“I had previously explained the concept of tablet market tiers and the pattern of upmarket competition among Android vendors as they continue to fight for reasonable hardware margins,” Sameer Singh writes for Tech-Thoughts.
“Recent tablet install base data from ABI research seems to support this hypothesis and describes the same pattern we saw in the smartphone market,” Singh writes. “This also helps explains why Apple needs an iPad Pro.”
“It seems that iPad sales are being driven by repeat buyers, while Android tablet sales are being driven by first time buyers,” Singh writes. “Now, what would happen when branded Android tablet vendors make a concerted upmarket push? This is inevitable because branded vendors are facing increasing margin pressures from regional brands and white box competitors in mid-market tiers. Increasing competition in the limited high-end market could cause iPad shipments to flat-line or even decline over the next few years. In response, Apple is likely to aggressively target the only market tier remaining above — the enterprise.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Let’s wait to see what happened with Christmas tablet sales with enticing new iPads (iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display) available this year.
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