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Why the Tablet Market is Really the iPad Market
Hugh Pickens writes writes "James Kendrick writes that after Apple introduced the iPad, companies shifted gears to go after this undiscovered new tablet market but in spite of the number of players in tablets, no company has discovered the magic bullet to knock the iPad off the top of the tablet heap. 'What's happening to the 7-inch tablet market is what happened to the PC market several times. Big name desktop PC OEMs, realizing that consumers didn't care about megahertz and megabytes — yes, that long ago — turned to a price war in order to keep sales buoyant,' writes Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. 'Price becomes the differentiating factor, and this in turns competition into a race to the bottom.' Historically, when a race to the bottom is dictated by the market, it's more a sign of a lack of a market in general. If enough buyers aren't willing to pay enough for a product to make producers a profit, the market is just not sufficient. Price is a metric that most people know and understand because it's nowhere as ethereal or complicated as CPU power or screen resolution. Given a $199 tablet next to another for $299, the $100 difference in the price tag will catch the eye before anything else. But if price is such an important metric, why is the iPad — with its premium price tag — so popular? Simple, it was the first tablet to go mass market, and cumulative sales of around 85 million gives the iPad credibility in the eye on potential buyers. 'So the problem with the Kindle Fire — and the Nexus 7 — is the same problem that's plagued the PC industry. Deep and extreme price cuts give the makers no wriggle room to innovate,' writes Kingsley-Hughes. 'By driving prices down to this level so rapidly, both Amazon and Google have irrevocably harmed the tablet market by creating unrealistic price expectations.'"
>Okay, it doesn't have everything that the iPad has,
Such as, for instance, usability.
I don't agree with any of the posters that think price has anything to do with this. Its the accessories market that pulls so many consumers to the apple product. How many stereo receivers or shelf systems, alarm clocks, ad infinitum come with android docks built in? Apple is winning the race because they have one and only one device with its one and only port. If Android hardware developers could agree on an interface port that appeared on every device, then the game would be on. If consumers didn't already have the apple connector in their homes on so many devices, would they consider the ipad the default device? Where is Google, Amazon and their hardware bandwagon driving the accessory market for tablets? Apparently they haven't thought of this.
This is nonsense. I have used both iPads and Androids, and the iPad is far easier to learn and use. Apple did many, many things right. And they were NOT first to market a tablet. Many, many people tried to make a successful tablet before the iPad. I have a drawer full of their failures.
Oh, and before anyone calls me an Apple fanboi, let me assure you that while I have respect for their products, I hate Apple as a company. But I am forced to use their products because I am married to an Apple fangoil.
This is nonsense. I have used both Androids and iPads, and the Android is far easier to learn and use. Google did many, many things right. And they were NOT first to market a tablet. Many, many people tried to make a successful tablet before the Nexus 7. I have a drawer full of their failures.
Oh, and before anyone calls me an Google fanboi, let me assure you that while I have respect for their products, I hate Google as a company. But I am forced to use their products because I am married to an Google fangoil
The average user doesn't notice things like technical quality. They just go with what's popular and hyped.
You could draw parallells between the average german voting for Hitler pre-ww2 and the average western citizen buying Apple today, both stemming from a advanced marketing campaign in combination with a lack of deeper understanding among the end-users that get fucked over due to their own actions in the end.