iPad Expected to Maintain Position as Tablet Market Leader

[paul4339]

Acer chairman JT Wang reportedly claimed recently that Apple's share of the tablet market will eventually stabilize at 20-30%, ... and noted that according to past experience, a closed platform will eventually lose to an open one.

While I can see this happening, I don't totally agree, that a closed platform will necessarily 'lose' just because it's closed.

I think it's more likely that the platform with the more successful "paid" application space (or app store) AND competive priced hardware will win.

You need a robust paid ecosystem (more consumers) to attract developers to make apps. You need good apps and competitive priced hardware (as well as convenience) to get more consumers.


Hardware and platform functionality will leap frog each other and commoditize over time, since it's easier to copy ... generally features that iPhone has today, Android will get tomorrow and vice versa.

Apple's challenge is to develop it's paid ecosystem as quickly as it can, AND
keep prices down to widen it's market (even if it means less hardware functionality in the short term) ... And obviously, cutting prices isn't so nice in the eyes of shareholders.

edit: for Google, I don't think, just being open will cut it .. they have to find a convenient way that the consumer will adopt to get good paid apps.

P.

 

[wizard]

Anyone trying to say iPad isn't a computer is an idiot.

I'm sorry guys but it demonstrates a massive lack of intelligence to try to say the iPad isn't a computer. That is like saying any of the following wheren't computers:

Vic 20
Heathkit s100
Mac Plus
Any of the Commodores
PDP11, PDP8 and all the other DEC computers.
The various Prime machines.
IPhone
The various Nokia tablets.
Onyx

All of these are computers. In many cases the IPad is extremely capable or powerful relative to some of these older machines. Heck my iPhone is more powerful than my Mac Plus, even when running 4.0.x.


Dave

 

[PerfSeeker]

Nobody will want to buy Android tablets because they have no apps and their app store is 50% malware.

 

[CFreymarc]

Any study that lumps "PC-style" windows tablets in with iPads and android based tablets just doesn't get what an iPad is. Whatever data they come up with isn't worth very much, IMO.

Very well said. A guy that does retail at the director level that I know well said it best, "This Christmas season, as far as tablet computers goes, it will be 'Snow White and the Seven POS'es' being sold."

 

[LagunaSol]

All I know is, that whatever it is, every time I'm in the store and start using it, I can barely manage to put it down!

And every time I see mine sitting on the dresser or the nightstand or the table, I can't manage not to pick it up and carry it with me to wherever I'm headed. It's the perfect sofa computer. It's the perfect in-bed computer. It has taken the place of my MacBook for everything I used to use my MacBook for. Thus for me, it's a computer. And a great one.

 

[Mr. Gates]

I'm sorry guys but it demonstrates a massive lack of intelligence to try to say the iPad isn't a computer. That is like saying any of the following wheren't computers:

Vic 20
Heathkit s100
Mac Plus
Any of the Commodores
PDP11, PDP8 and all the other DEC computers.
The various Prime machines.
IPhone
The various Nokia tablets.
Onyx

All of these are computers. In many cases the IPad is extremely capable or powerful relative to some of these older machines. Heck my iPhone is more powerful than my Mac Plus, even when running 4.0.x.


Dave

Well, so is a calculator from radio shack,
I think the definition has changed for some....
I no longer think of my old Apple IIgs as a real computer because it lacks today's standards.
I have owned a few of those old greats myself , but would be ashamed if I had to live in those stone age constraints.
I'd even feel silly if I chose to !

Its not about a justifiable purchase, it's all about one that makes sense!

You Like your flashy toy that you have to hook up to a REAL computer anyhow to even get the smallest amount of functionality ????.......

Well Good for you!

But don't feel bad,..I was in line on day one too and got the "Top of the Line".(more storage-and nothing else ...yay)

I returned it and payed the Re-Stocking Fee ( I feel Bad About THAT ! )

Anyhow,...

A toy is a toy and if you love it there is no explaining to you.

But ......ITS NOT A REAL COMPUTER 🙂

Haha

 

[firewood]

I no longer think of my old Apple IIgs as a real computer because it lacks today's standards.

Note that you said that this is only a change in how you think.

Your Apple IIgs fit the definition of a computer when you got it, and (assuming it still works) it hasn't changed, so it's still a computer. A '56 T-Bird in running condition doesn't stop being an automobile just because it won't pass todays safety/pollution regulations or get the mileage of a Prius.

