Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Android Tablets Gaining Marketshare

kas23

kas23

macrumors 603
Original poster
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
I'll be honest, I didn't really see this coming so soon. Apple's going to have to change their once-a-year release schedule if they plan to keep up (to a new Android tablet that's going to be popping up each month). It doesn't even seem like there are Android-based tablets on the market yet and yet they eroding Apple's dominance of the tablet market.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...ets-gain-on-apple-ipad-in-fourth-quarter.html
 
kas23 said:
I'll be honest, I didn't really see this coming so soon. Apple's going to have to change their once-a-year release schedule if they plan to keep up (to a new Android tablet that's going to be popping up each month). It doesn't even seem like there are Android-based tablets on the market yet and yet they eroding Apple's dominance of the tablet market.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...ets-gain-on-apple-ipad-in-fourth-quarter.html
Click to expand...

Apple right now is really the only company putting out tablets. So any new tablets in the market are going to "erode market share" when starting from such a dominate position.
 
Android is gaining market share? Are these editors stupid or something? It's impossible to apple to maintain their market share like 95%.
So, they went from 95% to 85%. Big deal.

Android OS is not proven in Tablet.
Their OS is way too fragmented.
Their OS never gets updated on certain devices.
Companies like Samsung and LG cannot be trusted in android. They don't update their softwares to date.

I refuse to buy Android tablet until these issues are resolved.
 
hcho3 said:
543.jpg
Android is gaining market share? Are these editors stupid or something? It's impossible to apple to maintain their market share like 95%.
So, they went from 95% to 85%. Big deal.

Android OS is not proven in Tablet.
Their OS is way too fragmented.
Their OS never gets updated on certain devices.
Companies like Samsung and LG cannot be trusted in android. They don't update their softwares to date.

I refuse to buy Android tablet until these issues are resolved.
Click to expand...

Haters gonna hate...

Android is good stuff.
 
hcho3 said:
Android is gaining market share? Are these editors stupid or something? It's impossible to apple to maintain their market share like 95%.
So, they went from 95% to 85%. Big deal.

Android OS is not proven in Tablet.
Their OS is way too fragmented.
Their OS never gets updated on certain devices.
Companies like Samsung and LG cannot be trusted in android. They don't update their softwares to date.

I refuse to buy Android tablet until these issues are resolved.
Click to expand...

Lets hope this doesn't happen with tablets too...

elan123 said:
Haters gonna hate...

Android is good stuff.
Click to expand...

Have you ever used an Android phone? Once it gets a little old, manufacturers don't care to update. Most of them don't want to root it/manually install. That reason completely makes sense.

To the OP: Well Apple cannot maintain such a huge market share for long. Now Apple has a global share of 75% and when Honeycomb comes out I'm sure it'll drop to ~50%. Even with Android Foryo which isn't optimized for tablets, they've an impressive 25% share which shows that if Apple doesn't offer some good features, people will move. That means they can't give crap 256MB RAM and 1MP camera when everyone else is offering better than this.
 
Given that this market was non-existent a year ago it's going to take some time to gauge market share (90% of the planned tablets haven't really hit the market yet). And given the potential for the "market" overall, Apple's unlikely to keep the lion's share but even a minority share of the overall market will likely be huge.
 
jmpnop said:
Lets hope this doesn't happen with tablets too...



Have you ever used an Android phone? Once it gets a little old, manufacturers don't care to update. Most of them don't want to root it/manually install. That reason completely makes sense.

To the OP: Well Apple cannot maintain such a huge market share for long. Now Apple has a global share of 75% and when Honeycomb comes out I'm sure it'll drop to ~50%. Even with Android Foryo which isn't optimized for tablets, they've an impressive 25% share which shows that if Apple doesn't offer some good features, people will move. That means they can't give crap 256MB RAM and 1MP camera when everyone else is offering better than this.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have an EVO... its been updated twice is the last 6 months automatically.
 
elan123 said:
Yes, I have an EVO... its been updated twice is the last 6 months automatically.
Click to expand...

I'm not talking about the high-end popular phones. Take for example, Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, it just got 2.1, when will it get 2.3? I doubt they'll even update.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no Apple fanboy or Android hater, infact I like Android. Its a problem that manufacturers have to sort out and no problem from Google's side.

