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Tablet Manufacturers Reevaluating Pricing Options in Light of iPad Announcement?
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The point of Apple as a company is to profit
Why don't you wish for those prices in one hand and crap in the other. Report back as to which fills up quicker.
They showed HP's slate. MS is supposedly working on their own device, the Courier, and has only shown concept images. By the looks of those images, I don't see it falling into the same catergory of device as the these tablets, and most likely costing over a grand. It looks more like a professional device/tool.
You are right. Apple scrapped their design and copied the Slate in the 3 weeks since its "unveiling"
It's funny, when the tablets at CES where getting shown off, a lot of folks here figured Apple's tablet would blow those out the water!!
I'm buying one (iPad) since it's a lot cheaper then I expected! And I'm fine with the idea of a huge iPod Touch! Sadly, the Hp Slate looks like a better product to me! I would get one if I didn't dislike Windows haha
I just want to see if they price it at $499! It's going to be fun watching this all play out!
I'm buying one (iPad) since it's a lot cheaper then I expected! And I'm fine with the idea of a huge iPod Touch! Sadly, the Hp Slate looks like a better product to me! I would get one if I didn't dislike Windows haha
I just want to see if they price it at $499! It's going to be fun watching this all play out!
Netbooks should get cheaper... in Australia
since netbooks were introduced, we've seen way out of whack pricing Down Under.
Sony's little (eventual) netbook lists for a whopping US$499 yet here they have the hide to retail is for, deep breath, A$999. Not sure what exchange rate Sony decided to use to get that price structure. Yes, they do occasionally try to sell a few for A$799 - not going gang busters though.
Acer and Asus are much better value but even they charge almost double what US prices list.
This should now change as Apple have in the past been pretty fair on exchange rates (in comparison). A US$399 Touch is A$549 (which includes 10% GST). You can pick them up retail for less.
I would expect A$649 would be what they aim for given current exchange rates. Might end up as A$699. Even then an iPad with 10 hours battery life would really compete against available netbooks. I'm tired of my Acer 3 cell netbook that gets just over an hour of life. Netbooks with full day battery tend to sell for $600+ currently.
A netbook is a different product but for most regular people the tablet concept is a better fit and less computer-like. Use a netbook if you need a real keyboard/computer. Use an iPad if you are a casual user who will treat this like a magazine or book. You are going to see these lying on coffee tables all over the place.
It will be fun to see the adverts if the PC tablet makers don't drop their prices... "I'd really like a HP tablet but I can't afford one so I guess I'll buy the Mac". LOL.
since netbooks were introduced, we've seen way out of whack pricing Down Under.
Sony's little (eventual) netbook lists for a whopping US$499 yet here they have the hide to retail is for, deep breath, A$999. Not sure what exchange rate Sony decided to use to get that price structure. Yes, they do occasionally try to sell a few for A$799 - not going gang busters though.
Acer and Asus are much better value but even they charge almost double what US prices list.
This should now change as Apple have in the past been pretty fair on exchange rates (in comparison). A US$399 Touch is A$549 (which includes 10% GST). You can pick them up retail for less.
I would expect A$649 would be what they aim for given current exchange rates. Might end up as A$699. Even then an iPad with 10 hours battery life would really compete against available netbooks. I'm tired of my Acer 3 cell netbook that gets just over an hour of life. Netbooks with full day battery tend to sell for $600+ currently.
A netbook is a different product but for most regular people the tablet concept is a better fit and less computer-like. Use a netbook if you need a real keyboard/computer. Use an iPad if you are a casual user who will treat this like a magazine or book. You are going to see these lying on coffee tables all over the place.
It will be fun to see the adverts if the PC tablet makers don't drop their prices... "I'd really like a HP tablet but I can't afford one so I guess I'll buy the Mac". LOL.
One could say HP copied the iPhone design couldn't one ?
What part of "demonstrate" did you not understand ?
design based on iPhone iMac etcThese tablet manufacturer's in my opinion are thinking about this wrong. The iPad is pretty limited, but it does have a good price. If I wanted to compete with the iPad right now I would compete on features not price.
1) Develop competitive software (sticking normal Windows on there has already shown that it won't work).
2) Add an HDMI or mini-display port.
3) Add a front facing video camera for video chats.