Those are the facts... how you think (today, might change tomorrow), less so.

 

[DakotaGuy]

And every time I see mine sitting on the dresser or the nightstand or the table, I can't manage not to pick it up and carry it with me to wherever I'm headed. It's the perfect sofa computer. It's the perfect in-bed computer. It has taken the place of my MacBook for everything I used to use my MacBook for. Thus for me, it's a computer. And a great one.

Yes I do find myself using it quite a bit around the house, however if I really want to sit down and surf the net or type something up I find myself heading to the iMac. It's just faster and I can do a lot of stuff all at the same time. The biggest drawback right now is no multi-tasking. Without that it makes it hard to use like I use my Mac. Hopefully we will get a software update soon and that issue will be fixed.

 

[Apple-NoEscape]

Along with the mac pro* this is another apple product that goes in 'waste of money' pile.

I'm interested in what Microsoft cooks up though, as it's shapping up to be a fully fledged pc tablet without all the lacking or restrictions if you will of the the iPad.

Unfortunatly without bill gates steering the helm I am prepared to see the pc tablet not live up the expectations, Microsoft seems to have lost a bit of it's flare without him.
Well apart from windows 7, which may be the best operating system I've used in a long time. I even prefer it to osx.

But I'm rambling now 😛

*I realise this will cause some hurt among apple fanboys (but what doesn't? 😛 ) but I feel that building my own pc which is far far more powerful than any mac pro and far far cheaper is more value for money 2bh.

 

[NinjaHERO]

No shocker here. The Ipad has the buzz and people love it. I can't wait to see what the second and third generations offer.

 

[gwangung]

Well, so is a calculator from radio shack,
I think the definition has changed for some....
I no longer think of my old Apple IIgs as a real computer because it lacks today's standards.
I have owned a few of those old greats myself , but would be ashamed if I had to live in those stone age constraints.
I'd even feel silly if I chose to !

Its not about a justifiable purchase, it's all about one that makes sense!

You Like your flashy toy that you have to hook up to a REAL computer anyhow to even get the smallest amount of functionality ????.......

Well Good for you!

But don't feel bad,..I was in line on day one too and got the "Top of the Line".(more storage-and nothing else ...yay)

I returned it and payed the Re-Stocking Fee ( I feel Bad About THAT ! )

Anyhow,...

A toy is a toy and if you love it there is no explaining to you.

But ......ITS NOT A REAL COMPUTER 🙂

Haha

Techies try to define a market by the product and what it offers.

This gets it backwards. BY DEFINITION, markets are all about consumer behavior. If consumers consider it a computer for their purposes, then it's a computer.

No mattter how hard you throw a tantrum.

 

[carmenodie]

SO wrong in SO many ways... actually, Joe Consumer DOES consider it a computer because it does everything they need it do to (they don't need a full blown desktop just to answer emails, surf the web and youtube and update their Facebook which is what the majority of "Joe Consumers" use their computers for.)

Someday you will learn that no matter how much you try to spin it, your made delusional hypothesis of what "various definitions" of computing is wrong! There is only one definition:

an electronic device for storing and processing data, typically in binary form, according to instructions given to it in a variable program.

Period. The iPad is a computer, get over it. Again, as I stated to the other troll; I can create documents, slide shows and data charts on the iPad, I can edit my photos with a wide variety of photo apps, as well as my videos, I can create music with a wide variety of music apps, I can even program now using the new Processing app HiperPad, all of this is way more than I could do with my first several computers from the 1980s to 1990s, so how exactly is the iPad not a computer?

Thank you very much! I was telling some troll this on another sight some time ago.
Also, if Wang predicts that Apple will control 20-30 percent of the tablet market then that is great news. Hell! But that remainder will be fought out amongst who? 300 OEMs as they race to the bottom?
A swarm of OEM barracudas saturating the market. Just like the pc guys.

 

[awmazz]

Well, so is a calculator from radio shack,
I think the definition has changed for some....

What operating system does one of those run?

For the sake of sanity, let's just assume a computer is any machine on which you can write/install software.

 

[Apple-NoEscape]

This has nothing to do with my post up there but:
It is called the 'iPad' and not the 'Ipad'? Isn't it?
Not being a grammar Nazi I'm just trying to figure out if I have been getting it wrong or if seemingly half this site has.
I just can't imagine Apple dropping the lowercase 'i'.
As I say not a biggie I'm just curious.

