Major PC makers plan to concede tablet market to Apple, Amazon in 2012 - Page 3

Originally Posted by Psych_guy

I'm not so sure this is true. 1) judging from the anecdotal evidence here and other blogs and forums I do not think users mainly use their iPad/tablets to consume entertainment, if you define it as movies, music and possibly books. And before you can make a statement like that, either you or I would need stats of some kind to back that up.

Nice try at a subtle dig at iPad for being a "consumption only" device, though.

Originally Posted by palomine

We just tried a demo of Printopia, a $20 app that let's your iPhones iPads print to any printer on your network. It works well, even with my 1st gen iPad. You click on the 'out' arrow in any page or app ( the one that lets you email, bookmark or save etc.). Then the drop down box lists our four printers, our localhost network, Dropbox account, and Send To Mac.
The software needs to be installed on your computer then it can see anything on your network. It automagically appears on all your iPhones iPads in the out arrow dialog box in whatever app you are in. Really happy with it. None of our printers are wifi compatible and some are really old but it works!

Originally Posted by christopher126

" r u almost done with the iPad?" of course, I correct her and tell her it's an "iPad2!".

Originally Posted by paxman

Its not ideal but you can use good reader, apparently, to move pdfs via wifi Check out this thread

As far as video goes why not the Apple iPad camera kit?

Originally Posted by christopher126

Well said. Anecdotal I know, but before my ipad2, my GF would go to our iMac in the den for facebook, emailing, photo mgt, surfing, etc., instead of using her work laptop (dell-ugh!). Now she goes straight for the iPad2 sitting on the coffee table...I get asked a lot, " r u almost done with the iPad?" of course, I correct her and tell her it's an "iPad2!".

Originally Posted by TimUSCA

That's exactly why people want a PC over an iPad. I love my iPad, but it's not a replacement for a computer. It's an ultra-portable accessory.

Originally Posted by christopher126

P.S. (Off topic) I'm looking to get a print app for my iPad...any suggestions? Thx.

Originally Posted by Gatorguy

The limits Apple puts on it's devices may play into a couple of surveys that strangely show that consumers overwhelmingly prefer Windows as their tablet OS. Whats that you say? What tablets use Windows? My guess is that buyers want computers/tablets with an OS and feature set they're already comfortable with. That's generally Windows.

I suspect the entire tablet space will undergo a change once MS-based tablets start hitting the market, no matter that Apple was the initial player.

http://allthingsd.com/20111005/never...-windows-ipad/

Originally Posted by tjwal

No wifi at work for security reasons. If we had wifi I could have used filebrowser (a great app by the way). A file transfer app that uses the docking cable instead of wifi would work but I think that might be against Apple's rules.

Originally Posted by TimUSCA

That's exactly why people want a PC over an iPad. I love my iPad, but it's not a replacement for a computer. It's an ultra-portable accessory.

Originally Posted by Goldenclaw

I think HP really messed up.

Their WebOS is decent, and their tablets sold like hotcakes when they got rid of them at fire sale prices.

The lesson is that people would buy them at a lower price point.

They need to somehow get the price point to $99/$150/$199 and then people will buy*them.

Originally Posted by Snowdog65

99% of rumors are nonsense and so is this one.

HP, and Dell will likely shift from Android to Win8 tablets. I wouldn't call that conceding the market.

The better Android tablet builders like Asus,Samsung will be in Android and Win8 tablets.

Originally Posted by Gatorguy

There's some evidence that a high percentage of iPad owners may regret their purchase, finding they don't have as much use for it as they originally envisioned. That could be one reason that some of the computer makers may have decided it's a market not worth pursuing right now.

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/laptops/ipad...;siu-container

Originally Posted by Gatorguy

Also, while you might think that iPad owners find more use than owners of other tablets, not so according to this European study. To the contrary, those cheaper tablets/readers are used more often by their owners than those with the somewhat expensive iPads.

"Interestingly, non-iPad owners are recording an average of 30 minutes more usage a day than people with Apple iconic device. This trend was evident in all markets surveyed. "We found that younger people are more likely to own cheaper non-Apple devices, and that these users tend to be most engaged with social networks," said Garner.

http://site14.fourfiveone.com/2011/1...their-tablets/

Originally Posted by jragosta

Really? So in your world, something isn't useful unless you use it daily?

