The document discusses the tablet market dynamics in summer 2011, highlighting Apple's dominance with over 9 million iPad sales and the challenges faced by Android competitors like the Motorola Xoom. It notes the initial shortcomings of the Honeycomb OS and the fragmented upgrade situation for Android tablets, contrasting them with the widespread presence of iPads. Additionally, it touches on the struggles of other platforms like Blackberry's Playbook and HP's Touchpad in gaining traction against the leading iPad.

1. Wednesday, 27 July 2011 02:00
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The Hot Tablet Landscape by Platform,
Summer 2011 Version
The Hot Tablet Landscape by Platform, than the original kept customers buying the iPad
Summer 2011 Version 2 by the millions. Apple’s latest figures show it has
sold over 9 million iPads, making it clear the iPad
Since the arrival of the iPad on the scene, tablets has dominated the tablet landscape. The iPad 2 will
have been a common topic for discussion. The get even better with the release of iOS 5 later this
conversation goes far beyond the tablet from Apple year which improves the platform for both the iPad
as competitors are busy trying to get a competing and iPhone.
product to share the wealth. The race to produce a
hot tablet that competes with the iPad has not had Android Honeycomb
a winner yet, and it is worth a look at the tablet ta-
bleau by platform to see where things currently fall.
iOS/ iPad
Google’s Android OS has only been in existence for
a short period but has dominated the smartphone
space for a lot of that time. The company’s latest
figures show that 550,000 Android devices are ac-
Apple set the tech world on its ear with the release tivated daily, and 130 million of them have been
of the original iPad, not only because it was so thin activated to date. The rapid rise of the Android
and light, but because it was much cheaper at $499 smartphone coupled with the good customer reac-
than anyone was prepared for. This entry level pri- tion to the iPad led Google to produce Honeycomb,
cing was brilliant in that it virtually guaranteed it the version ofAndroid designed strictly for tablets.
would be a success given how good a product it was.
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The first Honeycomb tablet, the Motorola XOOM,
That was followed up this year with the iPad 2, an was released early this year to mixed reviews. Ho-
improved model that quickly sold faster than Apple neycomb 3.0 was buggy and didn’t do Google any
could produce them. The addition of a rear camera, favors for the platform. Since the shaky release,
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along with a new form even thinner and lighter two updates have been produced addressing the
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The Hot Tablet Landscape by Platform, Summer 2011 Version
majority of Honeycomb’s problems. The first of these dock available that turns the tablet into a netbook
updates Honeycomb 3.1 is now shipping on a lot of alternative. The rash of tablets becoming available
the Android tablets available currently. Honeycomb make this a mobile segment to watch, as companies
3.2 is rumored to be even more stable than 3.1, but it are fighting with different hardware components
is not yet available on many of the shipping tablets. and price. If prices drop low enough Android tablets
may start selling in numbers worth tracking.
This fragmentation issue that has plagued Android
on the smartphone side is already a factor on the PC giant Lenovo is preparing to enter the Honey-
tablet side. Buyers of Android Honeycomb tablets comb tablet race with acouple of models. One of
have no guarantee that updates will be released those is a ThinkPad Tablet aimed at professional
by the OEM and the carrier (for those tablets sold workers, and it has features not found on existing
by them). This situation means prospective buyers tablets. The ThinkPad will bring a pen to the slate, al-
shopping for a Honeycomb tablet are often unclear lowing full interaction with the screen by pen along
on which version of the OS a particular model is with handwriting on the screen that is converted
shipping with. This is significant on Android tablets to text as desired.
given how bad Honeycomb was at release (3.0) and
the uncertain nature of Android updates. If you buy There is no clear indication how many Android ta-
a tablet shipping with version 3.1 of Honeycomb, you blets are selling nor how many have sold to date, but
have no guarantee of getting the already released it is almost certain far fewer are selling than iPads.
3.2 which further fixes bugs. Those of us keeping an eye out for tablets in public
rarely see an Android tablet in use, but iPads are
In addition to having the very buggy Honeycomb literally everywhere. Android is the number one
3.0, the Motorola XOOM was rushed to market with competitor to the iPad, so we need to see these things
hardware components that didn’t work, and big start appearing in public to prove they are moving
promises that the model sold by Verizon would re- in significant numbers. Google’s own figures aren’t
ceive an LTE upgrade shortly. XOOM owners are still telling a compelling story for Honeycomb tablets.
waiting the availability of that LTE upgrade, and are
understandably upset that the just released Sam-
sung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available for purchase
in just a few days with LTE integration. Early adop-
ters (XOOM buyers) will not get the first Honeycomb
tablet capable of blazing LTE speeds.
Samsung has become one of the top sellers of An-
droid phones, and it jumped on the tablet space with
the original Galaxy Tab last year. The new Galaxy
Tab 10.1 is the thinnest and lightest 10-inch tablet in
existence, having beaten the iPad in these key areas.
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Other OEMs have been releasing Honeycomb ta-
blets, with models by ASUS and Acer among those
currently shipping. There are innovative offerings
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like the Transformer by ASUS which has a keyboard
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The Hot Tablet Landscape by Platform, Summer 2011 Version
BlackBerry PlayBook HP webOS (TouchPad)
Beleaguered BlackBerry maker RIM was counting HP paid $1.2 billion to acquire Palm to get possession
on the PlayBook tablet released early this year to of the webOS platform. The recently released Tou-
help turn the company around. Even though the chPad is the first webOS tablet produced out of that
hardware on the PlayBook was viewed as quite good, acquisition, and while it shows promise the shaky
reviewers of the tablet were surprised to find that release hasn’t done HP any favors.
core tablet capabilities were missing. Releasing
the PlayBook without native email, contact mana- Reviews of the TouchPad were uniformly bad at
gement and calendar functions, all features the release, due to bugs and performance issues. HP
BlackBerry smartphone has been famous for, was immediately responded that an update was already
viewed as a major faux pas by RIM. being prepared to address those issues, and it is ex-
pected in just a few days. Inside information tells us
Sales of the 7-inch PlayBook have been so poor that this does address the performance of the TouchPad,
RIM is rumored to have cancelled work on the 10- along with adding some new features.
inch PlayBook that was expected later this year.
The company’s recent announcement of layoffs and The TouchPad with webOS is a compelling tablet due
executive shuffling don’t paint a good picture for to the ability of HP to do something with the product.
the PlayBook’s future. The company is throwing a lot of engineering and
resources into both webOS and the TouchPad, and
the potential is there for a good run at the iPad.
The combination of technical ability, production
capabilities and large distribution system make the
HP TouchPad a product line to watch.
joliprint
HP is going to produce a second TouchPad, a 7-inch
version, later this year. The webOS platform as it
has evolved on the tablet is a nice alternative to
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The Hot Tablet Landscape by Platform, Summer 2011 Version
the iPad and Android, and with HP’s backing has a
decent shot at getting into the enterprise.
Other Business News:
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