IFA Tradeshow Focused on Tablets Not Smartphones Discussion

[Ed Hardy]

The IFA tradeshow is starting to wrap up in Berlin, and those who were hoping for some new smartphones to be announced were disappointed. The focus was on tablets this year, though there was a tabphone.

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[LandSurveyor]

Is the tablet market really as "hot" as people thought it was going to be?

I've never been mainstream - I'm more of a backwater type, but it seems that a lot of the enthusiasm was unwarranted as people took these things home and realized that they straddled the line between smartphone and computer, which people already owned.

I'm not saying they don't have a place, just maybe not a particularly big one.

Or am I just limited by my own perspective again?

To put it another way, who is buying these things, what are they mostly doing with them and in what quantity?

And are they mostly for personal or business use?

[Hook]

I have no idea what will really happen, but I can see a scenario where we might see tablets replacing computers for a large number of consumers. There has always been a those people who buy computers, don't know how to use them very well, and use all that power to do things they can do much more easily on a tablet. I also don't consider it unlikely they could replace smartphones for some with the phone simply becoming an ear piece. I think you are seeing trending towards that with Smartphones with bigger and bigger screens.

I think Apple is the only one that has gotten the user experience exactly right so far, but that is going to change. I expect the tablet to turn laptops into a business market with tablets the consumer item. Geeky types (and old folks) will still have laptops, but I think people could drift to Tablets the way they drifted from desktops to laptops in the early 2000s.

It will be an interesting couple of years to watch. Tablets are still in their infancy.

[Varjak]

Horses for courses. For 'consuming' media and communicating, it's hard to beat the iPad; and eventually other tabs/pads will match up with it or come close.

For people mixing in more 'producing,' netbooks, laptops, and desktops will still probably be needed. No one wants to type long text documents or create multimedia on a tablet (yet). And something like an iPad plus a decent keyboard is more than a good laptop is likely to cost.

[weegie]

I've never been mainstream - I'm more of a backwater type,

Me too, perhaps we should get together on the banjo's one day LS

Tablets to me are a nothing device, too big to go in a pocket, and too small for anything serious, they're basically a smartphone with a bigger screen, with the same limitations on software and compatability.I was going to suggest to my youngest sister that she try an ipad, but then remembered she does a lot of homework after hours with word docs, spreadsheets and the like, one of my cast off Dell Precision notebooks that she uses will pretty much do a better job at anything than an ipad, except for portability, it has a proper keyboard, much better screen, is much faster and is compatible with just about anything, you can go to your local shop and buy some software...or buy it online from usually more than one source, rather than being tied to a parasitic OS makers store.

Personally I'd rather consume media on a notebook or PC as well, for quick on the go communication, my preference is a handheld that fits in my pocket.
Never say never, but tablets are just too limited in general at the moment, I would think if ever there's a big market for tablets, it would be older people who would find a simpler tablet easier to get the hang of for their likely simpler needs, while being easier to read and less fiddly than a smartphone.

[Ed Hardy]

I think there is undoubtedly an iPad market. Apple sold over 9 million tablets during its most recent quarter, and analysts have predicted it's on course to sell 37 million this year.

The big question is whether there's a market for any other tablet. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which I think is a great device (despite its terrible name). Samsung says it sold about a million units in the first 3 months this device was on the market, but some have claimed that's a wild exaggeration. The Motorola Xoom sold less than half a million units in the second quarter of this year. RIM sold about that same number of BlackBerry PlayBooks in Q1. Clearly, Apple has the lion's share of the market.
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[LandSurveyor]

I think it was Christopher Columbus who said "anybody can do it once somebody has shown you the way" or words to that effect.

No doubt Apple dominates the tablet market because they've gotten it right. But you would think that with a clear example of what works, the others would have an easier time knowing what to build. I don't know where all of this fumbling comes in.

[tmedvick]

I am actually stunned that the iPad has been as successful as it has been.

It is a device of incredible, undeniable coolness, but it is also amongst the more frustrating devices I have ever used.

The Tab 10.1 is a marvel, but I have simply not ever found a happy place with Android (Epic4g Nexus S, CM7 Nook color).

In the long run, I believe Apple wins because it has the loyalty and the content. IF OS won battles, iOS could never win against WebOS, Honeycomb, or even Windows Phone 7 but it is perfectly usable. But Apple has the apps, for those who care, and it Hulu Plus, and Netflix, and Angry Birds, and every other cool thing that might eventually come to another platform.

No one goes to a theater to see an empty stage, Apple has filled its "space" better than anyone else, and so it wins. IOS is the Windows of the Mobile world. A device is only as successful as its content allows.

[Varjak]

I am actually stunned that the iPad has been as successful as it has been.

It is a device of incredible, undeniable coolness, but it is also amongst the more frustrating devices I have ever used.

The Tab 10.1 is a marvel, but I have simply not ever found a happy place with Android (Epic4g Nexus S, CM7 Nook color).

In the long run, I believe Apple wins because it has the loyalty and the content. IF OS won battles, iOS could never win against WebOS, Honeycomb, or even Windows Phone 7 but it is perfectly usable. But Apple has the apps, for those who care, and it Hulu Plus, and Netflix, and Angry Birds, and every other cool thing that might eventually come to another platform.

No one goes to a theater to see an empty stage, Apple has filled its "space" better than anyone else, and so it wins. IOS is the Windows of the Mobile world. A device is only as successful as its content allows.

Why is it frustrating? My quibbles are with the pricing and (of course), the lack of standard ports and memory card slot; but otherwise, the thing is pretty incredible.

[weegie]

It is a device of incredible, undeniable coolness,

I always thought that is the reason for most of Apples success, whether the product is good, bad, or indifferent