Originally Posted by jragosta

Did you notice how your two sources contradict each other? That alone makes your 'evidence' pretty questionable..

Originally Posted by jragosta

Not to mention that there's absolutely nothing to suggest statistical validity. For example, people buying cheaper tablets may well be younger and/or college students - which would explain their greater usage. Without correcting for differences in population, the survey is totally meaningless.

Originally Posted by Hellacool

Oh I don't know, maybe the PC market to start, maybe Xbox Live, enterprise, Office, just all the other software they produce that they make billions from.

PC's are going nowhere anytime soon, the market keeps growing.

Xbox live is blowing up and MS are constantly striking deals to provide more and more content to the consumer

Enterprise is MS's bread and butter, servers, mail servers ect.... all run MS

Office, number one selling business software suite

I could go on.

Originally Posted by SSquirrel

I did the easy thing and bought an HP printer that has support for the iPad printing. Super easy

Originally Posted by tenzo

Let's get this right....
"Strong enthusiasm for tablets other than Apple's Ipad have already disappeared"

I for one, am very enthusiastic about the next ipad 3. Which will more than likely incorporate siri. That is the main reason i am waiting to buy an ipad!!

Originally Posted by christopher126

I hear u tenzo...it's hard to pull the trigger when a new model is on the horizon. My only regret with my iPad2 is getting the wifi only model instead of the 3G.

I thought I could "tether" it to my ip4...but AT&T said to setup tethering would be $45/mo and I would lose my "grandfathered-in" unlimited data plan! I'm thinking of telling AT&T to stick it up their nose and get a sprint 4s.

Best.

Originally Posted by DavidCV

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
-- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

Originally Posted by christopher126

P.S. (Off topic) I'm looking to get a print app for my iPad...any suggestions? Thx.

Originally Posted by stelligent

It's really dependent on what you use a computer for. For a while, Apple defenders hated the label of a *consumption device* for the iPad. Reality is that the iPad is not only a replacement for the PC for some consumption tasks. It is in fact a superior alternative for reading, web browsing and video watching (unless you want it do this on a larger screen). I think we underestimate how many people at home use a computer primarily for these tasks (plus email).

Originally Posted by digitalclips

I read this as a vote of zero confidence for Microsoft's tablet OS development. The logical path for major PC makers would have been there rather than Android and I suspect they have seen betas of Ballmer's future creation and didn't like what they saw.

Originally Posted by christopher126

Thanks!

Because of my " matinee idol" good looks I am able to attract beautiful women, but for some reason, not able to hold on to them....oh well, such is life!

Originally Posted by kerryb

How will Google expand it's malware riddled Android OS without the help of Dell, Acer and HP? I guess they will have to stick to phones to spread the joy.

Originally Posted by Gatorguy

The limits Apple puts on it's devices may play into a couple of surveys that strangely show that consumers overwhelmingly prefer Windows as their tablet OS. Whats that you say? What tablets use Windows? My guess is that buyers want computers/tablets with an OS and feature set they're already comfortable with. That's generally Windows.

I suspect the entire tablet space will undergo a change once MS-based tablets start hitting the market, no matter that Apple was the initial player.

http://allthingsd.com/20111005/never...-windows-ipad/

Originally Posted by stelligent

This only says the PC manufacturers are giving up (if in fact true), not the likes of HTC, Motorola and Samsung (although Samsung does make PCs).

Furthermore, there is no word from HP that they have given up for sure. Meg is *deliberating*. She is off to a decisive start as CEO.

Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum

You do understand that Windows 8 [ARM] Tablets won't be able to run any Windows 8 Desktop Apps -- Word, Excel, PP... and any 3rd-party or legacy Desktop Apps.

These apps would need to be re-written to support ARM, Touch UI, etc.

Originally Posted by fecklesstechguy

The PC market is nearing the moribund state, as the major segment of Microsoft's revenue stream starts eroding (enterprise computing) they have struggled with the successful incursion of Linux into the server space, even backing SCO's battles to challenge Linux's code base as containing elements of UNIX they claim they own. If they weren't worried about this they wouldn't be throwing so much money at undermining Linux. In the Office space, they are eyeing Google's Cloud Office for enterprise carefully to see where that is going to impact them. And Google is gunning for the mail side and messaging as well.

