I am in market for smaller iPad

[poloponies]

Thank you for the correction; however, the Kindle Fire alone has sold at least 2 million, which is still relatively good. (http://www.pcworld.com/article/247097/kindle_fire_helps_amazon_set_holiday_sales_record.html)

Again, that's not a hard number, just speculation on sales of the Fire so far (since its introduction 13 weeks ago). I for one, am surprised at such a low number. It's a decent $200 device and if there's an enormous market for small-format tablets then I would have expected this to sell like hotcakes.

 

[fertilized-egg]

Thank you for the correction; however, the Kindle Fire alone has sold at least 2 million, which is still relatively good. (http://www.pcworld.com/article/247097/kindle_fire_helps_amazon_set_holiday_sales_record.html)

I think the author of that article made exactly the type of mistake Amazon intended: there are at least 5 different Kindles if not more, depending on Amazon classifies each Kindle category(Amazon has: Kindle Fire, Kindle, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Keyboard 3G, Kindle DX), which means Kindle fire could've sold around 500,000 and still be the "best" selling model.

It's the same thing as Kindle Fire being the best selling tablet on Amazon because all the different iPad models(16g, 32g, wifi, 3g, etc) were counted separately.

Even if it sold 2 million, which isn't really likely seeing how Amazon is trying to obfuscate the number, it's a bit disappointing for such highly anticipated tablet in terms of sales with a very low price tag. I wonder if the tablet market is even weaker than we had all assumed.

As for the 7" iPad, I'm sure there is a sizable market for that device just as there's a market for 5" phones. But for now it's a bit of a niche market and the gross margin will be lower than it is for the larger iPad. I personally don't think Apple will go into that market this year.

 

[poloponies]

I wonder if the tablet market is even weaker than we had all assumed.

I don't think you can draw that conclusion from these results. I think there are many buyers who have expectations that haven't yet been met. A lot of people were burned on the netbook craze and aren't just assuming a $200-$300 purchase will give them a rewarding experience.

 

[fertilized-egg]

I don't think you can draw that conclusion from these results. ... $200-$300

At $200-300, I doubt there's much of a tablet market except the bottom-feeding 7" models (and cheapos like Archos) because companies simply cannot get enough profit from selling the devices that that price. Even Samsung and Asus, who usually try to be fairly aggressive in pricing and have the largest economies of scale, are staying around $400-500 with their new tablets. Maybe when the components prices drop more, but with the upcoming high resolution display trend, I don't think the components price will fall that quickly.

 

[iEvolution]

At $200-300, I doubt there's much of a tablet market except the bottom-feeding 7" models (and cheapos like Archos) because companies simply cannot get enough profit from selling the devices that that price. Even Samsung and Asus, who usually try to be fairly aggressive in pricing and have the largest economies of scale, are staying around $400-500 with their new tablets. Maybe when the components prices drop more, but with the upcoming high resolution display trend, I don't think the components price will fall that quickly.

You're right the cheapies don't have a large enough profit margin for many of the companies however they cant be like samsung and charge an apple premium for a device that isn't even a blemish on the map.

The only other company that has the right idea is amazon, low sale price with future profit gain from content purchases. This is the only way a competitor even has a shot at breaking apple's hold and as a owner of an amazon fire I think amazon made a mistake of not going with a open build of android because app development has been pretty slow with their closed system.

I think amazon could have benefited with a premium model with more space and extras too and sold that for $300, I feel they low balled the device a little too much for its own good.

Microsoft could have also had a shot but once again they are too late to the game and its gonna cost them another zune-like failure (I loved the zune he but the computer software was ugly compared to itunes as far as features). Microsoft xbox 360 has a vast marketplace that they could have spinned onto a tablet device, but at this point they are too late(again!)

I think the tablet market is weak overall not many can justify paying 500 for a fancy computer when a laptop with triple the space and ram can be had for 300.

There isn't much a tablet can do that a computer cant already do and so many already have those.

 

[Bag302]

I have an iPad 2, iphone 4s. I had been wanting something in between for easier book reading and watching TV in bed through slingbox. The ipad is too big and the iphone too small.

I bought a 7" Nook Color and rooted it. It seems to fit the bill for the size I was looking for. However, the UI sucks and battery life is not that great.

I would gladly pony up for a smaller ipad or even a larger ipod/iphone (maybe 5"). Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 - it's really a nice size for my uses, but it's Android again and the screen resolution is not so hot.

Love to have a 5-7" iOS device

Well, I had some gift cards so I bought the 5" Samsung Galaxy Player (big ipod). It's a really nice device and very responsive. Not quite Apple and iOS, but the size is right for me. I find it better than a 7" tablet for my uses. One handed close range operation is good. Websites, books and video are very legible. The screen really dwarfs the iphone and makes me think that a 4-4.3" iphone and an ipad are really the only devices that I need/want.