Is Apple betting the farm on the new iPad (iPad3 or iPadHD or ?)?

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Unlike Apple Samsung is trying to address the needs of everyone in the market (e.g. tablets in sizes of 7.0/7.7/8.9/10.1"). They are pushing the envelope with a 5.3" phone with Wacom (which is a raging success in Asia). And in the end, that is why I think Samsung will, sooner or later, overtake Apple. One size does not fit all, neither for phones nor for tablets. Now they are the ones taking bold steps with new designs (flexible displays coming up) and they make a lot of the components themselves.

Samsung may overtake Apple in the tablet field. But right now they are doing a horrible, horrible job of it. They've produced a lot of tablets in a lot of form factors...but have only managed to get about 7% of the market, despite flooding it with products. (Their product manager admitted as much at MWC (although he didn't say "horrible"). The Galaxy Tab 10.1 - which is probably closest to the iPad 2 in performance - is much more expensive than the iPad unless you buy it with a two year contract. A really stupid move on Samsung's part...unless they can't match Apple's low prices (which is probably the case, as weird as it is to write that).

I think it's significant that the second most popular tablet - the Kindle Fire - doesn't compete with Apple on specs at all, but is sold basically as a way of accessing Amazon's ecosystem. While making little (if anything) on sales of the tablets themselves. This appears to be a successful strategy - and I think it's notable that Amazon isn't offering all possible tablets to all possible users; they settled on a tablet that is just under half the size of the iPad to fill the "pocketable" niche.

This is a strategy that Samsung can't emulate because Samsung doesn't have an ecosystem like Amazon (or Apple, for that matter). The ecosystem for Samsung is owned by Google, so any apps or music or movies bought for Samsung products go to Google or the dev/artist. Meaning that Samsung has to make its money on the sale of the product itself, even as Apple itself is beefing up its own ecosystem and tying together its phone, TV device, tablets, and computers (and PCs, for that matter) through iCloud.

Time will tell, Apple is in a great position now. Remember when the iPad 2 came out an the competition was scrambling to adjust their designs? Now tablets already announced and arriving shortly are even ahead of the iPad 3 in many ways.

Which tablets? Ahead in what what way? Shipping when? The Asus transformer Infinity doesn't have a ship date, doesn't have a price, has a screen that is inferior to the screen on the iPad 3, and ships with a CPU/GPU that is either worse than what the iPad *2* has (the Tegra 3 model) or is about the same as what the iPad *2* has (the Snapdragon model). And this is a product that has only been announced - neither the price or the availablity has been determined yet.

Right now, the iPad is clearly leading the pack. Whether this will be the case in 3 or 5 years is an open question. But it's not one now.

(The battery issue is interesting, too - the Infinity ships with a 25 WH battery; the iPad 3 with a 42.5 WH battery. There has been some interesting discussion on this, and I wonder how it will play out in the real world.

And they will upgrade again in 6 months, while Apple will take another 18 months. Things have changed, Apple will have to do more than just incremental upgrades every 12-18 months.

From the point of view of sales, upgrading too frequently is bad, not good, as it tends to cause customers to be reluctant to buy because they are afraid that their product will be outdated too soon. That's why there is a lot of Android discussion on trying to move to yearly updates.

Apple fills the needs of many very well, but we are discussing long term market leadership here. They are far from number one in the PC and phone business, still many of you are very happy with Apple. That is great. But you can't stay number one for ever with just one device, and a software and eco system that caters just to a specific part of the market.

Well, it depends on the specific part of the market. The iPod did quite well catering to 80% of the market with yearly incremental updates.

But the consumer tablet market is only two years old, so it's hard to know how it will develop. But I think that companies like Samsung or even Asus (who I think make the best non-Apple tablets) won't succeed if they try to compete by copying the iPad's approach because they are too far behind, too unfocused, and don't have any meaningful ecosystem to offer. Offering something that is like an ipad, but in 5", 7", 7.7", 8.9", and 10.1" isn't a great approach. Companies that will succeed will attack from a slightly different angle - like Amazon, offering a cheap tablet in a smaller form factor with a focus on Amazon content. And possibly like MS, who I assume are going to focus on the business use cases of tablets (which is very interesting to me, since we use iPads at work quite a bit).

[monkeyluis]

Originally Posted by afv011

Certainly. I'm just saying that, for a company that has only 1 phone in their portfolio, which gets updated every 12 or 18 months, they did a rather poor job at not noticing those two obvious issues.

Ok. Android devices are superior & flawless. My bad.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by monkeyluis

Ok. Android devices are superior & flawless. My bad.

Some kind of reasoned argument around why Apple failed to address the issues, or a rebuttal of that allegation if it's not true would have been a better response (imho)

[ScotiaBurrell]

Issues yes addressed, no longer exist - right?

[heySkippy]

The antenna issues were addressed by free bumper cases that were given for to anyone who asked for one. The battery issues were addressed by software updates. What else could they have done?

I have an iPhone 4 and never had a problem with the antenna. My free bumper case sits unused in a box somewhere. I'll give it to whomever I sell the phone to when I upgrade.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by John F

SeaKing, let's change our bet to fiscal years 2011 and 2015. I triple dog dare you!