The only thing I don't like about Android is stock Android UI:D
 
Once Honeycomb really gets moving, and onto whole range of big consumer name products that many love, Asus, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony, Creative, Motorola, etc etc, specs good, prices good, I expect things to really start moving big style.

Apple are complacent with their iMac as they have their "design" so they don't have to worry and are happy with their corner of the market.

If Apple thinks it can just sit on it's lead and do they typical minor upgrade once a year and they will keep their 12 month advantage then I think they are in for a bucket load of cold harsh reality to be thrown over them in the not too distant future.

They have a one lap lead and Android if only just off the starting blocks, hopping on one leg right now, but when Honeycomb and new designs hit, they are going to be aiming right for the leader.

If Apple wants to slow down and start waving to the crowd as they think they are too far ahead to be beat, well, lets see what another 24 months bring.

It's going to take a while, I've no doubt. You don't catch the leader with your 1st burst of speed, that would be arrogant to assume so. But when the sales numbers start climbing, the devs will want to write more, the tablet specific apps will grow, which in turn will look nice to potential customers and so it will loop round.

It's going to be interesting.
 
hcho3 said:
Their OS is way too fragmented.
Click to expand...
How so?

Please define what exactly is fragmented and how that impacts the consumer and developer?

As I see it, the consumer has apps that run, they are not impacted by this so called "fragmentation"

Developers don't seem to be terribly affected, especially if they write software for the latest and greatest version of the OS.

I mean you could also make the argument that iOS is quite fragmented with the iPhone 3 which is quite different then the 3GS which is different then 4. You also have various versions of iOS that the developer may need to worry about. All the same arguments that people use against android apply to iOS.
 
Last edited:
poloponies said:
Does Samsung have its thumb on the scale? According to WSJ, "2 million shipped" is a lot less sold:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/01/31/samsung-galaxy-tab-sales-actually-quite-small/
Click to expand...

Uh, not exactly. The article linked by the OP does just measure shipments from manufacturers rather than sell-through to consumers so by that metric, yes, Android took 22 percent of shipments. The problem comes when the majority of those 2 million units are still sitting on retailers shelves (and considering the near-constant price cuts on the Tab which makes up the bulk of those units it seems likely) whereas the iPad is moving through pretty darn quickly.

Eh, end of the day people need to realise Android WILL take the bulk market. That's inevitable when you have dozens of products from multiple manufacturers all up against a single manufacturer. The key, as in the smartphone market, is who makes the profit and Apple are well placed to avoid the race to the bottom.
 
Well I have to say based on my experience with Samsung software on my Blu Ray--they are not ready for prime time when it comes to software development. :eek:
 
smiddlehurst said:
Uh, not exactly. The article linked by the OP does just measure shipments from manufacturers rather than sell-through to consumers so by that metric, yes, Android took 22 percent of shipments. The problem comes when the majority of those 2 million units are still sitting on retailers shelves (and considering the near-constant price cuts on the Tab which makes up the bulk of those units it seems likely) whereas the iPad is moving through pretty darn quickly.

Eh, end of the day people need to realise Android WILL take the bulk market. That's inevitable when you have dozens of products from multiple manufacturers all up against a single manufacturer. The key, as in the smartphone market, is who makes the profit and Apple are well placed to avoid the race to the bottom.
Click to expand...

Apple's Q4 is "sold" not "shipped".
 
I believe that in the next months and years that Android will gain a much bigger market share than what it already has. Thi shas nothing to do with how good the iPad is or will become. It is just the business model that Google follows. The tablet market will grow and most OEMs will select Android as their tablet OS of choice.
I think at the end we will see market shares like in the smartphone market. Apple will remain a strong player, but others will come and take their share.
 
smiddlehurst said:
Eh, end of the day people need to realise Android WILL take the bulk market. That's inevitable when you have dozens of products from multiple manufacturers all up against a single manufacturer. The key, as in the smartphone market, is who makes the profit and Apple are well placed to avoid the race to the bottom.
Click to expand...

