“Sharp Corp. says it is ending most sales of its ‘Galapagos’ tablet computers less than a year after launch,” The Associated Press reports.
“The company will stop selling the 10.8-inch and 5.5-inch models in Japan on Sept. 30,” AP reports. “The decision does not affect a recently launched 7-inch version sold through Internet provider eAccess Ltd.”
AP reports, “Sharp unveiled the retiring tablets last December and hoped to sell 1 million units. But analysts suspect the gadgets fared poorly against rivals like Apple Inc.’s iPad.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sharp sold tablets?
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Edward Weber,” “Lynn Weiler,” “GetMeOnTop,” and “cococanuck” for the heads up.]
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Somehow, all the world’s supply of Galapagos tablets ended up on Easter Island.
My take is exactly as MDN’s: Sharp sold tablets? First I’ve heard of this.
Not only tablets.
Many here might be in shock to know that Sharp actually produces infinitely small number of smartphones with Retina display — I mean 3.5″ 960×640. When they will stop this remains to be seen.
Charles Darwin is smiling about this news.
Dead people have no emotions.
Oh, the irony….!
I had no idea Sharp even sold tablets.
I know they had dabbled in ‘smart phone like’ devices for years, usually delivering something along the lines of a PIM in a calculator form with a grey LCD.
Interesting
I guess Sharp finally got the pointlessness…
So the Galapalos are a sinking ship?
Or Atlantis II?
“But analysts suspect the gadgets fared poorly against rivals like Apple Inc.’s iPad.”
Wow! It sure is good we have those analysts and their penetrating intellects on the job!
By the way, analysts, it’s not “rivals like”, it’s “the iPad”.
Never heard of this tablet. Most likely no one else heard of it, either. Those analysts sure are flip-flopping as they face reality. Not long ago, these same a-hole analysts were spouting how the flood of cheap Android tablets would be the death of the iPad and Apple because consumers would always choose cheap over quality.
I do heard about Sharp’s attempt when a salesman, could be Darwin I think, tried to sell me one on the Galapagos Islands.
Sharp tablets eaten up by iPads and great white sharks, which like to swim around Galapagos.
BTW, for all of the “I didn’t know Sharp sold tablets” comments, if you read the article, they were sold in Japan. That’s why you didn’t know about them.
That and only 3 were actually bought by consumers.
“if you read the article, they were sold in Japan”
So the ‘Galapagos’ was sort of the Sharp equivalent of the Zune, never perpetrated outside its country of contrivance. Except of course Sharp were intelligent enough to kill it, unlike the undead Zune. 😉
I was under the impression that MS has finally pulled the plug on Zune.
“hoped to sell 1 million units”
Analysts who are saying that iPad only has 68% marketshare probably counted those ‘HOPED to SELL’ and ‘SHIPPED not SOLD’ Sharp tabs as well as similar Samsung etc tablets.
I guess those tablets were not among the fittest.
BLOODBATH!
No tablet is an island.
looks like those Sharp tablets became an albatross…
Survival of the fittest…
Garapagos was released in Jan. 21 ,2011, attempted to rival iPad as an e-book reader.
It was with a custom Linux OS ,later updated to Android 2.3.
I saw it displayed in a shop in Shinjuku ,Tokyo.
I visited there several times ,but after a month from its release no visitor paid attention to it.
A few meters from Garapagos there was iPad display ,which attracts everyone.
Very cruel scene for SHARP.
Like a Dodo bird.