The marketplace is not exactly beating down the doors to get to Android tablets or HP’s TouchPad, and sales are at best lackluster for most other available tablet offerings, mainly of the Android variety.
All of this certainly must be very welcome news to the market leader, Apple, and must cause deep fear and trembling among numerous other would-be tablet competitors.
They are all scratching their worried little heads wondering what’s happening and why this is a nut too hard to crank or why this situation is so hard to analyze.
They really need to understand the reasons things are not going as well or easy as planned.
QUESTIONS they are asking:
- Is Apple so far ahead they are unassailable?
- Is the tablet market soft or fleeting?
- Could this simply be marketing or promotion issues?
- Are current price points too high?
- Are tablet features to thin
- Are available apps too few?
The early reviews of most tablets have been decent for the most part, but definitely not raving nor outright disappointing either. Point-by-point product comparisons do not really tell much of a cogent story to anyone making serious purchase decisions.
Tablet device after tablet device has failed to live anywhere near up to potential or hype. There are numerous issues with most of these devices, including poor battery life, buggy software, poor selections of apps, or problems with weight, size, thickness, pricing, ease of use, OS, UI, device specs, or capacity.
Major players cannot afford to loose in this game and risk becoming also-rans in the emerging mobile space race. If their leading tablets don’t succeed and only sell in limited frustrating quanities they may be looking at the end of their run.
So, here are a few things competitors might consider:
- Cut their losses and get out of the tablet market.
- Cut prices and offer significant discount options
- Increase features, and apps
- Come up with a device thats that’s as good or better than the iPad.
- Go all out to attract developers and talent.
- Partner with other major players.
- Focus on specific sizeable market segments (enterprise, education, healthcare)
- Increase hardware power and capacity.
The struggle for tablet dominance is not a done deal. The doors to tremendous opportunity are still wide open. The true test and gauge of efforts will come over the holidays and into the coming new year.
It will be very interesting to see who is still in the game, and exactly what they will come up with or do to succeed.
I believe in competition and wish them all well.
