Kindle Fire loses ground while Apple and Samsung gain, latest report suggests

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

Apples could certainly not be claimed to be dominating tablets though with a 26% declining marketshare.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's true to say that the iPad is by far the most successful tablet on the market. Android tablets outsell it when all the hundreds of different models are combined, but there's no single Android tablet on the market whose sales are anywhere even close to that of the iPad.

[Teknikal]

I do know if it is it probably won't be for long, heres Apples market share over the last few years there an obvious trend developing.

end of 2010 83%
end of 2011 59%
end of 2012 44%

And of course it was last reported at 27% my guess is it's actually lower now.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by afv011

I'm not surprised. I don't see what's the appeal of an Amazon tablet, they're heavily skinned and OS updates are hard to come by, if at all. You're better off with a Nexus tablet, unless you're into the minority that root and install a custom ROM - and even then, with the price of the Nexus devices, there's little reason for that.

Personally, I went for a KF 8.9 because I find 7" tablets to be a little small for comics and magazines and 10.1" w/s tablets too tall, but would not buy another KF without the form factor benefits to outweigh the negatives of the overall Amazon tablet experience.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

I do know if it is it probably won't be for long, heres Apples market share over the last few years there an obvious trend developing.

end of 2010 83%
end of 2011 59%
end of 2012 44%

And of course it was last reported at 27% my guess is it's actually lower now.

You're still missing a fundamental point... dropping market share doesn't mean lower sales when it is a growing market... and, as HarryT says, "Android tablets outsell it when all the hundreds of different models are combined, but there's no single Android tablet on the market whose sales are anywhere even close to that of the iPad."

By the way, where did your 27% come from? I haven't seen it anywhere else yet other than from you...

[Mivo]

With iPads there is also the aspect that it's been relatively long (by Apple standards) since new models came out. Actually, the fact that we haven't gotten a retina iPad mini yet, nor specific information on it, is one of the chief reasons why I now dropped the money on a Nexus 7 (2013).

The decision to get out of the iOS ecosystem was the hardest part, but now that it's been made, there is only a slim chance I'll get another iOS device in the future (unhappy with Fairplay DRM for books and tired of having to go through poorly designed software like iTunes to put data on the device).

It's also not 2010 or 2011 anymore. Android tablets have really improved, both the hardware selection and the OS/apps/third party software support, which makes the inflated price of Apple products a larger factor. It wasn't two or three years ago because the apps quality was substantially higher in the iOS sphere, and Android was changing so quickly so that there was a lack of mid/longterm confidence -- these two made it easy to justify paying extra for an iOS device.

I'm also not surprised that the Fire is losing market share. It's too tightly locked into the Amazon ecosystem. It's convenient at first, especially if it's the first tablet, but I think once people get the hang of having a tablet and begin to use it for more tasks, they thirst for more freedom and more choice. What it has going for it is that it's sold at below manufacturing costs, so it's quite competitive.

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

To be fair, the next-gen Kindle Fire HD device, if the rumors turn out to be true, is quite the power tablet. If it's going to be competitively priced, I can see why it can be successful.

The new Nexus 7 was supposed to have a Snapdragon 600. It'll be interesting to see if the Fire does come with the 800. The advanced specs and the availability of a larger tablet would tempt me, but I'd rather have pure Android.

I've seen rumors that there will be a Nexus 8 coming that might have the Snapdragon 600.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

The new Nexus 7 was supposed to have a Snapdragon 600. It'll be interesting to see if the Fire does come with the 800. The advanced specs and the availability of a larger tablet would tempt me, but I'd rather have pure Android.

I've seen rumors that there will be a Nexus 8 coming that might have the Snapdragon 600.

The N7 actually has an S600, just underclocked to 1.5GHz instead of 1.7-1.9GHz as the S600 - that's why it's called S4Pro instead of S600. But for all intents and purposes, it is an S600; I was also under the impression that it was the older S4Pro as in the Nexus 4, but it turns out that's incorrect. Shoddy nomenclature from Qualcomm's part, if you ask me, having 2 different architectures (Krait-200 and Krait-300) using the same name, S4Pro.

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by afv011

The N7 actually has an S600, just underclocked to 1.5GHz instead of 1.7-1.9GHz as the S600 - that's why it's called S4Pro instead of S600. But for all intents and purposes, it is an S600; I was also under the impression that it was the older S4Pro as in the Nexus 4, but it turns out that's incorrect. Shoddy nomenclature from Qualcomm's part, if you ask me, having 2 different architectures (Krait-200 and Krait-300) using the same name, S4Pro.

Wait. If I ask you? Wouldn't you get angry? Say, "I already told you!" I'd say, "You told me to ask you!" Then a massive internet feud would start.

I will agree that Qualcomm shouldn't be recycling names like that.

[Jessica Lares]

The reason why the numbers are shrinking is because most people who buy an iPad, don't buy the next one. It's not like when the first Kindle Fire came out, that most immediately jumped to the HD when it came out. You can say the same for the Nexus 7.

There is no need to buy another iPad once you get one. I will have my Mini for probably five years until I buy another.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

The reason why the numbers are shrinking is because most people who buy an iPad, don't buy the next one. It's not like when the first Kindle Fire came out, that most immediately jumped to the HD when it came out. You can say the same for the Nexus 7.

There is no need to buy another iPad once you get one. I will have my Mini for probably five years until I buy another.

