The new number 2. Who will be the second most significant player in the tablet market

[reputationZed]

Who is the real contender for the number 2 spot in the tablet market? It's still a bit early in the game and none of these devices has made a significant impact on the market (in fact some have yet to launch) yet I think we know enough for some educated guess work. My line of thought is focused on the US Market and some of the logic I'm posting hear may not carry over to other markets.

I do not see Motorola or Samsung gaining significant market share any time soon. It's not that I don't think that Honcycomb devices will not do well, the OS shows promise and Android smart phones have done exceedingly well. The problem I see for Android based tablets is one of differentiation. I have not seen anything that leads to the believe either Motorola, Samsung or any other manufacurer stands out enough to be the Go-To Honeycomb tablet. Another issue facing Motorola, Samsung, Acer, HTC, etc is that none of them has much brand presence in the US beyond making cell phones.

The next two players have some advantages over the Honeycomb based tablets. Both HP and RIM have an established market presence as IT companies. More importantly both are firmly established names in the corporate world. This is significant because its a market in which Apple has yet to make significant inroads. In other words you can dominate corporate sales without having to compete directly with the iPad.

HP could have another advantage over Honeycomb tablets, namely Web OS. While the Palm Pre was not well received Web OS was more highly regarded, particularly for its notification system. There may be compelling reasons to choose Web OS over Honeycomb and if Web OS is your choice then its HP or nothing.

RIM stands apart from the rest of the players by offering a 7" rather than a 10" form factor. While many may judge the Playbook's size as a disadvantage others will find its smaller size to be ideal. The Playbook's smaller size gives RIM another advantage, they do not have to compete directly with the iPad to be sucessful.

At the moment I'm torn between RIM and HP as the primary contender for the number two spot in the tablet market. If I had to make a call I might give the edge to HP since they are in a better position to offer their product at a loss in order to build market position.

-- This message was composed with PhatWare WritePad.

 

[shadrap]

Android will gain major market share due to the large number from various vendors. WebOs and playbook are pretty much gonna be DOA, at least for now. iOS just works and will continue to lead in tablets until the rest get better at making there os's simpler.

 

[Apple OC]

iPad 1

 

[X2468]

You left off who I think: HTC

This morning I finally found a good selection of iPad 2's at my local Apple store. This enabled me to finally get mine, an AT&T 64GB in Black.

Next up is an HTC Flyer.

Expected to be released soon, I'm eager to try one out.

 

[KittyKatta]

The TouchPad real shot due to the power and range of HP. Plus, it's a fantastic OS that just needs good hardware to run on. I feel Android has a great chance too but the unified Software/Hardware of HP TouchPad keeps it away from the fragmentation problem that affects Android so there definitely are legit challengers.

 

[spinedoc77]

You left off iOS as a choice.

 

[reputationZed]

Android will gain major market share due to the large number from various vendors.

True but my point was that no one company is going to dominate the Android based market. Honeycomb may be very successful but the spoils will be split among a number of companies.

WebOs and playbook are pretty much gonna be DOA, at least for now.

Care to offer any thoughts to support that logic?

iOS just works and will continue to lead in tablets until the rest get better at making there os's simpler.

Agreed, Apple will dominate the market for the foreseeable future. The question though is who will be number two.

 

[kvizzel]

Doesn't matter whose number 2.

Only Number 1.

 

[reputationZed]

You left off iOS as a choice.

Yes, that was intentional. I'm convinced Apple will remain in the number one spot for at least the remainder of 2011. If their number one they do not really need to be considered for number two, do they.

 

[reputationZed]

You left off who I think: HTC

This morning I finally found a good selection of iPad 2's at my local Apple store. This enabled me to finally get mine, an AT&T 64GB in Black.

Next up is an HTC Flyer.

Expected to be released soon, I'm eager to try one out.

I probably should have included HTC as they have been a strong player in the Android smart phone market. But the reasons I gave why I do not think Motorola or Samsung will be number two apply equally to HTC.

 

[kalex]

Ipad2

 

[tuatha]

I guarantee Touchpad will have a tiny market share. And it may even be the death knell for WebOS. Good though that software may be, it has little brand recognition and very few users. It has little base to sell to.

And how is it going to win over potential iPad/Android buyers when it has a lesser screen, an obscure OS, and a virtually non-existent ecosystem?

Apple has iTunes. Android too has a massive existing market of apps, not to mention the soon-to-be-launched Google Music, video rentals from Youtube (also coming very soon) and Google books.

And Android now has Amazon's backing (and make no mistake - this is HUGE, in capital letters ).


Samsung is the real competitor here. Of all the Android OEMs they have the most financial muscle and the most experience in the field of high-end consumer electronics.

It's also important to remember that they produce almost all their components - chips, lcds, speakers, digitisers etc - in-house, which means they're the only company that can out-do the iPad on specs and still compete with it on price. No other tablet OEM that I'm aware of can sustain that level of competition in the longterm.

Oh, and if Amazon make a tablet (which seems likely now) they'll be competitive too since their after-sale earnings potential from the appstore and kindle will allow them to sell the hardware cheaply.

I really don't see many other companies with the potential to take a big share of this market.

 

[spinedoc77]

Yes, that was intentional. I'm convinced Apple will remain in the number one spot for at least the remainder of 2011. If their number one they do not really need to be considered for number two, do they.

