Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Android Beats iOS As the Top Tablet OS

Posted by Unknown on from the gnu-feeling-left-out dept.

sfcrazy writes "Linux is on a roll. After conquering the smartphone space, Android is now dominating the tablet space. According to a new study by Gartner, 'the tablet growth in 2013 was fueled by the low-end smaller screen tablet market, and first time buyers; this led Android to become the No. 1 tablet operating system (OS), with 62 percent of the market.'" Also, everyone is buying tablets.(~200 million sold in 2013 vs ~115 million in 2012). Microsoft still only has 2% of the tablet market.

23 of 487 comments (clear)

  1. The year of the Linux Tablet by Niterios · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is finally here! Now we just need it to be an open platform.

    1. Re:The year of the Linux Tablet by Wild_dog! · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sailfish OS based on Meego will soon be installable on Android tablets and phones. Bingo.

    2. Re:The year of the Linux Tablet by vux984 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, from way back this morning there is this guy:

      http://features.slashdot.org/s...

      -----IPADS. So many possibilities, sooooo cheap.

      I would encourage a new composer on a budget to start with an iPad, and challenge them to fill it up with software using the $5,000-$50,000 they just saved. Go nuts--you'll never exhaust the budget!! I've created sounds that have suited my clients needs very well, using the following iPad apps...

      One of the most insightful and interesting ask slashdots I've read.

      Or right, he said -composer-, not -producer-. So your both right... ipads aren't adequate for production... but apparently quite good for composition.

    3. Re:The year of the Linux Tablet by tysonedwards · · Score: 4, Informative

      From the same article, I wouldn't really call Apple on the downward slide. They have been selling more tablets than ever, and more than Samsung, Asus, Amazon and Lenovo combined. In fact, all 5 have been growing tremendously Year-over-Year. The difference here is that there has been a significant increase in the "Others" category, all of the other manufacturers who on their own would be considered a rounding error in the report. This is more the case of the Bargain Bin models increasing the size of the market larger than the "Big Boys" care to play in. Example: Samsung isn't rushing out to release a $49 tablet to compete with RCA.

      --
      Thirty four characters live here.
    4. Re:The year of the Linux Tablet by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I've got several of those $50, 5" Android tablets. They are perfectly suited for use as SONOS/Z Wave controllers around the home. Fast and responsive when doing that. Why buy a $300+ tablet for such a mundane task? I'd rather have 6 of these lower-end controllers rather than one - and I can leave them around in all the rooms of the house. Choice is wonderful!

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    5. Re:The year of the Linux Tablet by DJRumpy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They do this every time. Gartner left out almost 4 million Apple sales. Those were actual sales, rather than 'shipped'. This happens every time, and we always find out later that Shipped from folks like Samsung != Sales from Apple.

      Apple reports Sales. The others do not.

      http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/03/03/gartner-ignores-apples-sales-numbers-reports-android-marketshare-doubled-ipad-in-2013

    6. Re: The year of the Linux Tablet by kthreadd · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Too bad almost no one uses AOSP, but relies on the Google Play services which are non-free. Almost like saying that OS X is open because Darwin is.

  2. ANDROID != LINUX by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't believe.

    There is NO Posix userspace on Android.
    Posix kernel land is locked/limited.

    Why does it take 16 GB RAM to compile the Android tarball? That's some BEAUTIFUL community inclusion!

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:ANDROID != LINUX by schnell · · Score: 5, Informative

      So what?

      Giving Linux credit for Android is like saying that FreeBSD is a major desktop OS because of MacOS X, or a major mobile OS because of iOS. It's not. All the bits that make it a success were added by someone else and the underlying kernel is essentially invisible to the end user.

      Celebrate Google's success with Android. Don't try to turn it into a success story for Linux when it's not. Linux has succeeded remarkably well in the server and embedded spaces but has not been terribly successful in the desktop or mobile spaces. And you know what? That's okay.

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
    2. Re:ANDROID != LINUX by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's the Linux kernel, for chrissakes. Why you would count embedded Linux installs and not Android is beyond me.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:ANDROID != LINUX by caseih · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes but Linux is really just incidental. It might have been picked for cost, or stability, or openness, but it's irrelevant to Android and Android users, for all intents and purposes. Sure those of us that know how can install a posix userspace and get a Linux shell. But most people will never see beyond the apps, which are targeting a specific VM stack that could easily have been developed to run on a different kernel, either home-grown, or a commercial alternative like QNX. In fact we know this is true because there are ways of running Android apps on Blackberry and even MS Windows. So don't be too proud that Linux powers Android. Especially not until we can run Android on a stock Linux kernel. So far as I know Google still hasn't merged all their changes (some have been merged), so I consider Android's kernel a fork for now.

    4. Re:ANDROID != LINUX by marcello_dl · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Gentlemen, to clear up the terminology confusion, I suggest to:
      - call the kernel "Linux"
      - call the kernel + GNU userland GNU/Linux
      - call the linux based Google's operating system Android/Linux

      The reason nobody else came up with this classification before is beyond me.

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
  3. And yet apple sells more tablets than anybody by noh8rz10 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who is making all these tablets? Here's the rough breakdown of 2013 unit volume from Gartner for worldwide:
    * Apple 36%
    * Samsung 19%
    * ASUS 6%
    * Amazon 5%
    * Lenovo 3%
    * All others 31%

    the first notable thing is that Apple sells more than Samsung, Asus, Amazon, and Lenovo combined. The second notable thing, who is the "all others"? All sort of white-label chinese makers? Who is buying these? And can you say that these are truly Android tablets if they have some sort of modified android 2.3?

