iPad Competitors Adjust to Competitive Landscape
Source: Jillian
Since it was released, the iPad has dominated the tablet market. Tablet computers may have existed beforehand, but they didn’t look or function anything like they do now. Apple did what they do best. They brought something to market that got us excited and kept us engaged with their enthusiasm (oh, and a quality product).
Success usually breeds competition, and this is no exception. Virtually every major technology manufacturer has brought their version of the iPad to the table with promises of being the one that will unseat the iPad and be crowned the new king of the market. Worthy adversaries have tried, and in large part have failed.
It isn’t that there aren’t quality options, so what is everybody doing wrong? Recent trends seem to suggest that maybe it is all in the marketing. At least, that’s what some of these companies are hoping.
News this week show the competition trying to make some changes:
A recent limited time price reduction on the HP TouchPad was made permanent, citing their commitment to being the number 2 tablet available. Are the incredible discounts and recent software updates enough to woo users to their WebOS platform?
Research in Motion was dealt a blow with news that Sprint would become the most recent wireless carrier to take a pass on their Playbook device. While many credit the Playbook with being a strong entry into the market, especially regarding the quality of their high resolution display, RIM just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to delivering their device to consumers.
Dell discontinued their 5″ Streak model device, encouraging their customers to take a look at the Streak 7. Dell’s contribution to the tablet market has been underwhelming to date, with their offerings seeming more like an afterthought than true innovation.
Acer also hit the news, with their Iconia Tab A100 finally seeing the light of retail shelves. Running on the Android Honeycomb 3.2 platform, this tablet is being applauded for being compact and inexpensive, but is that enough to persuade people toward the smaller 7″ form factor considering the lackluster performance of the sub-10″ tablets that have been released in the past?
It almost feels like every manufacturer ends up doing Apple’s advertising for them. Instead of standing on their own two feet and being marketed on their own merits, they seem to take the approach time and again of saying ‘this is why you should buy us instead of an iPad’. This comparison forces consumers to question whether they want an iPad or seemingly settle for ‘something else’, leaving the market with the appearance of an ‘us versus them’ two party system.
Now, with that said, a report by ABI Research, a leading market research intelligence firm, indicates that Android as a whole must be doing something right. Adoption of Android tablets in the past year has surged, taking over 20% of the available market share. The problem? This doesn’t represent a single manufacturer. There are several Android devices out there contributing to this number.
But in the shadows of that news are the legal woes faced by Samsung that appear to be threatening the future of the most successful iPad competitor to date, the Galaxy Tab 10.1. I doubt this is what Samsung had in mind for the moments leading up to the release of the iPad 3 and the new Android Ice Cream Sandwich version of their operating system.
Time will tell if Apple can maintain the dominance they have achieved, but so far from my vantage point it seems to be pretty clear sailing.
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