John F, we aren't on the playground, but I do admire your spirit if not your logic.

ALL,
first a statement, Apple has done a masterful job of marketing. This is a Jobs legacy that hasn't gone away yet. The iPad at 499USD (Wi-Fi) is good strategy. It has kept the other tablets at bay though now I believe they have caught up.

The main problems with Apple is usually the costs and even more so the cocoon that they wrap their customers in with that iTunes store. I should even go further and say it is a straitjacket.

I don't think that new display for Apple is worth upgrading. i.e. exchanging 1 500USD tablet for another, though if you can excuse your exchange by giving the tablet to a friend or relative, or even selling it to someone for near 500USD then I will agree that is reasonable, for you do get a new warranty. But 4G is a cost trap.

Personally I usually wait until the product is what I want, and then I keep it until it breaks (badly) or I drop it a thousand feet or so. (I guess those two are the same.) But I will not be hamstrung by anyone even a marketing genius.

[John F]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

John F, we aren't on the playground, but I do admire your spirit if not your logic.

...

You're right. We are on the internet, where anyone can make any kind of nonsense conjecture with no common sense behind it. My bet was meant as a friendly little poke to see how much you believe in what your saying.

I still think what you are saying is utterly ridiculous, and I'll back it up. I won't post for two months if you win, you don't post for one month, if I win. Bet?

In case people can't tell, I'm growing tired of mobile read in regards to Apple haters, fanboys, and trolls.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

I don't think that new display for Apple is worth upgrading.

And that is perfectly reasonable for you, it will depend on what each person sees as most important. For me, it absolutely is worth it.
The retina display rumours were around before the iPad *2* launch, and I said then that as soon as a tablet with a screen like that was available I'd get it. I skipped the iPad 2 because it didn't offer anything I wanted, but went for the iPad 3rd gen because it did.
If Amazon, B&N, ... had put one out first, I'd have gotten that, but they didn't.
If both were available at the same time, I'd have gotten the Apple tablet, because all of my current apps would transfer straight across.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by monkeyluis

Ok. Android devices are superior & flawless. My bad.

Where did I say that? I'm just righting the wrong in a previous statement. At no point I implied other companies are flawless.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

John F, we aren't on the playground, but I do admire your spirit if not your logic.

ALL,
first a statement, Apple has done a masterful job of marketing. This is a Jobs legacy that hasn't gone away yet. The iPad at 499USD (Wi-Fi) is good strategy. It has kept the other tablets at bay though now I believe they have caught up.

Believe based on what? Their inferior specs? Higher prices? For all the posts you make slamming Apple users for being morons, you seem to have absolutely.no.knowledge of the actual Apple products you accuse people of being stupid for buying.

Seriously, which tablets do you think have caught up?

And why is it so hard for you to accept that people buy Apple products because they are actually better, and not because they are better marketed?

The main problems with Apple is usually the costs and even more so the cocoon that they wrap their customers in with that iTunes store. I should even go further and say it is a straitjacket.

Again, complete lack of knowledge on your part. The difficulty roughly comparable tablets have competing with the iPad is that they *can't match Apple's price.* They are too expensive. The iPad is cheaper.

I don't know any different way to say that.

I don't think that new display for Apple is worth upgrading. i.e. exchanging 1 500USD tablet for another, though if you can excuse your exchange by giving the tablet to a friend or relative, or even selling it to someone for near 500USD then I will agree that is reasonable, for you do get a new warranty. But 4G is a cost trap.

Yeah, everyone is going to have to decide for himself about upgrading, and a lot of that will depend on how you use your tablet. But since tablets are basically all screen, that's a pretty important part.

But there are a lot of people who don't have a tablet at all. And if they are interested in a tablet, the iPad is something of a no-brainer.

[/QUOTE]

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by afv011

Where did I say that? I'm just righting the wrong in a previous statement. At no point I implied other companies are flawless.

Your "Android Crusader" badge implies that you are less than impartial.

[HansTWN]

Andrew H, you forget that Samsung has been seriously held back by the lawsuits -- those are behind them and they have greatly improved their position. They are already selling more smart phones than Apple and are capable of doing the same in the tablet space in about 2 years.

Anyway, Apple's market share went from 75% to 50+ in a year. See you back next year or perhaps around September already.

[cjr72]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

But there are a lot of people who don't have a tablet at all. And if they are interested in a tablet, the iPad is something of a no-brainer.

That's my situation in a nutshell. I have a Samsung android phone and I like it but when it comes to tablets when I consider price + specs + number of tablet apps, etc. the iPad rises to the top of my list. I won't be buying my tablet until June so I'll see what the landscape is like then when it comes to the iPad's competition.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Your "Android Crusader" badge implies that you are less than impartial.

?

It looks more like the old Arch Linux Logo





than a droid...

[ScotiaBurrell]

here http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/...splay-outlook/

only one of Apple’s three suppliers — Samsung — is currently making display panels for the iPad

Retina Glaxy Tabs soon!