A lot of major enterprises are moving off of local hardware and moving to virtualized desktops, which changes the licensing of Office and Windows, and lessens it's profitability.

XBox has only recently in the last couple of years even produced profitable revenue for Microsoft, and again it's in a segment that is threatened by the increasing presence of gaming on mobile devices. YOU may prefer XBox as a platform, but the viability and profitabilty of the platform is marginal according to M/soft's own financials, and the market is divided.

Back to the PC market growing - the only source of real growth in the PC is in developing countries, whose markets don't support the robust costs associated with Windows and Office - most of them have a huge problem of pirated software and illegal licenses - no source of revenue for M/soft there, outside of recouping legal fees trying to sue pirates. All other segments of PC sales are plateauing or declining slowly.

And yes Microsoft has enough presence in the market to keep driving revenues for the near-term (next decade or so), but unless they can expand influence into new markets (a la Windows 8 "on everything" for example) their segments will erode out from under them. Not even putting Windows into Fords, etc. will keep revenues coming in strongly enough to offset the erosion of consumer PCs into mobile devices, Linux and Google into the server space and Google into the Office space.

The only credible profit sources for Microsoft are Office, Windows desktop, and Windows server. XBox scarcely registers on the scale below those. And those are where Microsoft's vulnerabilities lay.

Only a fool would allow Microsoft to continue "business-as-usual" in light of these facts, but Mr. Ballmer could well be that fool.

Originally Posted by bloggerblog

Why doesn't Apple support iOS printing through their AirPort Base Stations?

Originally Posted by Neo42

These sources who say the entire industry is giving up trying to compete with Apple are surely unbiased, right? right?

Originally Posted by AI

And even with their low prices, sales of newly launched touchscreen tablets from Amazon and Barnes & Noble were not as high as Apple's iPad, which industry insiders see as an indication that "strong enthusiasm for tablet PCs has already disappeared."

Originally Posted by Digitimes Source

The sources pointed out that although iPad 2 is also seeing strong demand from consumers, sales were lower than those of iPad, indicating that consumers' strong enthusiasm for tablet PCs has already disappeared.

Originally Posted by Goldenclaw

I think HP really messed up.

Their WebOS is decent, and their tablets sold like hotcakes when they got rid of them at fire sale prices.

The lesson is that people would buy them at a lower price point.

They need to somehow get the price point to $99/$150/$199 and then people will buy*them.

Originally Posted by Firefly7475

I really like Josh Ong and Neil Hughes. I wish they would write more.

Originally Posted by grmac

When I arrived at the college to deliver the fifty iPads for Kappa Delta Smeg, I noticed that the girls seemed to be having pillow fights. Undaunted, but still apprehensive, I entered the house, sensing danger.

"We've been waiting for you..." said the cheerleader. "It looks like a long, hard evening of iSatisfaction..."

Originally Posted by nht

In the vast sea of rumors perhaps this is the dumbest rumor to date. Essentially it states that PC manufactures have independently all decided to commit suicide.

Not bloody likely.
...

Originally Posted by Jahblade

I pass down my iPad to my wife, I got the iPad 2. Her reaction was what I am going to use it for. She preferred her laptop. That was 4 months ago. Today, the iPad is her sofa & bed buddy. The laptop, is jealous. For printing, I have HP wifi printer... Easy setup & she can print from anywhere in the house.

Originally Posted by DrDoppio

Thank you for this post. Finally some common sense.

HP may be the only quitters here, perhaps Dell too. HP seems to have a death wish, I cannot count the crazy news I've read about them in the past years, their management seems totally erratic, and their laptops are fugly. Dell had a very idiosyncratic approach to the tablet business with the Streak series, and may not see the point in continuing it, but I still have hopes for them (being a happy Streak 5 owner).

But to expect that Motorola, Samsung, Asus and Acer are quitting the tablet business is just crazy... or maybe too much wishful thinking...

Originally Posted by synp

With the possible exception of Samsung, none of these companies can make any money on Android tablets. I'm guessing that they will not introduce any more Android tablets, and hope that they can later make money on Win8 tablets.

Phones are pretty much the same thing. All profits are going to Apple, RIM, Nokia, Samsung, and HTC, RIM and Nokia are shrinking fast, and very little is split between Samsung and HTC. No telling how many phone manufacturers will stay in the smartphone game if this continues.