Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Tab tablet.(Credit: CNET TV)
Posted on 08/17/2010 10:23:17 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Some of the world's biggest electronics companies are readying an assault on the tablet market. But before they even begin, they find themselves at an early disadvantage.
Though Samsung, LG Electronics, Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Research In Motion, and Dell have announced or hinted at touchscreen tablets that will arrive between now and March 2011, they're way late to the party. Since the iPad's debut in April, Apple has built a huge lead in this category--in terms of actual devices sold but also in many consumers' minds.
Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Tab tablet.(Credit: CNET TV)
The category is new--a large touch-screen device bigger than a smartphone and running a lightweight operating system wasn't widely available to consumers prior to the iPad's introduction--but Apple got out of the gate and hasn't looked back. The company is selling about 1 million iPads per month and has not noticeably slackened its pace since.
The entire media tablet market is estimated to generate sales of just more than 12 million units by the end of 2010 and 25 million by the end of 2011, according to analyst firm IDC. Apple had sold more than 3 million by the end of June, and at that pace, Apple has likely sold about 4 million to date. That's almost a third of IDC's forecast for the year, and the all-important holiday shopping season is still ahead. So where exactly does that leave the latecomers?
(Excerpt) Read more at news.cnet.com ...
ping
“Though Samsung, LG Electronics, Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Research In Motion, and Dell have announced or hinted at touchscreen tablets that will arrive between now and March 2011, they’re way late to the party. Since the iPad’s debut in April, Apple has built a huge lead in this category—in terms of actual devices sold but also in many consumers’ minds. “
*groan*
#1 There is no “party” to be late to. Apple’s sales of this thing have slackened in the U.S., the only thing is that Apple purposely staggers the release to a few countries per month as to give the impression that “HOLY CRAP THEY ARE SELLING OUT ALL OVER!!!”.
#2 I think tech writers seriously need to quit with the iPom Pom tossing at this point seeing how an OS like Android has completely eaten the iPhone’s lunch after being written off as coming “late to the party”. WP7 is also going to be a strong player.
The moment the Android tablets hit the streets, it’s going to be the same story all over again. It’s not like the complete total of people that will ever buy a tablet HAVE bought one.
ping...
But they got a lot of competitors excited...
I am currently learning how to set up/convert the books and journals we’ve published where I work into an EPUB format.
Just like VHS was two years late to the “party.”
Proof? You make a bald assertion without proof. Apple is selling every iPad they can make. So if you have proof that sales of iPads have slackened in the Apple stores and the online stores or at the Apple partner retailers, post it. Don't just assert it ex cathedra.
#2 I think tech writers seriously need to quit with the iPom Pom tossing at this point seeing how an OS like Android has completely eaten the iPhone’s lunch after being written off as coming “late to the party”.
It has??? Not according to the profit picture—"Android's Pursuit of the Biggest Loser"— which finds that Apple's iPhone is taking home 48% of ALL profits from all mobile devices, smartphones and not-so-smart phones included. One of the conclusions of that article is:
"The lack of a real response. The recurring theme in this series of articles has been that giant multinational incumbents in a vast and rapidly growing industry, enjoying all the advantages that size and incumbency, have had their profits taken from them. And they don’t seem to have put up much of a fight."
That's hardly "eating" Apple's lunch. In fact, it looks like Apple is the one having a gourmet meal, while the others are begging on the corner with signs saying will sell phones for food. Finally, the article states:
"So how likely are these disrupted ex-giants to recover and take Android forward? My bet: slim to none. Android does not offer more than a lifeline. It is not a foundation for long-term profitability as it presumes the profits accrue to the network and possibly to Google. Profit evaporation out of devices to Google may be a possibility at some time in the future, but only if the devices don’t need too much attention to remain competitive. But because they’re still not good enough (and they won’t be for years to come), it’s certain that attention to detail is what will be most important to stay abreast of Apple."So here we have the real challenge to Android: partnership with defeated incumbents whose ability to build profitable and differentiated products is hamstrung by the licensing model and whose incentives to move up the steep trajectory of necessary improvements are limited.
In other words, Android’s licensees won’t have the profits or the motivation to spend on R&D so as to make exceptionally competitive products at a time when being competitive is what matters most."
WP7 is also going to be a strong player. . . The moment the Android tablets hit the streets, it’s going to be the same story all over again. It’s not like the complete total of people that will ever buy a tablet HAVE bought one.
Pie in the sky, by and by... it hasn't happened yet.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
If windows makes another zune then they are finished.
Marketshare is a myth.
If you have 99% marketshare and make $1% per item sold and I have 1% marketshare and make 99% per item sold, we are even.
Profits and capitalization are the key elements.
Has this made an appearance on FR?
I just heard about it today...touchscreen, 2 gig, running android-over-linux...maybe I just don’t get out much...
The bright and large 10.4-inch LCD Touchscreen provides you with a crisp clear image while allowing you to access and input data. This ViewSonic V212-003 may be small in size but not on features like a CompactFlash card slot, three USB ports, VGA and audio ports giving you a wide range of connectivity options. You also have the freedom to access PC files and applications from anywhere within your wireless network
Your Price: $184.99
Geeks.com
#1 Engadget was just recently talking about this very thing. Apple’s “shortage” is due to them not making too many in part because sales slowed in the U.S., and they keep adding new countries to keep the sales going and thus causing a strain on their existing supply.
#2 Apparently you missed the articles show Android phones outselling Apple’s device. Oh, That’s why you shifted to “look at the profits Apple makes!” as some way of covering for that.
I’ve seen Apple people go bat-shift crazy with all types of excuses. Are you going to whine about bogo sales and 100 different Android models too?
“Pie in the sky, by and by... it hasn’t happened yet.”
Yeah, you are way too devoted to you Apple gadgets to the point where you get too hot under the collar over consumer choice and competition.
I suppose that is why you use their stuff.
How about some links? #1: Critics are ALWAYS claiming this without proof... and are always shot down when the facts come out.
#2: I haven't missed anything... there are too many articles... but there are over 100 million iOS devices already out there, and Apple sold 1.7 million iPhone4s in the first weekend... and Android's new flagship Evo sold only 150,000. One tenth the number. Wow. Underwhelming.
#1 I heard it on the Engadget podcast.
#2 Now you are trying to pull the “count every IOS device ever sold since 2007 trick”, somehow assuming every one of them are still in use. They are not. And they are not all phones.
Android has 200,000 activations per day according to them. Iphone is not selling 200,000 phones per day everyday from now until next June regardless of what they sold on 1 weekend. From what I read the majority of those sales were upgrades anyway.
Android usage has shot up 800% and hasn’t ebb one inch. Sorry, but those are facts.
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