the tablet war is heating up

[IronWolf]

Dunno, two years in a row of iPad at 75% or so of the tablet market will make it even tougher to overcome going forward. Convincing a lot of people of grab unfinished Android tablets now is likely to drive Android tablet app development and, by default, Google ad impressions, which is the only way Google makes money off of Android.

Yeah, I can see myself having a harder time switching in the future possibly now that I have grown used to the apps I have on my iPad and in many cases apps I have started to rely on that I have paid for. It sort of sucks you in unless the Android platform has apps coming out that make me not only want to switch hardware and OS, but apps as well.

 

[John Crichton]

Dunno, two years in a row of iPad at 75% or so of the tablet market will make it even tougher to overcome going forward.

Name me one tech market in which only the first company to come out with something held that lead when real competition came to the front. Trust me, there are not nearly enough iPad sold right now to saturate the market. Tablets are a growing industry and as prices decline more buyers will be stepping up. And the Android name isn't going anywhere. Once they release something solid it will sell.

Convincing a lot of people of grab unfinished Android tablets now is likely to drive Android tablet app development and, by default, Google ad impressions, which is the only way Google makes money off of Android.

There is already development going on right now. If anyone is counting on these initial returns to predict future sales they really haven't been paying attention to how badly they want in on Apple's portable turf. There's loads of money to be made there and some growing pains aren't going to stop that.

Worse will be if HP's PalmOS-based tablet is any good this summer: Apple and HP could end up with the bulk of the enterprise market, and once you've got your enterprise devs writing software for one or two platforms, you sure don't want to add a third.

I'm going to make a wild assumption and say the PalmOS tablet will not be any threat to the market.

Yeah, I can see myself having a harder time switching in the future possibly now that I have grown used to the apps I have on my iPad and in many cases apps I have started to rely on that I have paid for. It sort of sucks you in unless the Android platform has apps coming out that make me not only want to switch hardware and OS, but apps as well.

All depends on what the next offerings will be. Can Apple keep up? I imagine so but there will be actual competition at some point.

 

[Janx]

Dunno, two years in a row of iPad at 75% or so of the tablet market will make it even tougher to overcome going forward. Convincing a lot of people of grab unfinished Android tablets now is likely to drive Android tablet app development and, by default, Google ad impressions, which is the only way Google makes money off of Android.

Worse will be if HP's PalmOS-based tablet is any good this summer: Apple and HP could end up with the bulk of the enterprise market, and once you've got your enterprise devs writing software for one or two platforms, you sure don't want to add a third.

2+ years of iphone dominating the smartphone market didnt prevent android from catching up.

Palm was dying before hp, i doubt hp will reinvigorate it, given their own ipaq diminishment.

 

[Fast Learner]

2+ years of iphone dominating the smartphone market didnt prevent android from catching up.

I've gone on before about AT&T carrier-lock-in vs. the open market of tablets, like the open market for mp3 players (aka iPods) before it, so I won't do that again, despite the tremendous difference it makes. Instead I'll address "catching up."

I take it you mean all iPhones sold vs. all Android phones sold.

Not handheld iOS devices -- iPhones + iPod Touches -- where there are still significantly more than handheld Android devices. This is what matters to families who purchase apps, music, etc. under the same account, and what matters to developers.

Not phones that can run and install the current version of the OS with all its useful features, where 95% of iOS devices are but only 50% of Android devices are, so that nearly all iPhone users have the latest cool stuff (Airplay, etc.) and can run any app in the store, unlike half of Android users. (Google announced yesterday that they're finally going to do something about that at the end of the year or so.)

Not "caught up" in terms of quality apps released, or when they're released if they ever get an Android version at all.

Not "caught up" in the sense of a unified platform that developers can program to, rather than a continually-further-fragmenting bunch of screen sizes and other capabilities, keeping those developers away. (Google announced yesterday that they're finally going to do something about that at the end of the year or so.)

Not "caught up" in terms of financial or business success for the the companies that manufacture and support them, where companies like Motorola and their amazing Droids are in threat of closing their doors due to the small margins and high return rate of Android phones.

And not consumer satisfaction or brand impression, where consumers are significantly happier with their iPhones than those with Android phones.

Just total quantity of pure phone handsets sold, even at a loss and regardless of buyer satisfaction. It's true, in that sense, Android totally caught up. You get 10 (or more) companies manufacturing phones under a single OS brand (regardless of functionality, compatibility, or upgradability), all of whom are risking their futures with the hope of seeing the success Apple has had, add up all of the phones they've sold so far under that brand, and indeed they've sold more of those than iPhones alone.

Glad I'm not one of the companies in the cadre that together have "caught up."

 

[falcarrion]

With all of these companies trying to dethrone Apple. I wonder if Steve has a taster.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Every Apple fan should be thankful that there are so many companies out to dethrone them since it keeps the anti-trust ban hammer away from the iOS.

 

[John Crichton]

Not phones that can run...

>>snip<<

... cadre that together have "caught up."

The way you spin it would make it sound like Droid isn't in the race at all when that could be no farther from the truth.

You are talking about profit share and it's really no surprise that the company who was first in is leading in that area. Especially when the Android market is still growing and evolving. Growing pains I think is the phrase I'm looking for.

And this is especially true in the growing tablet world. The key word is growing. There is still plenty of time to get in the game if the product is a quality one. And as I've said before, there is no war on that front right now.

 

[Fast Learner]

The way you spin it would make it sound like Droid isn't in the race at all when that could be no farther from the truth.

When I referred to Droid I was specifically referring to Motorola's Droid line, not Android in general. Android is most certainly in the race. Motorola and their Droid line, however, is in a lot of trouble. Not as bad as the Xoom line, mind you.

 

[John Crichton]

When I referred to Droid I was specifically referring to Motorola's Droid line, not Android in general. Android is most certainly in the race. Motorola and their Droid line, however, is in a lot of trouble. Not as bad as the Xoom line, mind you.

Could have fooled me, especially with the cadre bit.

 

[Fast Learner]

Could have fooled me, especially with the cadre bit.

The overall post was about Android. The part where I said "Motorola and their amazing Droids" was about Motorola. Not sure what you're getting at.

Most of the Android handset makers aren't making much money from them, but Motorola is particularly in trouble. The Xoom is making it even worse for them.