“Motorola Mobility dropped the price of its poor-selling Xoom tablet device by $100 today,” Chris Lau writes for Seeking Alpha. “The Wi-Fi model is now $499. The price drop will not only eat into profit margins, but is unlikely to boost unit sales.”
Lau asks, “This begs the question: why do all android-based tablets touted as an Apple ‘iPad killer’ fail?”
1) Apps: [Hundreds of thousands vs. hundreds]
2) Android User Demographics: Android is popular because it is a cheap smart phone alternative to any other offering. BOGO (buy one get one free), 99 cent and free (with contract) offerings are popular. The same user base is unlikely to spend an additional $400, let alone $499 for Motorola Xoom tablet. The demand side for android-based tablets is not there.
3) Specifications Matter Little, Ease of Use Matters Most
4) Android not Truly Open Source
Lau writes, “Until Android evolves to be more user friendly, less buggy and offers a more fluid experience for consumers for tablets, the next Android “iPad killer” will be yet another mirage.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “JES42” for the heads up.]