Android tablets, successful or not?

I see a mixture of both around, not sure how accurate these figures are but they look genuine

http://www.zdnet.com/new-activation-numbers-show-android-tablets-catching-up-to-ipad-7000003898/

It does show iPad still along way in front, but Android tablets are doing pretty good

People want Android Tablets Cheaper, and retail staff are bolloxes.

You have never heard of the Amazon Kindle Fire ? Nexus 7 ? Samsung Galaxy Tab ?


There are a rake of good Tablets with android...

The problem however is there is also an absolute ***** load of Android Tablets that are so basic specced (because they are sold cheap) but they make the Android experience one that is better 'not experienced'....

I got a phone call today from someone asking me what did I think of the prestigo multipad pro, as they were told by Staff in Harvey Normans that it was better than an iPad because it had a memory card holder, and it could display more pixels than an ipad could, and the iPad can't be connected to a camera for viewing photos...

I checked the specs and had to tell the person Harvey Normans were bulshitting them. That it was single core and under powered, whilst it had same resolution as iPad 2 it did not best the iPad 3... Fact's that the shops 'experts' failed to even tell the customer.

So much misinformation to sell a poor device but with bigger store profit margins, which if the customer did purchase, they would have had a crappy choppy experience of Android and one that gave a bad impression of what Android Tablets can do.


I told them if they wanted an Android tablet on a budget to get the Nexus 7, and if they weren't in a rush, wait and see how much the ipad mini will retail for, and then decide themselves then...


Consumers seem to expect Android tablets to be cheap because of the crappy budget models that stores are ripping people off with.

There are many great Android tablets, the Galaxy Note 10.1 however is more expensive here than the cheapest ipad 2 and ipad 3.... Seems from my experience people buying Android tablets want them and more over 'expect them' to be cheaper than the ipad.

When I decide to buy my first tablet I compared the Motorola Xoom and iPad 2. This is a nexus tablet an Androids first really.

It's specs were a lot better then the iPad 2 so I went for it. (Higher PPI screen, stereo speakers, LTE, bigger screen, camera had a flash, better cameras, more ram, hdmi out, USB with USB hosting, sd card slot, etc etc).

At first I regretted it so I also got an iPad 2 (sold that and now have a 3) but after using the iPad I quickly got bored. My gf uses the iPad and I prefer the Xoom even today. I really wanted to get the N7 but it doesn't have cellular data and I use the Xoom for a wireless hotspot quite often.

I'm going to continue to use an Android tablet over Apples offerings even though I prefer a 4S as my current phone. I just need a new nexus tablet with cellular on Verizon's network before I upgrade.

I have yet to see a TV commercial for an Android tablet. All of the Android commercials I have seen are for phones. Marketing for Android tablets are pretty much non-existent. The only marketing for non-Android tablets I've seen last year was for the BlackBerry Playbook.

I personally chose to get the Asus Transformer. The main reason is for the excellent keyboard dock. The tablet itself is also pretty nice. The reason for choosing the Transformer over the iPad 2 at the time is that I tend to do a lot of typing. A physical keyboard is simply better for input than any on screen keyboard.

galaxy note 10.1 commercial on all the time


I love android tablets but to be honest Windows 8 tablets will blow ipad and android tabs out of the water. A full OS in tablet form is going to be awesome. Going to actually not need a desktop or laptop computer.

Just got a nexus 7 and I am really impressed. I wanted a smaller tablet for reading and for aviation and car gps. Really works nicely and is much smoother than the android products I had a couple years ago.

$25 google market credit on a $200 product makes it an even better deal.

I think the kindle fire and nexus 7 are two tablets that are quite popular. Other then that, I think android tablets have failed to grab the consumer.

Android tablets are a flop.

Technarchy said:

Android tablets are a flop.

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Oh! Thanks for the heads up. I'm glad to know that every single one of them are a flop. I'm just curious as to what you're basing this on. Is it total number of all Android based tablets sold? Or is it based on one specific Android based tablet sold compared to another tablet? Or are you just saying you think they suck in general but don't have any real basis for this opinion other than it's based on Android software?

