“For while it may be tempting to see the battle between iOS-powered iPads and Android-powered tablets as likely to be close, the truth is that Apple is blowing out the competition,” Mark Sigal writes for O’Reilly Radar. “The competition has no offense, no defense, and in the words of Steve Jobs, is getting ‘flummoxed.'”
“And they should be. Why? Because comparisons to Android’s strong competitive effort in the smartphone realm hide the fact that in the media player realm — arguably the closer analog to the iPad’s domain — Android is a total non-entity,” Sigal writes. “This speaks to the simple fact that when you remove the artificial ‘pull ‘ of mobile carriers from the media/tablet realm, Android devices are hosed.”
Sigal writes, “Putting aside the fact that Apple just sold 15M iPads in only 9 months of 2010, yielding $9.5B in revenue, it does not follow that other entrants into this segment should expect even remotely comparable success anytime soon. Here’s why: Dumb channels + undifferentiated + more expensive = fail.”
There are many more gems in the full article – highly recommended – here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Manny S.” for the heads up.]
You can throw the Playbook into that fail equation as well.
“Dumb channels + undifferentiated + more expensive = fail”
we likes it
Of course they are “hosed.” And not just the Android-based tablet competition.
They can’t undersell (or even match) Apple on retail price right now, and Apple could probably go $100 cheaper for the “low-end” model (and still have decent profit margin), if it becomes necessary at some point (not any time soon). And they can’t beat Apple on features, usability, and desirability, at ANY price. And they don’t have the iTunes/App Store, or the “ecosystem” for third-party peripherals.
If the competition can’t make an acceptable profit, most will eventually stop trying. It will be like the media player market and iPod. There is so little relevant competition these days for iPod because most of the big names gave up, even Microsoft with its still deep pockets.
I don’t know how many of you watch F1 racing as opposed to NASCAR but comparing an Android tablet to an iPad (1 or 2, doesn’t matter) is like comparing a flummoxed horse whip buggy to a carbon fiber Ferrari. They’re not even in the same race, much less competing for Cup honors.
As for the Playbook & Touchpad, at this point in time it’s like comparing a full specced Ferrari with its exhaust fumes belching out the back, they’re that vaporous & immaterial.
Apple is flummoxed from trying to keep up with the demand for iPads.
Apple is flummoxed from trying to keep up with the demand for iPads.
But thankfully Tim Cook isn’t the same type of COO that Apple was cursed with back in the days of the Power Mac 9600, when they couldn’t ship for love nor money.
Mr. Sigal wrote a comprehensive article, but one thing he didn’t mention with regard to Apple’s ecosystem is the huge number of developers. One similarity between Windows in its heyday and iOS now is that developers see that it’s where the money is. Developers are unhappy with the Android market for all the reasons MDN readers know about. Meanwhile, iOS developers are raking in good money, have what is reportedly a simple, straightforward, and robust SDK, and few devices they have to test for. Again, this is where Apple learned some lessons from its history.
I love it. Apple going RUTS (running up the score) Spurrier style on competitors.–Steve Jobs calls a post pattern while up 64-7.
Everyone should keep sight of the fact that “Android Tablets” cover a wide selection of devices from different companies. The iPad has only two generations from a single company. From this perspective, Apple is at a disadvantage and yet is TRAMPLING over the competition (and I use that word lightly).
I’ll be generous and give the Zoom 1 year before it goes belly up.