Ahh I see now Nostradamus. Good thing android never surpassed iOS in the smartphone segment, oh wait...

 

[ovrlrd]

HP has the most innovation and user experience
Samsung has the most specs

Sadly unless it's an Apple product, people are not buying it based on innovation or user experience, they are buying it because it's not an Apple product, in which case Samsung wins the anti-Apple consumer.

I am still hoping HP does really well though, they are the only ones bringing anything new to the table.

 

[X2468]

Doesn't matter whose number 2.

Only Number 1.

This is a narrow view with an expiration date soon.

Even Apple must compete.

 

[tuatha]

Sadly unless it's an Apple product, people are not buying it based on innovation or user experience, they are buying it because it's not an Apple product, in which case Samsung wins the anti-Apple consumer.

That's actually not true. Android is quite a nice OS which many people, myself included, enjoy using. And, if you haven't noticed, windows has gotten its act together too!

 

[DeathChill]

Ahh I see now Nostradamus. Good thing android never surpassed iOS in the smartphone segment, oh wait...

So you honestly believe that Android is going to come out of nowhere and take the number one spot for tablets in 2011?

 

[AppleScruff1]

Nobody is going to come close to Apple's market share for a while. Sure, they will make a dent in it but Apple will have 50%+ of the market. The Touchpad shows great promise if HP can get it right. I think it will be more appealing to business users and it will be a small step in the direction of tablets replacing notebooks.

 

[ovrlrd]

That's actually not true. Android is quite a nice OS which many people, myself included, enjoy using. And, if you haven't noticed, windows has gotten its act together too!

My point wasn't that Android is a bad OS, it's that it is not a very innovative user experience in the tablet market. The current version of Honeycomb on the Xoom that I have played with is clearly lacking anything interesting and the user experience didn't feel fully baked. I am not saying Apple is being very innovative either as the current version of iOS is very dated (excited for iOS 5), but between Android and WebOS, the clear winner (in terms of trying something new) is WebOS.

That said, WebOS is sure to have it's issues as well, as it has in the past. I can only hope that HP really puts a ton of polish and testing in their tablet. Also the HP Touchpad seems to offer some clear hardware advantages that aren't just about specs, that is a plus in my book because you can't differentiate yourself from the iPad by listing a bunch of specs.

Android needs more than hardware (because they are deadlocked into a specs war), it needs some drastic software changes. Their direction seems solid though, in the next tablet OS update they release I bet it will be a lot better.

Still, the clear #2 winner here will be an Android tablet because there is more Android users than there is WebOS users. This means there is more apps, and more familiarity with the OS. There is little to no chance of WebOS beating that.

 

[PCClone]

It would be a more relevant poll if the products were actually in the hands of users. Of course, the pretenders won't have enough to make anyone care.

 

[spinedoc77]

So you honestly believe that Android is going to come out of nowhere and take the number one spot for tablets in 2011?

Not necessarily, but I don't think anyone would have predicted them surpassing apple back when android was young either.

 

[shadrap]

True but my point was that no one company is going to dominate the Android based market. Honeycomb may be very successful but the spoils will be split among a number of companies.

Care to offer any thoughts to support that logic?

Agreed, Apple will dominate the market for the foreseeable future. The question though is who will be number two.

I am gonna say HTC's tablet or Xoom will be number 2, either sporting Android of coarse.

My logic on WebOs and playbook is they will be like WP7, too far behind to catch up anytime soon.

 

[reputationZed]

Ahh I see now Nostradamus. Good thing android never surpassed iOS in the smartphone segment, oh wait...

I'm not arguing Apple vs. Android, I'm arguing Apple vs. its competitors. Android is a platform, not a single company. While Andoid as a smart phone platform is certianly giving iOS a run for its money its doing so through the combined sales of Motorola, HTC, Samsung, etc. Note that I said, in the foreseeable future, which in tech terms usually means the next six to twelve months. If I remember correctly Nostradamus's predictions tended to be a little further out than next September. If your going to jump in a discusion with a sarcastic attitude at least take a minute to understand what the discusion in about.

 

[yodaxl7]

Android will gain major market share due to the large number from various vendors. WebOs and playbook are pretty much gonna be DOA, at least for now. iOS just works and will continue to lead in tablets until the rest get better at making there os's simpler.

How many vendors are there: Samsung, LG, ASUS, Dell, Motorola,HTC,Acer. How many have them sold? I suscept less than 3 million so far. Apple probably sold over 20 million by now. By June, I bet Apple will have sold 26 million. Competition by June: 5 million. By year end, I predict, apple will sell 50 million iPad (total from 2010 plus this year). competition: android ( 5 million), Playbook (1.5 million), Hp touch (3 million). Apple will have 80 percent of the market.

 

[reputationZed]

Still, the clear #2 winner here will be an Android tablet because there is more Android users than there is WebOS users. This means there is more apps, and more familiarity with the OS. There is little to no chance of WebOS beating that.

And if we were only condidering the consumer market I'd tend to agree. I think your overlooking the potential the corporate market could end up playing in the tablet wars. Big business tends to go with what they know. RIM and HP are already known players in that market, Samsung, Motorola, or for that matter Apple are not ( at least not in the US).