presentation.” “Super! It’s cool, and it’s green. Think about all the paper we save!”

Jaguar has them.

Volvo has them.

Fiat has them.

Mini has them. Mini pads?

BMW has them? Maxi pads?

Hyundai has more pads than babes. So they locked them up. The pads, not the babes.

#BertelSchmitt #China #Fads #Pads #ShanghaiAutoShow2011

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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Carguy on Apr 22, 2011

Whatever you may think about Apple, the Jobsian fondle-slab is thought of as very cool and cutting edge, so wouldn't every car company want to be associated with that?

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Frijole on Apr 23, 2011

"Aren’t iPads supposed to be in short supply, affected by the parts paralysis?" Not really. The best supply chain in the business backed with $60bn in cash didn't see much affect from the parts paralysis. They've been ramping up production since the release, and just started to meet demand in the US when they started selling overseas.

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