“Though Samsung, LG Electronics, Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Research In Motion, and Dell have announced or hinted at touchscreen tablets that will arrive between now and March 2011, they’re way late to the party. Since the iPad’s debut in April, Apple has built a huge lead in this category—in terms of actual devices sold but also in many consumers’ minds. “
*groan*
#1 There is no “party” to be late to. Apple’s sales of this thing have slackened in the U.S., the only thing is that Apple purposely staggers the release to a few countries per month as to give the impression that “HOLY CRAP THEY ARE SELLING OUT ALL OVER!!!”.
#2 I think tech writers seriously need to quit with the iPom Pom tossing at this point seeing how an OS like Android has completely eaten the iPhone’s lunch after being written off as coming “late to the party”. WP7 is also going to be a strong player.
The moment the Android tablets hit the streets, it’s going to be the same story all over again. It’s not like the complete total of people that will ever buy a tablet HAVE bought one.
Proof? You make a bald assertion without proof. Apple is selling every iPad they can make. So if you have proof that sales of iPads have slackened in the Apple stores and the online stores or at the Apple partner retailers, post it. Don't just assert it ex cathedra.
#2 I think tech writers seriously need to quit with the iPom Pom tossing at this point seeing how an OS like Android has completely eaten the iPhone’s lunch after being written off as coming “late to the party”.
It has??? Not according to the profit picture—"Android's Pursuit of the Biggest Loser"— which finds that Apple's iPhone is taking home 48% of ALL profits from all mobile devices, smartphones and not-so-smart phones included. One of the conclusions of that article is:
"The lack of a real response. The recurring theme in this series of articles has been that giant multinational incumbents in a vast and rapidly growing industry, enjoying all the advantages that size and incumbency, have had their profits taken from them. And they don’t seem to have put up much of a fight."
That's hardly "eating" Apple's lunch. In fact, it looks like Apple is the one having a gourmet meal, while the others are begging on the corner with signs saying will sell phones for food. Finally, the article states:
"So how likely are these disrupted ex-giants to recover and take Android forward? My bet: slim to none. Android does not offer more than a lifeline. It is not a foundation for long-term profitability as it presumes the profits accrue to the network and possibly to Google. Profit evaporation out of devices to Google may be a possibility at some time in the future, but only if the devices don’t need too much attention to remain competitive. But because they’re still not good enough (and they won’t be for years to come), it’s certain that attention to detail is what will be most important to stay abreast of Apple."So here we have the real challenge to Android: partnership with defeated incumbents whose ability to build profitable and differentiated products is hamstrung by the licensing model and whose incentives to move up the steep trajectory of necessary improvements are limited.
In other words, Android’s licensees won’t have the profits or the motivation to spend on R&D so as to make exceptionally competitive products at a time when being competitive is what matters most."
WP7 is also going to be a strong player. . . The moment the Android tablets hit the streets, it’s going to be the same story all over again. It’s not like the complete total of people that will ever buy a tablet HAVE bought one.
Pie in the sky, by and by... it hasn't happened yet.