 

[thelookingglass]

This has nothing to do with my post up there but:
It is called the 'iPad' right and not the 'Ipad'? Isn't it?
Not being a grammar Nazi I'm just trying to figure out if I have been getting it wrong or uf seemingly half this site has.
I just can't imagine Apple dropping the lowercase 'i'.
As I say not a biggie I'm just curious.

i'd imagine the apple website is the best place for confirmation ...

but, yes, it's iPad and not Ipad.

 

[Gakboi]

... and in other news the sky is blue.

it's kind of grey here

 

[Apple-NoEscape]

i'd imagine the apple website is the best place for confirmation ...

but, yes, it's iPad and not Ipad.

Thanks.
I would of checked the Apple store but I'm on my iPhone and for some reason their site doesn't like working well on it.
It lags like hell or just plain crashes.

 

[Winni]

I disagree with this. The iPad is a computer, with a different operating system.

The iPad is a restricted, closed platform and by that its purposes are limited whereas a computer by the very definition in our common understanding is a true multi-platform device without artificial restrictions. iOS does not even give the user a common file system that can be shared by all applications, nor does this operating system allow for any customization.

What can't you do on an iPad that a Tablet PC can do?

On a tablet PC, I can install and use any programming language that I want and write software with it - and that's just for starters. Apple recently didn't even approve a teaching programming language for kids in the AppStore because they deemed it a violation of their EULA. Imagine that: Children would be able to write software for the iPad without having to use Xcode and Objective-C on a Mac, and they would have been able to pass on their little programs to other kids without having to go through the AppStore's approval process! What were they thinking! No, Apple could never allow children to do that!

If it wasn't so sad, I'd say that this was by far the most ridiculous decision Apple has made in the last three decades.

Besides that, a Windows based Tablet PC, for example, can run real world software like Microsoft Office, whereas the iPad only has a stripped down version of iWork. Have you looked at Pages for iPad? It has basically the feature set of Microsoft's WordPad, which is a freebie in Windows.

Android tablets at least have an Open Source operating system on them that can be customized to Death if you want to. Nobody is restricting your choice of programming languages, because nobody could - it's Open Source, remember?

The usage for a Tablet is for taking notes, email, web.

Haven't you just said that it is a computer?

Not game, design websites and edit movies. That's what the iMac and MacPro is for 😉

Well, I guess that by your definition successful multi-touch games like Plants vs Zombies HD don't have a place on the iPad then, and neither has Shredder Chess and all the other board games that have been "ported" to the iPad.

I think you're dead wrong. Besides being the couch potato Internet designer surf board of choice and an eMagazine (not eBook) reader, the iPad's main purpose will be that of a mobile game console. Why? Because it actually royally sucks as a writing device, which rules out heavy email writing and note taking.

But I'm sure that you will soon see iMovie and Garageband on the iPad. They'll be rather simple compared to their Mac OS X siblings, just as the iWork apps for the iPad are complete toys compared to their Mac siblings, but you will be able to do something with them and they'll be easy to use. And, as always, for most regular people it'll be enough.

 

[zacman]

Yeah all these prediction.

Like: "Gartner says the iPhone will lead the phone market in 2012" (from 2007)

And look at it now: Apple can't keep up with the pace of the market an loses constantely its marketshare since over a year. Down from 13 million devices per quarter to only 8 million (and that number even includes the record selling iPhone 4 that sold 2 million in 4 days).

 

[gnasher729]

LOL. Had to laugh at this line:

The iPad is a computer in tablet format.

The iPad is hardly a computer.

Here is what one blogger said about the iPad: "When I saw the iPad it was all very nice, but I was thinking: What will be the killer feature of the iPad? And then I figured it out: The killer feature of the iPad is that it is not a computer.

Customers (the majority of them) don't want computers. They want an appliance that does things. They used to buy Netbooks because they were cheap, not because they were computers, but in spite of them being computers. And they buy iPads in droves because to them, the iPad is not a computer.

So Microsoft will try to build tablets that beat the iPad at being computers. And Acer's CEO wants his company to build tablets that beat the iPad at being computers. No doubt that they can achieve that. What surprise for them when they figure out that what they think is the killer feature compared to the iPad is actually what makes them lose out.

Yeah all these prediction.

Like: "Gartner says the iPhone will lead the phone market in 2012" (from 2007)

And look at it now: Apple can't keep up with the pace of the market an loses constantely its marketshare since over a year. Down from 13 million devices per quarter to only 8 million (and that number even includes the record selling iPhone 4 that sold 2 million in 4 days).