I don't think that's accurate. That would assume a penetration of nearly 100%, and we are far, far from there. The numbers are shrinking simply because there are alternatives that not only offer better specs and as good if not better ecosystem, but also the added bonus of lower price. Just look at the N7.2 and the ipad mini and tell me how you can justify charging an extra $100 for the fruit - you get a better processor, 4x the RAM, 3x the pixels, NFC and other goodies, and only at 2/3 the price.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by afv011

I don't think that's accurate. That would assume a penetration of nearly 100%, and we are far, far from there. The numbers are shrinking simply because there are alternatives that not only offer better specs and as good if not better ecosystem, but also the added bonus of lower price. Just look at the N7.2 and the ipad mini and tell me how you can justify charging an extra $100 for the fruit - you get a better processor, 4x the RAM, 3x the pixels, NFC and other goodies, and only at 2/3 the price.

Jessica has a major point... why would I buy a new tablet of any sort when the Nexus 7 and iPad mini do everything I want and I already own them... if I have a reason to need something more powerful then I may consider a new tablet but otherwise I'll happily use what I've got until they fail...

It's fine buying new tech all the time if you've got plenty of money but, guess what, a lot of us aren't independently wealthy and we actually get our kit to perform specific tasks/provide entertainment and as long as they meet our needs then we'll keep using them and not buying shiny new toys that we don't need (as opposed to want)...

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by afv011

Just look at the N7.2 and the ipad mini and tell me how you can justify charging an extra $100 for the fruit - you get a better processor, 4x the RAM, 3x the pixels, NFC and other goodies, and only at 2/3 the price.

Any computer can get its RAM upgraded, doesn't make it any better, other than it helps in performance. However, all the iPad apps and games are DESIGNED to work in those RAM limitations, unlike most Android games. You DON'T get better performance in Android games because 99% of them are designed to work fluidly with the slowest low-end device that you can buy. If you want proof, my $80 Huawei Fusion 2 AT&T GoPhone can run Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 with no problems whatsoever. It can even run that Drastic DS emulator, and it's only a 3.5" screen.

What good is NFC if there's nothing that takes advantage of it? It's just a wasted piece of tech inside a device that nobody is actually using.

I DON'T watch Netflix, I DON'T spend more than five minutes on Twitter every two months, I DON'T use Facebook more than once ever four months. My iPad is a productive tool. It is an accessory to my computer.

I use Texas Instruments's Nspire CAS app, I use Steinberg's Cubasis, my note taking app of choice is Noteshelf, my text editor of choice is Quick Drafts. TextExpander helps me to write efficient code without having to switch between the various layouts, and when I do need to watch a bit of video, I stream it from my computer to the iPad Mini using QuikIO.

It's all about the ecosystem. And honestly, I'm tired of waiting for Android to mature.

[Mivo]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

It's all about the ecosystem. And honestly, I'm tired of waiting for Android to mature.

We switch places, it seems! I endured the Apple limitations for the past three years because the alternatives weren't attractive, but I finally feel that Android (and the apps) is at a point where it meets my needs. For me, there is now nothing offered by Apple that justifies the downsides of the walled garden or the premium prices.

I'd probably have considered a retina Mini, but there's still no release date for it, or really any actual information, so the money went to Google. (I'll keep my iPad 2 for a handful of apps, like SmartGo Kifu, but for every day use the Nexus 7.2 takes that place.) I also consider it a substantial benefit to be able to freely choose hardware in the future without losing access to apps that I paid for.

[Josieb1]

The lack of the retina mini is probably one of the main reasons Android is doing so well in the smaller tablets. I have an iPad 3 and a Nook HD. If the iPad mini had a better screen I would have bought that without a second glance at any 7 inch tablet but it wasn't so I looked around for ages, then went for screen and price, as I want to read on it mainly, and write word documents. I love IOS, the infrastructure is great and I like iTunes, like the organisational part of it so an iPad mini is definitely something I'll get, eventually.

The Nook is good, perfect for what I do and I don't regret getting it but I prefer Apple, so it's just waiting now for a mini iPad with a better screen.

I'll never replace my main iPad with Android though, that will only get replaced with an updated IPad, probably at around 2/3 years after I got it.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

Any computer can get its RAM upgraded, doesn't make it any better, other than it helps in performance. However, all the iPad apps and games are DESIGNED to work in those RAM limitations, unlike most Android games. You DON'T get better performance in Android games because 99% of them are designed to work fluidly with the slowest low-end device that you can buy. If you want proof, my $80 Huawei Fusion 2 AT&T GoPhone can run Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 with no problems whatsoever. It can even run that Drastic DS emulator, and it's only a 3.5" screen.

What good is NFC if there's nothing that takes advantage of it? It's just a wasted piece of tech inside a device that nobody is actually using.

I DON'T watch Netflix, I DON'T spend more than five minutes on Twitter every two months, I DON'T use Facebook more than once ever four months. My iPad is a productive tool. It is an accessory to my computer.

I use Texas Instruments's Nspire CAS app, I use Steinberg's Cubasis, my note taking app of choice is Noteshelf, my text editor of choice is Quick Drafts. TextExpander helps me to write efficient code without having to switch between the various layouts, and when I do need to watch a bit of video, I stream it from my computer to the iPad Mini using QuikIO.

It's all about the ecosystem. And honestly, I'm tired of waiting for Android to mature.

All irrelevant. Your initial premise is that people don't buy ipads because they already have a tablet, which is simply false, the penetration rate is way too low for this to be true. There are lots of people who are buying a tablet for the first time, and if apple's percentage is getting lower, it simply means people are choosing other platforms.