No kidding. You might as well say 'plastic cellphone bodies are massively outselling the iPhone's glass and aluminum housing, clearly Apple is falling behind, will Apple be able to handle this!!!'
 
One point of validation on the update, re: they are shipping a lot more than they are actually selling.

I bought my daughter an iPhone just before Christmas. I asked the ATT rep if they sold many Xooms, he said hardly any. I asked if they sold many iPads, he said hell yes!

Anyway, a bit anecdotal, but the number of shipments are misleading. People shouldn't be directly correlating shipments to actual sales, but the truth in numbers will eventually come out. Retailers aren't going to continue ordering if customers aren't actually purchasing.
 
poloponies said:
Apple's Q4 is "sold" not "shipped".
Click to expand...

See I'm not so sure about that. Oh, don't get me wrong, the majority of their sales will indeed be sold not shipped because they come from their direct sales channel (i.e. Apple stores and on-line) but I'd be very surprised if all of the resellers reported actual sales figures, it'd certainly be a rare arrangement if that was the case. Either way I'd expect a small discrepency between actual units sold and reported figures.

Carouser said:
No kidding. You might as well say 'plastic cellphone bodies are massively outselling the iPhone's glass and aluminum housing, clearly Apple is falling behind, will Apple be able to handle this!!!'
Click to expand...

However as that's pretty much exactly what a lot of people HAVE been saying about Android in the smartphone space I thought it worth pointing out... :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
smiddlehurst said:
See I'm not so sure about that. Oh, don't get me wrong, the majority of their sales will indeed be sold not shipped because they come from their direct sales channel (i.e. Apple stores and on-line) but I'd be very surprised if all of the resellers reported actual sales figures, it'd certainly be a rare arrangement if that was the case. Either way I'd expect a small discrepency between actual units sold and reported figures.
Click to expand...

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/01/31/android-grabs-22-tablet-share-not/#more-50378


According to Apple's fiscal Q1 2011 quarterly report, it sold 7.3 million iPads in roughly the same time period and was left with 525,000 more iPads in inventory than last quarter.
Click to expand...
 
felch said:
Since when has Apple cared about marketshare? Marketshare =/= Profit.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Nintendo and Apple are the only two companies that I closely follow that care more about Profit than Marketshare. Sure marketshare is nice because it means more revenue/profit, but they are both able to sustain their ideologies and business without being in first or even second place.
 
I agree with those that say that the market share issue might not be a big deal because we are dealing with a brand new market and therefore there is room for multiple companies.

However, those that do not think these android tablets will be significant competitors are completely off base. I consider myself a Mac power user. I own 3 modern macbook pros, a mac mini, and 2 iPads. I am also heavily invested in the iOS AppStore, yet i still use a first generation motorola droid. And the only reason is because android like iOS is awesome. These tablets look really nice and are only going to get better and more common due to googles brilliant open os.

Sure the ipad will remain popular but i really think it is time for apple to get more aggressive and give their customers better value. If iphone 5 for example is not on verizons lte network i will be very disappointed. Same goes if there are not significant upgrade to ipad for its next release. I am getting sick of apple being content with the status quo in so many ways. Sure the company is amazing at big picture innovation but it is frustrating that they overlook so many of the little things.
 
maflynn said:
How so?

Please define what exactly is fragmented and how that impacts the consumer and developer?

As I see it, the consumer has apps that run, they are not impacted by this so called "fragmentation"

Developers don't seem to be terribly affected, especially if they write software for the latest and greatest version of the OS.

I mean you could also make the argument that iOS is quite fragmented with the iPhone 3 which is quite different then the 3GS which is different then 4. You also have various versions of iOS that the developer may need to worry about. All the same arguments that people use against android apply to iOS.
Click to expand...
Obviously you have Droid X and you would argue all day. But, the facts are facts. Most of android phones are not updated by google or manufacturers.

Explain why Android 2.3 OS it out, but it is not out for other Android phones? Why? That's fragmentation. Talk about Gingerbread OS is very snappy, but why aren't these Galaxy S phones, Droid phones and other devices do not have 2.3? Why do they still have 2.1 or 2.2?

The consumer should not have to root their devices to get the latest software. Google sucks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back