Technarchy said:

Android tablets are a flop.

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lol


Last year iPad made up 81% of tablets owned, now they make up only 52% and Android has powered up to 48%. Yeah they're a flop.

Man you must be hiding in a cave then lol.

For me, there's no tablet out there that is as functional, and useful as the iPad.

I don't think I've ever seen someone use an Android tablet in real life. Even my friend, a total Google fan, thinks that the iPad beats all of them.

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BoxerGT2.5 said:

lol


Last year iPad made up 81% of tablets owned, now they make up only 52% and Android has powered up to 48%. Yeah they're a flop.

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The Android tablets have been slow to come out.

Stuntman06 said:

I have yet to see a TV commercial for an Android tablet. All of the Android commercials I have seen are for phones. Marketing for Android tablets are pretty much non-existent. The only marketing for non-Android tablets I've seen last year was for the BlackBerry Playbook.

I personally chose to get the Asus Transformer. The main reason is for the excellent keyboard dock. The tablet itself is also pretty nice. The reason for choosing the Transformer over the iPad 2 at the time is that I tend to do a lot of typing. A physical keyboard is simply better for input than any on screen keyboard.

Click to expand...

I see Nexus 7 and Note commercials all the time. I have a Nexus 7 and I love it. My iPad 2 now sits in its stand collecting dust. I like the 7 inch form factor and for the most part apps are not an issue. It's very smooth, the battery lasts as long as my iPad and the screen is excellent. The only thing I wish it had is LTE/3G. I'll see what the iPad mini will be be like and at what price. If it doesn't do anything for me I'll get the next Nexus 7 which will reportedly have cellular connectivity.

kiltedthrower said:

Oh! Thanks for the heads up. I'm glad to know that every single one of them are a flop. I'm just curious as to what you're basing this on. Is it total number of all Android based tablets sold? Or is it based on one specific Android based tablet sold compared to another tablet? Or are you just saying you think they suck in general but don't have any real basis for this opinion other than it's based on Android software?

Click to expand...

Define success? iPad has it. Android tablets don't

Market share? iPad
Web Traffic? iPad
Revenue? iPad
Customer satisfaction? iPad
Repeat customers? iPad
Aftermarket support? iPad
App development? iPad
App support? iPad

Where exactly are android tablets successful. Absolutely nowhere, and going nowhere fast with Windows 8 about to jump in.

Technarchy said:

Define success? iPad has it. Android tablets don't

Market share? iPad
Web Traffic? iPad
Revenue? iPad
Customer satisfaction? iPad
Repeat customers? iPad
Aftermarket support? iPad
App development? iPad
App support? iPad

Where exactly are android tablets successful. Absolutely nowhere, and going nowhere fast with Windows 8 about to jump in.

Click to expand...

If we go by some of that, then my Dell laptop is more successful for OKC teachers than any other product because every single OKC teacher has one and it works well.

The Nexus 7 I have seems to get plenty of web traffic hits. It's powered by Google, and Google seems to get a few users using it's search function. I don't know anyone with a Nexus 7 that's not happy with it. The people I know that have bought a Nexus 7 also bought one for another family member ro friend. I don't know about aftermarket support. I haven't found an app that I needed that hasn't been developed. And apps that I have are updated as needed. Revenue? I have no idea. I can't careless which is making what money. I use what meets my needs and is hassle free.

kingmohd84 said:

I have never seen an Android tablets. I am guessing its just an Android phone with a huge screen, just like the iPad is an iphone with a huge screen.

While I have seen many people prefer Android phones over iphones, infact I heard that S3 is the most successful smart phone sales wise, I dont hear the same oing for Android tablets.

Why do you think that we still have not seen an Android tablet that competes aggressively against the iPad like the S3 is competing against iphone?

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Part of it is the fact that there aren't many apps rescaled to take full advantage of a tablet size screen. It's mostly pixel-doubled phone apps, which doesn't usually look good.

