HP Reenters Tablet Market With $169 Android-Based 'Slate 7' as LG Acquires WebOS for TVs

[ActionJax]

I've found these wide-screen tablets to be an absolute displeasure to use.

[Rogifan]

Why do people always go to Apple D&G every time someone else announces a new product? Yeah we know the market is being flooded with low cost Android phones and tablets. It's impossible for Apple to compete with that. I think the
last thing an Apple fan should want is to see them competing in a race to the bottom.

As far as this HP slate, why would someone buy this over a Nexus 7? Or the new Asus and Lenovo 7" android tablets coming out? Seems to me HP is just throwing stuff out there just because they need to be in the tablet space too.

[sachinwalia]

to do or not to do? Make up your mind HP.

[Casiotone]

Obviously, once the iPad mini retina is released, Apple will continue to sell the non-retina mini at a reduced price ($199-$229). And while it will be still more expensive than this HP tablet, it will feature a noticeably bigger screen without being much larger.

[TallManNY]

Boy that Android tablet market is going to be pretty darn crowded. HP knows how to play in the low margin, high volume area. So it has played this game and won for years in the PC market. But how can they compete when Amazon and Google can sell their versions at a loss based on the other revenue streams from their ecosystem? How do they compete with Samsung when these items are the crowning jewel products of a massive empire?

[dannyyankou]

The screen is too small and the bezel is too big.

[walterg74]

Great, just what the world needs... another android tablet...

[daverobeson]

Originally Posted by AZREOSpecialist

I have sent emails to Tim Cook begging Apple to do something, anything, to counter this rising tide of dissatisfaction among consumers and especially the media and stock analysts.

Boy, I'll bet that's keeping him up late.

[SmileyBlast!]

That price is really aggressive.
Such slim margins?!
Have they figured out how to build this thing for $50.00?
Can they really make a profit at this?

[Rogifan]

Originally Posted by TallManNY

Boy that Android tablet market is going to be pretty darn crowded. HP knows how to play in the low margin, high volume area. So it has played this game and won for years in the PC market. But how can they compete when Amazon and Google can sell their versions at a loss based on the other revenue streams from their ecosystem? How do they compete with Samsung when these items are the crowning jewel products of a massive empire?

Tim Cook was right when he said it seems like every day someone is releasing a new tablet. . At MWC we got new tablets from Samsung, Asus, Sony, Lenovo, Acer and HP. Apple has a real opportunity here to differentiate itself even more. I just hope Tim Cook doesn't bow to Wall Street and try to compete with all of this. I mean Samsung just announced 3 new phones in their Galaxy line - Galaxy Grand, Galaxy Young and Galaxy Fame. This is along with the new Galaxy Note 8.0 and the new S4 coming out next month. Keep it simple Apple.

[macMD]

Originally Posted by ArtOfWarfare

It took a lot of digging but I found these two stats of interest:

1024 x 600 is the resolution
8 GB is how much memory is built in for $169.

It's running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) so it's at least one version old already (4.2 - Key Lime Pie has already been released.)

Android 4.2.2 IS still Jelly Bean and not Key Lime Pie so its still running Jelly Bean and nothing but Nexus devices are actually shipping with 4.2.2.

[i.mac]

Originally Posted by walterg74

Great, just what the world needs... another android tablet...

For the price (soon to be $99), with GPS and wifi, put wheels on it and it becomes a good robot platform.

[QCassidy352]

Originally Posted by mw360

How many flagship market changing products has Apple ever had? How many years elapsed between the release of each?

Thank you. I'm so sick of people who have this fanciful belief that apple at some point released a new category-defining product every year. Here's my short list:

Apple II - 1977
Macintosh - 1984
iMac - 1998
iPod - 2001
iPhone - 2007
iPad - 2010

Let's knock out the first two as too old to matter for this analysis (arguably the CRT iMac too, but whatever. Doesn't change the analysis that much). So we're looking at 3-6 years between entirely new product categories. Nothing strange about apple not having a new product line since the iPad.

Also, apple will not and should not race to the bottom. If HP and others want to take a loss turning out cheap crap to get market share, good for them. Apple has never played that game - which is why they have $140b in cash, and dell failed as a public company.

[i.mac]

Originally Posted by Rogifan

Tim Cook was right when he said it seems like every day someone is releasing a new tablet. . At MWC we got new tablets from Samsung, Asus, Sony, Lenovo, Acer and HP. Apple has a real opportunity here to differentiate itself even more. I just hope Tim Cook doesn't bow to Wall Street and try to compete with all of this. I mean Samsung just announced 3 new phones in their Galaxy line - Galaxy Grand, Galaxy Young and Galaxy Fame. This is along with the new Galaxy Note 8.0 and the new S4 coming out next month. Keep it simple Apple.

You're correct. A Robin will always be a beautiful bird in a crowd of crows. Likewise ioDevices in the sea of pandroid devices.

----------

Originally Posted by QCassidy352

Thank you. I'm so sick of people who have this fanciful belief that apple at some point released a new category-defining product every year. Here's my short list:

Apple II - 1977
Macintosh - 1984
iMac - 1998
iPod - 2001
iPhone - 2007
iPad - 2010

And every one else's "innovation" and "convergence of design" follows the same pattern.

