Quote:
Originally Posted by KC Fish
For all the iPad shortcomings listed somewhere in the 1000+ posts here... Apple still rules the tablet market at close to 80%. Android is climbing, and that's a good thing. But with Apple's present market domination, it's going to roll over into considerable iPad2 sales. Familiarity will be a buying factor. I think most people will overlook the hardware differences. Most people have no clue about differences in Adroid OS versions and telling them that Honeycomb is going to be better won't mean shit to the average tablet buyer. iPad has been marketed down our throats. Xoom's Android tablet OS hasn't really been sold to the people at all.
But right now, Apple will sell plenty of iPad2 tablets for reasons listed above, while Android devices struggle to keep up. Thinner, prettier design and consistent user interface will outweigh hardware differences for enough people to sell millions of units..
Yeah for diversity, but Apple's marketing will ensure sales of iPad2 to market capacity. Android devices will slowly catch up and drive prices down while doing so. Which is good for both.
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Android hasn't had a usable tablet OS on the market until last week. So, yes, of course the iPad 2 will sell well. The Xoom is overpriced and even when the $530 version comes out in April... it still won't be enough to change the market drastically overnight... but the change will come.
Let's look at the iPhone vs Android phones... the first "real" Android OS came out in April 2009.. that's less than 2 years ago... The iPhone had almost a full 2 year head start. Android has now passed iOS and is on the road to dominance.
The same will happen with tablets and probably even faster... Since Android's first tablet OS is only a week old.. I imagine that it will take a full year to 18 months to catch up in terms of market share.
THAT SAID, Android Tablets will be the far better product starting about two months from now... as old iPads wear out and get outdated... you'll see a number of users switching over, but the significant gains will be in new users to the tablet space... especially ones who are waiting for more affordable options.
In summary, yes iPad has a head start and will maintain a lead in overall market share for awhile... but starting around Christmas I expect NEW tablets sales to shift in favor of Android based units... then it's just a matter of time.
P.S. Apple has an even higher share than 80% if you are talking "true" tablets and not bastard netvertible tablets like mine.