IPad Rivals Fail to Gain Traction

[Melfster]

Well it looks like Android tablets and RIM's playbook are falling hard.

Technology companies who hoped to outdo the Apple iPad by offering alternate slate-like products are not seeing the demand they hoped for from consumers, according to an analyst?s report issued by JPMorgan Chase.

The report, which was issued on Wednesday, said companies building products to compete with the iPad have slowed production by as much as 10 percent since this time last March. At that time, the report said, competing tablet companies created 81 million tablets; this year the number has fallen to 73 million.

The report named the list of iPad rivals that have failed to gain traction, including Asustek?s Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola?s Xoom, Research In Motion?s PlayBook, and Samsung?s Galaxy Tab. Although the Eee Pad sold out in stores when it debuted, it is now easily available and in some cases overstocked.

Apple said in March that since the original iPad was introduced in April 2010, the company has sold an estimated 20 million of the devices. That number does not include sales of the iPad 2, which was unveiled this year. The iPad 2 is in extremely high demand, with most Apple stores across the country still sold out on a regular basis.

Analysts have noted that it won?t be easy for competitors to catch up to the iPad, especially because of the head start Apple has in its App Store, which has become a cornerstone of its success.

The author of the report, Mark Moskowitz, has warned in the past of a possible tablet bubble burst, suggesting that a slew of iPad competitors could flood the market and sit there, not tempting customers and leaving a huge oversupply of products.

?We still think a tablet bubble burst could occur later this year,? Mr. Moskowitz wrote in Wednesday?s report, but said the latest reduction of competing products ?slightly temper our prior concerns.?

?Non-Apple tablet hopefuls have adjusted to the weak showing so far,? he said.

source

[neufuse Veteran]

the problem with tablets, as its always been is its a niche market... and the people who wanted one already have them..... kinda like netbooks...... once everyone who wanted one got one, they plummeted and once you are hooked on the one you got, usually you stick with it....

[Klownicle]

Here's the problem with tablets, its a niche market. What else is a niche market, iOS. Apple has secured the niche market for the iPad. I don't really ever see ANY tablet taking over the iPad. Not even the HP Touchpad. The bubble will burst and the tablets will stall, but the iPad will still be there.

[mrp04]

I don't think Android or WebOS are going to make much of a dent in the iPad's marketshare.

Windows 8 though looks like it has a huge opportunity. I find smartphone OS tablets pretty useless, but a Windows 8 tablet looks like it can be useful for more than showing off. You have the fancy touch apps, but you also have full blown Windows programs for when you want to get some actual work done! The processors in them should also be pretty good.

I'm excited to try Windows 8 on my convertible tablet!

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

There is no point trying to compete with the iPad - I don't understand why manufacturers are making tablets that are around the ?400 or ?500 mark. Just make them as cheap as possible.

Just set your sights lower, make tablets more accessible. The ones at ?90 sell far better than the ones at ?500. There's money to be made in volume.

[DukeEsquire]

I'm not surprised. I was pretty excited to own an Android tablet until I actually got my hands on one.

Yuck.

Returned it within a week. As far as I can tell, people are still snapping up the iPad 2 like hotcakes. The Apple Store nearest to me is still on a 2-week turn around time for new orders.

[Davo]

The Playbook was the only one I was expecting to go somewhere, and even then, it was in a corporate/productivity sense.

The Xoom was dead on arrival.

Getting a Samsung product with Android is a bad idea in any scenario considering they're always outdated before or at release.

The HTC Flyer looks like the company took the joke about the iPad being a large iPod Touch too literally.

[ctebah]

It's funny how companies are always playing catchup with apple, and almost never the other way around. Yet apple never innovates.....

[x-byte]

It's funny how companies are always playing catchup with apple, and almost never the other way around. Yet apple never innovates.....

I wouldn't say they don't innovate. What Apple is good at is presenting proven technology in a better package. No one comes close to them atm. The reason other tablets haven't been successful is that I think they are rushing their products out before properly testing them. They simply just put what they can inside a box. Just to "beat" Apple.