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by garybUK

What is with HP and HTC's obsession with Beats Audio... you've just turned off any potential buyers who want a half decent sounding tablet....

Can't you just turn off the EQ and phase effects and be left with accurate sound? Or does Beats Audio mean that the basic DAC/output stage are garbage?

I thought that it was just some kind of gee-whiz DSP that could be gotten rid of.

[aristotle]

Why are they calling it a "Slate"? Isn't that Microsoft's terminology?

[Amazing Iceman]

A nice little Tablet for many possible uses.

[gkarris]

I've always had great luck with HP computers. Nice that they are leading the way with lower-cost tablets.

I can see these things on sale for $149, then eventually drop to $129 or even $99....

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by Semester

I've seen a lot of complaining about the resolution. But be aware. At 170 the PPI is better than on the iPad mini.

Since when has Apple said that PPI is an important factor in the User Experience of a device's screen?

I mean, that is, since the MiniPad came out, when has Apple ever said that?

[Popeye206]

Originally Posted by Rogifan

Tim Cook was right when he said it seems like every day someone is releasing a new tablet. . At MWC we got new tablets from Samsung, Asus, Sony, Lenovo, Acer and HP. Apple has a real opportunity here to differentiate itself even more. I just hope Tim Cook doesn't bow to Wall Street and try to compete with all of this. I mean Samsung just announced 3 new phones in their Galaxy line - Galaxy Grand, Galaxy Young and Galaxy Fame. This is along with the new Galaxy Note 8.0 and the new S4 coming out next month. Keep it simple Apple.

I agree!

Last thing Apple needs to do is join the race to the bottom. Samsung has been doing a great job with the Galaxy S, but I think having too many models too quickly will just cause customers to go into overload and before you know it, they will once again, just be another Android based solution fighting for their share.

I hope Apple just lets them have their fun and in the mean time, works on wow'ing us once again with a killer iOS update this spring!

[Krazy Bill]

Originally Posted by AZREOSpecialist

Apple is in big trouble. Maybe not right now, but it's around the corner.

Yep. Nobody cares who was first. Just ask Xerox and Netscape.

in fact nothing - new is coming out of Cupertino to give stockholders and consumers hope for the future....

...I have sent emails to Tim Cook begging Apple to do something, anything, to counter this rising tide of dissatisfaction among consumers and especially the media and stock analysts.

If you're speaking as a stockholder I understand. If not... they're just electronic gizmos dude. Apple's demise would not be the end of the world. Indeed, if history repeats (and it always does in these matters), Apple's dominance is waning.

[Rodster]

Originally Posted by Rogifan

As far as this HP slate, why would someone buy this over a Nexus 7? Or the new Asus and Lenovo 7" android tablets coming out? Seems to me HP is just throwing stuff out there just because they need to be in the tablet space too.

Possibly QC which the Nexus 7 is pretty suspect. It took me 5-6 tries before I found a N7 without screen lift. And if the Slate 7 can come with 16GB for $169 it undercuts the N7.

----------

Originally Posted by Krazy Bill

Apple's demise would not be the end of the world. Indeed, if history repeats (and it always does in these matters), Apple's dominance is waning.

Apple isn't going anywhere anytime soon and they'll dominate the tablet space for years to come. But hopefully they'll come out with a kick ass new product we haven't seen before.

[QCassidy352]

Originally Posted by Krazy Bill

If you're speaking as a stockholder I understand. If not... they're just electronic gizmos dude. Apple's demise would not be the end of the world. Indeed, if history repeats (and it always does in these matters), Apple's dominance is waning.

Point of fact: apple has never had a "dominant" market position with respect to any product category except MP3 players and (very briefly) tablets. Apple will not meet its "demise" if it holds only a 50%, or 25%, or 15% share of the tablet market. They have had a much lower % of the pc market for many years and done just fine.

Let's not forget that apple makes more profit than the entire rest of the industry in some of the product categories in which it competes. They will lose some market share because they refuse to race to the bottom, but if you think that's "demise," you have a strange understanding of that term.

[Rogifan]

Originally Posted by Popeye206

I agree!

Last thing Apple needs to do is join the race to the bottom. Samsung has been doing a great job with the Galaxy S, but I think having too many models too quickly will just cause customers to go into overload and before you know it, they will once again, just be another Android based solution fighting for their share.

I hope Apple just lets them have their fun and in the mean time, works on wow'ing us once again with a killer iOS update this spring!

This is a perfect opportunity for Apple to really differentiate itself. And I don't think hardware is where they need to do it. It's software and services. I think Tim Cook knows this hence the org change last year.

[odedia]

"HP is the number one PC manufacturer in the world, and we want to be the number one computer vendor in the world."

Really, you REALLY want to be the number one computer vendor? Just a year ago you announced you're leaving the computer business altogether, only to change your mind a few weeks later.

Why would someone pay money for a company that doesn't even have a clue what it wants to be?