    Here are the categories that I see in this market:

    * iOS
    * "Premium" Android. The Galaxy Tabs, the Nexus tablets, etc. Sold in US, EU, etc. The ones we are familiar with
    * Kindle
    * MS Surface
    * white label tablets. Presumably built and sold in China, elsewhere.

    We need to recognize that premium android might as well be a different OS than white label android. The apps will be different, the languages will be different, the monetization will be different, the fragmentation will be different. For all intensive purposes premium android is as removed from white label android as it is from kindle.

    1. Re:And yet apple sells more tablets than anybody by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 4, Informative

      * white label tablets. Presumably built and sold in China, elsewhere.

      White label tablets are sold in China, but also everywhere else. Rebranded as Aldi / Staples / Wal-Mart or what have you.

      We need to recognize that premium android might as well be a different OS than white label android. The apps will be different, the languages will be different, the monetization will be different, the fragmentation will be different.

      What are you talking about? I have a white-box Chinese Android tablet. It came with Android 4.2, gmail, Play store, google maps, etc. All of the no-name (Aldi Branded / Walmart / etc) tablets I've seen are the same.

      For all intensive purposes premium android is as removed from white label android as it is from kindle.

      Totally incorrect. The cheaper manufacturers actually provide a better android experience as they're using 'pure' android rather than putting shitty touch-wiz / sense style overlays & attempting to sign you up for a million stupid Samsung / etc services.

      Oh - and you say "for all intents and purposes". Think about it. Intensive purposes makes no sense in the context this phrase is typically used in.

      --
      There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
    2. Re:And yet apple sells more tablets than anybody by whisper_jeff · · Score: 4, Interesting

      White label tablets also include TV dongles that happen to run Android - for some reason, they track as "tablet". Presumably it's the most accurate of the choices available. Despite it not being a tablet, at all.

      And there are a LOT of these TV dongles out there. For example, do a search on Amazon or eBay for "android tv dongle".

      Skewed and distorted numbers.

    3. Re:And yet apple sells more tablets than anybody by amiga3D · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What are you smoking? Those shitty tablets have one thing in common and that is a shitty screen. The touch screen is by far the most important part of the tablet experience and a shitty screen makes for one bad experience. That's the first thing I noticed when I picked up the Samsung Galaxy tablet. A screen to rival the iPad. That was the beginning of actual competition. Before that it didn't exist. I see those crap tablets on Craigslist all the time at giveaway prices.

  4. Questionable Numbers by whisper_jeff · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sure, if you go with Gartner's numbers which undercut Apple's reported sales figures (you know, numbers that undergo SEC scrutiny for accuracy) by almost 4 million units while also adding in Android "white box" units that include TV dongles which track as tablets despite being not-at-all tablets while also clouding the results by reporting Apple's sales-to-end-users numbers with Android's shipped-into-channel numbers. So, yeah, if you cut Apple's numbers and artificially inflate Android's numbers, yes, Android is beating iOS in the tablet space.

    And now you may mod me troll while claiming I'm just an Apple fanboy for speaking the truth.

    I have such fond memories of when this site wasn't such a blatant tool of spin doctors for certain industry interests...

  5. Re:Trollbait article by linuxci · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'd avoid any of these compromise tablets like the surface. I've used them (at work) an they really combine all the disadvantages of a tablet with the disadvantages of a laptop, they're the worst of both worlds.

    For example, you can't use the keyboard cover of the surface unless it's on a flat surface. Personally I often use my laptop in bed, which needs a solid keyboard.

    The surface has a mix of Metro and desktop UI, I ended up getting frustrated when trying to manipulate the desktop UI I ended up plugging in a mouse.

    Some of the control panel items are in Metro, others are Windows Classic.

    Microsoft have not shown a good history in updating their consumer devices, for example most Windows Phone 7 devices could not be updated to WP 8.

  6. It is. by Sable+Drakon · · Score: 4, Informative

    Android IS an open platform. It's entirely up to you if you want to be locked into Google's ecosystem or not. Install Cyanogenmod or another third-party ROM, then look as there's no GApps or Google all over your phone. But remember it's now up to you to sideload a new app store and get the APKs to what non-Google services you use.

    --
    The Amarri pray for god, the Caldari pray for profit. the Gallente pray for peace, but the Minmatar pray their ships hol
  7. Re:I love my Android tablet by linuxci · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's Adobe that dropped support for Flash on Android.

    In the end it's a good thing. It's a massive battery drain and if both iOS and Android don't support it then there"s less use of it for needless purposes.

  8. Gartner can't add by david.emery · · Score: 5, Informative

    From http://appleinsider.com/articl...
    "The most glaring inconsistency is a disconnect between Gartner's 70.4 million iPad sales and Apple's self-reported 74 million unit sales for 2013. From the first quarter — Apple's second fiscal quarter — to the fourth, the company reported iPad sales of 19.5 million, 14.6 million, 14.1 million and 26 million, respectively. The total: 74.2 million iPads sold during 2013. "

    Note these numbers are reported by Apple on SEC filings, not on press releases.

  9. only if you're a lazy git by rubycodez · · Score: 4, Informative

    you can add Debian and its ports to Android

    quit your whining, you pansy

  10. Re:Slightly biased... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 5, Informative

    My two year old iPod Touch is considered obsolete by Apple. I paid full retail for it and it can't run the new iOS. It was one of my biggest mistake purchases recently.