Google| Subject | Re: Asus shows an updated Transformer Prime & beats Apple to the punch w/higher res HD display |
| From | -hh |
| Date | 01/12/2012 12:17 (01/12/2012 03:17) |
| Message-ID | <5a7a4733-361c-4a10-ac42-26d9ea3abd75@p4g2000vbt.googlegroups.com> |
| Client | |
| Newsgroups | comp.sys.mac.advocacy |
| Follows | flint |
On Jan 11, 7:49=A0pm, Flint <age...@section31.org>wrote:
flintthe
On 1/11/2012 6:30 AM, -hh wrote:Flint<age...@section31.org>=A0wrote:On 1/10/2012 3:49 PM, Alan Baker wrote:I love the way you guys try and pretend that the iPad isn't creaming =
This is a good observation, and there's two basic camps to consider. The first is the classical "Apple Doomed" without much other thought. The other is that the Apple 'lead' is like the iPod - - we're right now in the age of Zune "reply" competitors. My personal thoughts are that the competition is less stupid this time around and understands better that the iTunes Store is an important part of the product. The party that's doing best is the Amazon Kindle family and the industry pundits will point to it as being the 'competitor' in the segment, but I'm not necessarily convinced that they're really that closely competing within the segment. To use an automotive analogy, both a motorcycle and an automobile compete in the 'transportation' segment, but not really as much against each other.competition by segmenting the market.You know what is competing with those 7" tablets?The iPAD!Aside to Alan:It is outselling every other tablet... ...combined.
Will this be sustainable? =A0I seriously doubt it. =A0Apple was first to market, and has enjoyed a two year lead on everyone else, granted. But they've hardly 'locked it up', especially since Windows 8 hasn't hit yet, and looks to become a more cohesive OS ecosystem strategy out of the gate than OS X/iOS. =A0IOW, the real competition in tablet space hasn't even really begun yet.
nSegmenting a market is valid, so, where is the Apple 7" iPad then? When will Apple introduce a 7" tablet? =A0The 7" tablet sales have bee=
yramping up since the median price point for them finally broke $300. Where is Apple's sub-$300 iPad? Or<$250? Or<$200 for that matter.So by which means is your marketplace segment being defined: =A0is it b=
Understood, but it isn't my choice to make, since it wasn't my assertion. For example, I see both elements as being weak - possibly fatally flawed - because Apple already is selling boatloads of the iPod touch: not only does it hit the same $300 price point, but its even more convenient to carry (or throw in a pocket) than even a 7" form factor tablet.size, or is it by price?Your choice, pick one... either one.
That was the point: sales of the Kindle Fire is still being very obfuscated by Amazon.Oh, wait... that's right... *nowhere*Can't say that until you make definitive the modality of the segmentation.'modality of the segmentation'?Meanwhile, Android tablet sales are increasing, with Asus' Transformer Prime a strong #2 in sales, and climbing - and the Win8 tablets haven't even hit yet.Sorry for my confusion, but wasn't it just last week that the claim was something like that the #2 slot was held the Kindle Fire?In tablet space in general, perhaps. =A0I haven't seen actual sales figures for the Kindle, have you?
=A0In 10" tablet space, Asus is easily #2, however. =A0But if you're taking tablet space in toto, are you trying to say 7" =3D 10" now? =A0Although I know a lot of guys would like their women to believe that, comparing Apple's iPad to a 7" tablet just makes as little sense as comparing notebooks to desktops.A good question, and that's why I asked if your modality of segmentation was primarily based on size vs. cost.
Apples -oranges :)
Besides, technically, it's the #1 tablet in the 7" tablet space (for the moment), but somehow I think Asus is going to upset that cart. Their track record so far in tablet space (in general) is pretty respectable.Perhaps. Another view is that the 7" segment doesn't matter until *someone* is able to be successful there ... and let's not forget that "success" can be defined as turning a profit, not merely moving units in volume.
Until then, Apple has no entry in 7" tablet space - >that's< the significant factor, regardless of its current iPad sales.
=A0In fact, I suspect, ultrabook sales might just have an impact on iPad sales just as iPads killed netbooks. =A0If anything, i suspect 10" tablet sales are more likely to be impacted before 7" due to a marked dissimilarity in form factors/functionality. =A0Apple would do well to provide something in the 6"-7" range, and do an ipod product line speciation redux in tablet space.Anything is possible, of course. The element I see with the ultrabooks is that they're not yet dramatically cheaper than the MacBook Air, so they're in a different price segment than the iPad ... and of course, there's also several 3rd Party integrated covers +keyboards now shipping for the iPad that make the iPad into functionally a type of ultrabook itself .. and at a lower price point than the MBA.
My initial questioning of them doing so was more of a statement that they may not >want< to, not necessarilly that they >can't<. =A0But then again, if Amazon and Asus can hit a <$250 price point, I don't see why Apple couldn't do the same... IF they WANTED to, that is.And $50B would also go a long ways towards Apple building their own space program to go build an Apple Store on the Moon...if they
wanted< to. I suspect that that's unlikely, though.There very well could be some interesting Capitalization-Investment based decisions that come out of the iPad market within the next two years or so. There's already been some speculation that the iPad2 could remain in production after the iPad3 ships, to follows the iPhone business model (4S, 4, 3GS) and lower entry prices. Its an interesting idea, but I'm not about to jump on it as something that Apple is particularly likely to do, but you never know...maybe for the EDU and Textbook market, of which we expect to get some better clues at the Event that Apple's having in New York later this month.
-hh
01/10/2012-
