Bryan Chaffin[/caption]
Once in a while I’ll come across a really cool article that’s tangentially related to Windows 8 or Microsoft that I think you should read and I’ll pass that along.
This one is on TheMacObserver and it’s by Bryan Chaffin.
It deals with his analysis of the Tablet space. He basically opines that Analysts have it wrong by assuming that Android and or Microsoft will eventually catch up with the Ipad because of volume.
He says that the Iphone vs one million Android Phones model does not apply and he sort of sees it more like the way the Ipod has crushed every other mp3 player.
It’s a great read and I agree with a lot of what he says except for the following:
Tablets are different precisely because of the price.
There’s a huge difference between $150 and $499. To a lot of people, that difference is not trivial. A lot of people (myself) included can afford to pay for an Ipad or Ipad 2 but there are a whole lot more who cannot.
Apple is vulnerable in the tablet space because as soon as a half decent tablet comes out in the sub $200 space, people will buy it.
They may wish they had an Ipad 2 or Ipad 3 but for the most part, people will buy what they can afford.
As long as Apple doesnt have an Ipad Junior or an Ipad Mini in the right price range, they will be vulnerable.
And as I have said on this blog before, Apple have to be concerned that Microsoft will come up with a kickass Windows 8 Tablet and give it away for cheap.
Anyway, it’s a fantastic article. Check it out below…
TheMacObserver.com Article]]>
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Don’t feel like going through the hassle of creating an account just to reply to that author so Ill do it here. First off we must all understand what an iPad is, and what the 26 million people that have bought one so far at $499 want to do with the device and then compare this with similar devices that are also selling right now (in cases better than the iPad) and how those people use those devices.
As said already, the iPad has sold no more than 26 million units WORLD WIDE while similar products like netbooks and cheaper laptops have sold more than a 100 million units within the same time frame. People basically use a netbook and iPad for the same type of functions (email, pictures, music, video, apps like itunes and windows live and social networking like Facebook and twitter) but netbooks start at $250 while the iPad starts at $500…with Windows 8 now going ARM, I see no reason why hardware makers couldn’t get a Windows 8 tablet in the market for the same price points (8″ screen), and have all these same basic tablet functions mentioned above in a touch first UI. What is an iPad? Its iTunes, its apps, its a fast and fluid touch experience thats simple for users to understand with great battery life…THATS IT! There’s also things a iPad is NOT…cant display more than one app at a time, cant play flash or silverlight on the web, cant play lots of files and formats, cant print, doesn’t have universal ports, doesn’t get its competitor services and brands in most cases (Zune, Xbox Live etc), doesn’t have diverse hardware, cant make extensive customizes to the OS, cant run OS X programs, ONLY works with touch, needs to link with a full OS before you can even use it, cant side load programs…the list goes on and on. Seems to me that if MS can provide all that iPad is as well as what iPad isn’t and start the price point in the market at netbook prices than they will have no problems competing with iPad. Certainly the Metro UI will also be everywhere from Windows 8 desktops, netbooks and laptops, as well as Xbox consoles (which just sold 500k in the month of June alone) and WPs…everywhere you look, Metro UI will be starting right back at you.
“What puts me on tilt about this kind of nonsense are two things. The first is that, as I said, it’s the experience that sells iPads. The second is that Apple is the price leader in media tablets, the same way it was and is in MP3 players with its iPod line.”
The iPad experience does look to be a problem for Android right now but Windows and its many hardware makers is a different beast altogether. Again, the Metro UI with services like Xbox Live, Live TV, Kinect support, a new music and video service launching before the end of the year, SkyDrive enhancements, the full web, any file format you can throw at it, Skype, Windows Live and Azure services should add up to a great tablet touch experience. When you pair this with Windows many hardware makers at competitive price points then it will be a super version of a Windows 7 netbook which already sells more than the iPad.
“It’s nonsense. The only thing that wil change the competitive landscape will be Google or the Android platform as a whole being able to get their act together with tablets, or maybe Microsoft entering the market with their own experience-driven tablet platform.”
He never goes into either on why they cant do these very things…only saying it wont happen. Why not? First off, MS doesn’t need their own branded tablet…it didn’t help for the Zune, there’s no guarantee if they did it for tablets it would be a success. Besides, MS has Nokia which is one of the best hardware makers in the world. After seeing the N9/Sea Ray, I have no doubt that Nokia can produce a Windows 8 ARM tablet that rivals the iPad in specs, price and designs. With MS’s Metro UI and slick/fast WP7 like apps and transtransitionsindows 8 tablet experience will be much better for someone like me than an iPad is. Â