Google is now entering the tablet market with Android 3.0 aka Honeycomb. Top gadget makers like Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Toshiba and LG are making tablets that would run the tablet build of Android. The Motorola Xoom even won the best of CES 2011 to its honor and the new Samsung Galaxy Tab has impressed at MWC. The Galaxy Tab sports a 8MP camera with full HD video capabilities while the 5MP Xoom does 720p from its 5 megapixel rear camera.
These tablets sport dual-core processors with screen resolution upto 1280×800, thats a new high for tablets. And with all this super hardware pieces, loaded with a brand new software (yes the same Android that out shipped iPhone / iOS last year), I am still certain that the tablets race is very much going Apple’s way.
The iPad 2 is yet to be announced and we have just rumors to guess what it would bring. But there are several reasons for me to believe that none of these honeycomb tablets that we have seen at CES or MWC are going to match up with the iPad sales. In all probability even all of them together won’t matchup to the iPads.
To being with, its the apps. iOS developers are hard at work since a year making tablet optimized apps. The Android Market developers are yet to begin. It would be a long uphill battle for Android ecosystem to catchup with App Store apps and thats a serious disadvantage for manufacturers betting on honeycomb.
The other thing that makes me strongly feel that its difficult to match iPad sales and reach is the pricing. The iPad still sells for $499 and the next gen IMO would keep the same price levels. Apple proudly announced last year that it has managed to achieve a super price point for the iPad and Steve Jobs on a earnings call reiterated that iPad competitors are not able to match the iPad pricing. And we can see that happening!
Loaded with super CPUs and Cameras, the pricing is sky high for Honeycomb tablets. Xoom was rumored to be coming for $799.99 and now we are seeing hints of a price tag over $1000. Even the 7″ Galaxy Tab sold for a Rs 10,000 premium over the iPad price in India until recently (heck, the Olive Pad did a better job on pricing) and the 10.1″ surely adds a lot more chips. Beating the iPad would require a ecosystem around tablets that gives a real use case to consumers (else all it remains is an expensive luxury) and at the same time match the pricing of the iPad.
What we have seen of the webOS TouchPad from HP, shows a better direction (even with the rumored price tag of $699). If only they had started a little earlier. But if we are talking iPad competition, I am not looking at Android in 2011!
Opinions are always just that — opinions — hopefully well-informed and based on as much evidence as can be gleaned, but still just opinions. I respect the author’s views but wonder how anyone can speculate such grand conclusions as the total sales of all these Android 3.0 tablets will not equal ipad sales. Afterall, when the ipad was introduced even the most optimistic pundits did not dream of its ultimate success. I suggest the real challenge for all these tablets, including the ipad 2 and ipad 3 if it is coming, is how well they continue to create the experience consumers seek. Apple’s success with the ipad was partly hype and the Apple mystique and mostly (IMHO) the result of what Steve Jobs stated when introducing it — a new user experience. He was right and the sales show it. If any (or all) of these Android 3.0 tablets offer an experience that consumers enjoy like an ipad, I suspect next year we’ll be seeing this competition differently.
Well very much an opinion and the bit where I say that all honeycomb tabs in 2011 won’t match the ipad together, yes I am hitting the word in the title ‘tough’. Rest, I am pretty convinced that none of the tablets would standalone beat the iPad.
but then, I may be wrong. Glad to have you comment / debate. Thanks
Sorry if my comment seemed personal — after all what you said is being echoed all over the web right now so I could hardly criticize what is a “majority opinion”. I guess my chief concern is with what seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to Apple, especially the ipad — as though it has some kind of mystique that ensures its long term success — I remember Netscape Navigator…. and WordStar…. they lacked Steve Jobs as a promoter but in their heyday who would predict their ultimate demise? I’ve owned 2 ipads — the wifi version then the wifi+3g. I liked them — the promised “experience” worked on me since I’d originally considered anything that big as too big. But when I got my current iphone 4 I decided I didn’t need another, much larger iphone, even though the ipad does have other capabilities — ended up selling them and getting a Galaxy Tab — I liked the smaller form factor but concluded Android 2.2 is not adequate for a tablet and….. to my surprise…. also decided I kind of prefer the larger screen size (Steve Jobs may be “right” — hate to say it).
Aha, we have quite a similar story. I had a WiFi iPad that I sold last year …shortly after launch. I gave tablets in general a thumbs down. Took a 3G iPad a month back again and using it regularly.
Thanks for commenting! Love to hear from passionate gadget lovers.
I currently own a Galaxy Tab.
Why did I buy it over the iPad? Was it because I have some hatred of Steve Jobs and Apple? Did I buy my Tab because it has two cameras and a memory card slot?
I bought it for one specific PERSONAL preference – the size. I couldn’t hold an iPad comfortably no matter how hard I tried. I hated the weight. So, I bought the Tab.
Now, as for apps. I do two or three things on my Tab. I cruise the internet, read e-mail, and occasionally play a game of Freecell. It does these things extremely well. I don’t care about Angry Birds or any of the zillion plus apps in the iTunes store or Droid Marketplace I’d waste my money on, use a few times, and then delete. Talking about thousands of apps is just plain DUMB; who, after all, is going to by even .0001 % of any of them?
All of this hyping and arguing are the result of MARKETING. Let’s get some perspective here, folks, these things are a LUXURY. They’re not for real work (yet) and $500.00 for an iPad or $700.00 for a Xoom or a Tab 10.1 is still a LOT OF MONEY, period! I got my Tab for $400.00 and guess what, most people aren’t as lucky as me to drop a tidy sum like that for what amounts to an expensive toy.
Apple faces an uphill battle with Google/Droid over the long haul in that the onslaught of Droid tablets is going to drive the prices down – fast. Compare it to the Mac vs. PC wars. Yes, the Mac will probably always be a better and easier computing experience, overall; however, the PC is close enough to get people to accept the compromises to pay half or less the price of a Mac. We’re not all Photoshop professionals and video editors. You can already see this happening as the overall Droid phone market is now outselling the iPhone. One company vs. many is bad math for Apple, meaning the pressure is ALWAYS there to hit home runs or get slaughtered. So far Apple has been good – VERY good – but eventually Steve Jobs will not be at the helm.
So, while the points and opinions of this author are certainly with merit, they don’t take into account the millions of people who only want to read a Kindle book, chat online, do some social networking, and cruise the web. For that, the eventual $200.00 and under tablets will sell like hotcakes. Until then, I’m going to continue enjoying my Galaxy Tab, talking on my iPhone, and working on my HP laptop.