Android-Based Tablets Are Too Chintzy And Too Expensive To Compete with iPad

By

Photo: AppleSticker.com
Photo: AppleSticker.com

Is Steve Jobs the MC Hammer of tablet computing? ‘Can’t Touch This could be the message behind a 115-page report which gives thumbs-down on Android as unable to compete with Apple’s iPad.


Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek believes Android and Android-based tablets just cannot compete with the iPad. He blames Android’s “Honeycomb” operating system as a reason for cutting his 2011 tablet sales projection to 70 million units, down from 100 million. Android-based tablets are also too expensive to compete with the iPad, Misek adds.

But what about the Research In Motion PlayBook and Motorola’s Xoom, both hyped as iPad alternatives? Fuhgeddaboudit. RIM will have just 1 percent of the tablet shipments this year with the Xoom garnering an equally-tepid 2 percent. Both are far behind Apple “due to their dependence on Taiwan [Original Device Manufacturers] for notebooks,” the analyst writes.

As for Apple, the iPad maker is projected to have 64 percent of tablet sales this year and around 41 percent in 2012, according to Misek.

While PC makers worry about how to catch up with Apple’s iPad, they must also fear increasing cannibalization of their core computer market. Misek didn’t lend any comfort on this front, writing tablets can be used for “production” as well as “consumption” tasks. This means not only will tablets erode the market for videos and gaming, but also writing, emailing, number-crunching and photo-editing.

Finally, where are the future consumers of tablets? China is the place to be. According to the analyst. 80 percent of consumers in China express interest in purchasing a tablet versus 40 percent in North America or 50 percent in Europe.

[Barron’s]

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.