Did you know that Apple takes over 50% of the profit in the phone market? And RIM takes another 17%? These are the two companies that do their own thing, that produce what people want, and make money. Everyone else is competing on price. Of course Apple is leading. Gartner looks at the things that count, not at the things you think are important. Anyway, quarterly sales of iPhones are _very_ variable, so anyone can feel free to find numbers that make Apple look bad; there are plenty more numbers that make them look really good.

 

[2499723]

And every time I see mine sitting on the dresser or the nightstand or the table, I can't manage not to pick it up and carry it with me to wherever I'm headed. It's the perfect sofa computer. It's the perfect in-bed computer. It has taken the place of my MacBook for everything I used to use my MacBook for. Thus for me, it's a computer. And a great one.

If the iPad can take the place of your MacBook 'for everything' you used your MacBook for, you must not have been doing anything very important on your MacBook. Do you use another computer for productive tasks rather than consumptive tasks?

 

[Stella]

I don't give a f?cking stuff about Android. There's more smartphones OSes than IOS and Android. Ignore microsoft, they are irrelevant in the mobile space.

 

[kernkraft]

iPads were rumored to come out at $799 or $899 or even $999, so when they did come out starting at $499 a lot of competitors were floored.

The tablet market will look more like the iPod market than the Mac market. Microsoft overwhelmed the PC market with Windows that copied the look of Macs, but were sold on cheap boxes. But that won't happen with the iPad market any more than it happened with the iPod market.

Remember all those doom and gloom stories about the iPod market in 2002, 2003 and 2004? How history would repeat itself with the PC/Mac market and soon the music clones would overwhelm the iPod? Yeah, didn't happen. It's the entire system that makes the iPod work (iPod, iTunes, 3rd-party market). Competitors tried to compete on spec sheet data that geeks loved, but the market kept buying iPods anyway.

Same thing with the tablet market. No other tablet will have iTunes or Apple infrastructure. The iPad will tie into every device Apple makes. It will dominate for years. Just like the iPod does.

I think many people were "floored" as you said on the basis of the iPad running the OS that was originally designed for the iPod Touch. At the time, it was almost unbelievable that a tablet with such low specs would make sense. The price that you mentioned was rumoured with 1-2GB RAM and a decent desktop processor in mind. Considering what the iPad become, the current price (especially towards the high-storage 3G versions) is not that great. It is just placed well to make it desirable to those who are not bothered about buying a first generation Apple product. I'm not denying the facts - millions have been sold, so Apple got that right. But the question is, whether the novelty factor will soon wear off. People have been burying e-book readers and it just doesn't happen. There is a need for e-ink and there is a need for basic tablets with matte screen and a much more open/modifiable system than what the iPad is.

I remember an article from just few days ago with the CEO of Asus claiming the iPad's market share falling. He based his prediction on the fact that cheaper tablets are coming out. Of course, he is representing his company, so he might be completely wrong, but I think it makes sense to expect low-cost tablets becoming available soon and not just from no-name Chinese manufacturers.


About your analogy of the iPod's popularity - I think iTunes wasn't playing much of a role there. There was a desirability factor as it is with gadgets in general. People just prefer good-looking things and iPods are cute, desirable little things. Personally, iTunes only made me stop listening to music on my iPod, iPhone and Macs. I still think that with music players, the best software is none, just to have the traditional 'drag and drop' function.

 

[NebulaClash]

Oh sweet Maria here we go again, another 500-post thread debating whether or not the iPad is a computer. 🙄

I know, it gets very old after a while. We need a sticky note that explains to everyone who shows up on MacRumors that:

• The iPad absolutely is a computer, so quit this argument
• The iPad really is magical in the advertising sense, so quit this argument
• Apple, Inc. still makes computers, so quit whining otherwise
• Apple, Inc. is not evil for curating the app store, so pick up a dictionary and learn what "evil" actually means

 

[NebulaClash]

What operating system does one of those run?

For the sake of sanity, let's just assume a computer is any machine on which you can write/install software.

Sure, and you could program some of those old calculators in the 70s, so they very much count as a type of computer in that sense.

I've written software for the iPad and installed it on mine just for the fun of programming. It's a computer in every sense. People say otherwise in order to skew survey results in the same way they like to say the iPod market is fading while ignoring every iPhone in existence.