Besides the Nexus 7, I don't think there's another worthy tablet alternative to the iPad. Even Eric Schmidt kind of disappointingly admitted the weak sales of Android tablets at the last Motorola event.

Technarchy said:

Android tablets are a flop.

Click to expand...

BoxerGT2.5 said:

lol


Last year iPad made up 81% of tablets owned, now they make up only 52% and Android has powered up to 48%. Yeah they're a flop.

Click to expand...

Both of you posted big claims but provide no data to back them up. Obviously one of you is right and the other is wrong.

BoxerGT2.5, you did post some numbers, got a link to the site that gave those numbers? Being serious, not trolling.

ChrisTX said:

For me, there's no tablet out there that is as functional, and useful as the iPad.

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Why is that? Have you tried other tablets?

kingmohd84 said:

I do not know why people will say Android phone is better than iphone because it can do so much but iPad is better than Android tablets. Aren't both ipad and Android tablet the same OS just with a bigger screen?

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Essentially yes. I have a tablet; Nexus 7, and a Galaxy Nexus phone. Both are almost identical, but I like the larger screen of the Nexus 7 for web browsing and what not. Honestly I'm not a huge fan of using smart phones as a web device. That goes for both iPhone/iPod Touch and Android. Yes it's nice to have when you're out and about, but having a tablet that's much more portable than a "big" laptop is much better IMO.

tech4all said:

Both of you posted big claims but provide no data to back them up. Obviously one of you is right and the other is wrong.

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You can tell when android tablet makers actually start touting their sales numbers. None do because they're horrid.

Technarchy said:

You can tell when android tablet makers actually start touting their sales numbers. None do because they're horrid.

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So sales numbers alone are the basis for quality?

Which Android based tablets have you used for more than a few hours?

How do we qualify successful? The question isn't "is Android based tablet A, B, or C more successful than tablet X, Y, and Z?" It's "are Android tablets successful?" I'd say some are and some are not. Isn't customer satisfaction and profit margins a part of being successful?

kingmohd84 said:

Other than being able to add extra memory for cheap(SD cards), what do you think is an advantage of an Android tablet? (If you say peripherals and USB/HDMI , I understand that there are accessories that you can attach to your ipad to fix this? )

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An open system. I can stream content to my (or anyone's) PS3, Xbox, or any media server without ATV, or even with ATV.

USB is nice like you mentioned. If you plug a mouse into an Android device an actual mouse cursor pops up on the screen. Anything works, keyboards, game controllers (Xbox, ps3, wiimote but that's using BT), etc.

You can have adobe flash if you choose. So when browsing a forum the video actually plays in the box that was posted so you can continue to read and listen and watch the video.

Easy downloading outside the market. So you can download files you may want for another device or computer then share it later or with Dropbox or something. This also makes it easy to download and run game roms. This is N64's Goldeneye hooked to my TV I also have the basics like Mario and etc too PS 1 games.



I really prefer the widgets on a tablet. The screen is way to big just to have icons. I can't really show you a picture because my email widgets are on there but it's nice to have live data (email, Facebook, stocks, weather, etc) in that space not just static icons.

A lot of Google apps are watered down on iOS and are really nice on Android. Esp. maps which seems to be the biggest current topic.

This stuff doesn't require root. I guess I could get a lot of that functionality by jail breaking but I don't think I should have too.

kiltedthrower said:

So sales numbers alone are the basis for quality?

Which Android based tablets have you used for more than a few hours?

How do we qualify successful? The question isn't "is Android based tablet A, B, or C more successful than tablet X, Y, and Z?" It's "are Android tablets successful?" I'd say some are and some are not. Isn't customer satisfaction and profit margins a part of being successful?

Click to expand...

Mull it over however you till some semi-palatable answer for android tablet "success" sorta makes sense.

Android tablets are a flop, and there is no company provided information presented to suggest otherwise. If they had it, we'd know it.

If you've got some company provided sales figures to prove otherwise, I'd love to read it.

And the Nexus 7 doesn't even have enough clout to muster a decent distribution network, so don't expect any sudden sales magic there.