4) Add a USB port, and an SD Card port.
5) Sell a foldout bluetooth keyboard accessory.
Keep it the same price as the iPad. My feeling is that the Apple intentionally left a few features out of the iPad for their future roadmap. The new features will be included in rev 2,3,4. Though I don't think Apple will ever put a bunch of ports on the iPad.
Instead they will focus on price and only match the features ignoring the software which is the key to Apple's success.
1) Develop competitive software (sticking normal Windows on there has already shown that it won't work).
2) Add an HDMI or mini-display port.
3) Add a front facing video camera for video chats.
4) Add a USB port, and an SD Card port.
5) Sell a foldout bluetooth keyboard accessory.
Keep it the same price as the iPad. My feeling is that the Apple intentionally left a few features out of the iPad for their future roadmap. The new features will be included in rev 2,3,4. Though I don't think Apple will ever put a bunch of ports on the iPad.
Instead they will focus on price and only match the features ignoring the software which is the key to Apple's success.
they wouldnt make any profit...a bit selfish also, from a consumer perspective.
I dont even think they would even break even... with 199 for the cost of the device + shipping + packaging + promotion...
Not only that, I bet most Apple fans would have insisted that thing is hideously ugly. In fact, I bet they still would.
Considering that Jobs has had the boys working on this one for awhile AND the fact that at this point we know the iPad will be on the market in less than 60 days and the HP is slated for release "sometime in 2010", I'd say Apple is and has been way ahead of this little bit of potential vaporware for quite awhile.
HP copied the form of the iPhone.
HP states their slate will be out in Q4 of 2010. That's almost a year.
The iPad will be on sale in 58 days.
It's my opinion that HP's "slate is vaporware and they are going to try to find a way to copy the iPad like they copied the iPhone.
Or it could be that Apple is trying a different model with this product. Apple was always known as a hardware company and the iTunes store was small potatoes and ancillary to sell hardware. With the iPhone and the App store it rakes in huge profits. Could be this device is sold at or very close to cost to re-coup tons of additional revenue from Apple's vig on the sale of content.
Apple has a huge amount of cash. They are sitting on a gold mine from the itunes store and are way ahead of the competition from a cohesive solution for content purchasing. The things that seemed like so what in the event the other day, like the number of Apps sold and the number of credit cards linked to itunes etc become much more meaningfull if you view it from a shift in Apple business model of this product.
Apple's pricing strength: priceless
Apple has really crushed pricing across the segment, because nobody else can generate the amount of orders that Apple can. Nobody can get their flash for less, and now nobody can get their screens for less.
They (the non-ipad manufacturers) still need to pay the Microsoft tax. At that point, there's no money left for anyone. No manufacturer has the ability, time, or cash flow to set up a competing store for books, music, movies, etc...except maybe Amazon.
Game over. The only hope is MS' entertainment division will come out with a version in a few years that'll match iPad 1.0.
Apple has really crushed pricing across the segment, because nobody else can generate the amount of orders that Apple can. Nobody can get their flash for less, and now nobody can get their screens for less.
They (the non-ipad manufacturers) still need to pay the Microsoft tax. At that point, there's no money left for anyone. No manufacturer has the ability, time, or cash flow to set up a competing store for books, music, movies, etc...except maybe Amazon.
Game over. The only hope is MS' entertainment division will come out with a version in a few years that'll match iPad 1.0.
Agree, but unfortunately the only feature they will not be able to top or even match is the most important one: Apple ability to create an ecosystem for the distribution of content.
As many many people have pointed out (not just this website): the iPad lacks clear direction of what it wants to be.
If the other tablet manufacturers provide a "tablet" that truly has a FOCUS, unlike the iPad, the tablets will sell regardless of price.
If the other tablet manufacturers provide a "tablet" that truly has a FOCUS, unlike the iPad, the tablets will sell regardless of price.
Do you know what the BOM costs are for an iPhone 3GS? About $180 (Google "iphone 3gs isuppli"). That just the raw parts, and doesn't include assembly, licensing fees/royalties, R&D costs, accessories, packaging, etc.
Presumably, the iPad costs a little more to make so your $199 pricing would be a loss for Apple.
As an AAPL shareholder, I am not interested in having Apple destroy their margins to entertain your fantasy.