7-in. tablet makers find some success bypassing competition with Apple's iPad
Rather than mimic the iPad's 9.7-inch screen, tablet makers have apparently found more success with the smaller 7-inch screen size -- a form factor where Apple has indicated it has no plans to compete.
Touch panel makers are apparently most optimistic about sales of 7-inch tablets, according to DigiTimes. Despite this, most vendors are planning devices with 10.1-inch displays in an effort to more directly compete with the iPad.
"The sources pointed out that Korea-based Samsung Electronics' 7-inch Galaxy Tab and ViewSonic's 7-inch ViewPad are both generating stronger sales than their 10.1-inch models," the report said. "The 7-inch models are lower priced and avoid direct competition against Apple iPad.
"Although 10.1-inch tablet PCs will allow vendors to add keyboard support to their machines, their sales are still not as stable as the 7-inch models."
The report said that the 7-inch tablet market is set to experience "fierce competition," as none of the current players have been able to establish a dominant presence in the market. The first major product to market was Samsung's Galaxy Tab, which debuted to lukewarm reviews late last year. Another major player has been the Barnes and Noble Nook Color, another Android-powered device with a 7-inch screen that has reportedly estimated to sell 3 million units by the end of March.
Last year, Apple was rumored to be exploring an entrance into the 7-inch size range with a new, smaller iPad. But Chief Executive Steve Jobs quashed those rumors last October when he slammed 7-inch tablets as too small to be usable.
Still, as recently as February, rumors of a new device sized between the 9.7-inch iPad and 3.5-inch iPod touch. The product, speculated to be either a "Super iPhone or "iPad Mini," was said by one analyst to launch in the second half of 2011.
Touch panel makers are apparently most optimistic about sales of 7-inch tablets, according to DigiTimes. Despite this, most vendors are planning devices with 10.1-inch displays in an effort to more directly compete with the iPad.
"The sources pointed out that Korea-based Samsung Electronics' 7-inch Galaxy Tab and ViewSonic's 7-inch ViewPad are both generating stronger sales than their 10.1-inch models," the report said. "The 7-inch models are lower priced and avoid direct competition against Apple iPad.
"Although 10.1-inch tablet PCs will allow vendors to add keyboard support to their machines, their sales are still not as stable as the 7-inch models."
The report said that the 7-inch tablet market is set to experience "fierce competition," as none of the current players have been able to establish a dominant presence in the market. The first major product to market was Samsung's Galaxy Tab, which debuted to lukewarm reviews late last year. Another major player has been the Barnes and Noble Nook Color, another Android-powered device with a 7-inch screen that has reportedly estimated to sell 3 million units by the end of March.
Last year, Apple was rumored to be exploring an entrance into the 7-inch size range with a new, smaller iPad. But Chief Executive Steve Jobs quashed those rumors last October when he slammed 7-inch tablets as too small to be usable.
Still, as recently as February, rumors of a new device sized between the 9.7-inch iPad and 3.5-inch iPod touch. The product, speculated to be either a "Super iPhone or "iPad Mini," was said by one analyst to launch in the second half of 2011.
Comments
For people who want a primary device, the iPad 2's battery life should be the defining difference when comparing to smaller tablets. That and the fact that iOS is still far superior to the alternatives. To most human beings the iPad 2 is also far superior as a device, but that's more subjective, I suppose.
"The 7-inch models are lower priced and avoid direct competition against Apple iPad.
BULLSHIT. Samsung Tab is more expensive than the iPad.
From Business Week: “To make our schedule to ship the tablet, we made some design tradeoffs,” says Andy Rubin, vice-president for engineering at Google and head of its Android group. “We didn’t want to think about what it would take for the same software to run on phones. It would have required a lot of additional resources and extended our schedule beyond what we thought was reasonable. So we took a shortcut.”
Mmm... Them honeycombs shure taste nice with shortcuts in them.
Don't forget how *CONFIDENT* Google is with Honeycomb:
From Business Week: ?To make our schedule to ship the tablet, we made some design tradeoffs,? says Andy Rubin, vice-president for engineering at Google and head of its Android group. ?We didn?t want to think about what it would take for the same software to run on phones. It would have required a lot of additional resources and extended our schedule beyond what we thought was reasonable. So we took a shortcut.?
Mmm... Them honeycombs shure taste nice with shortcuts in them.
This is also RIM's strategy: don't bother developing your own ecosystem. Don't worry about actually making an effort to offer a unique experience. Just use someone else's ish, namely Google's.
All this shortcutting and corner-cutting sacrifices User Experience. We keep coming back to that. Because that's what the competition doesn't get: it's all about User Experience in this New Age of computing. Not raw specs. Not Frankenstein hardware.
Apple keeps focusing on the basics and refining them. No shortcuts. Hence, long lines, etc.
BULLSHIT. Samsung Tab is more expensive than the iPad.
Right ... Isn't the Samsung Tab a 10.1"?
Isn't the Samsung Tab a 10.1"? Or is that your point ...
There are three Tabs - 7", 8.9" and 10.1"
the 7" is old - the 8.9 is about $30 cheaper than the iPad 2, but with lower specs, and the 10.1 is the same price as the iPad two, with arguably better or equal specs. Both the 8.9 and the 10.1 run Honeycomb (I believe). The 7" is 2.2
This is also RIM's strategy: don't bother developing your own ecosystem. Don't worry about actually making an effort to offer a unique experience. Just use someone else's ish, namely Google's.
All this shortcutting and corner-cutting sacrifices User Experience. We keep coming back to that. Because that's what the competition doesn't get: it's all about User Experience in this New Age of computing. Not raw specs. Not Frankenstein hardware.
Apple keeps focusing on the basics and refining them. No shortcuts. Hence, long lines, etc.
The best part now is how much access would RIM get to Google's "free and open and wonderful Android ecosystem"? Who gets priority? Moto? HTC? RIM? To what parts, what code?
I know RIM is using QNX but it's trying to incorporate Android or something, as well as Adobe AIR, right? Man, the more one even *thinks* about the PlayBook you can't NOT think about it just failing miserably. To me they are the real underdog in this whole thing. I'd like to see them succeed, just to have some legit competition but boy, this is one little train that is huffing and puffing up Mount Everest.
Kill 2 birds with 1 stone IMO.
I'll just find it easier to believe if they can past mumbles such as "not small, but smooth...." or some IT consulting firm-du-jour or 'source' throwing out its speculation-du-jour.
Incidentally, I'm not sure that I've seen any hard numbers on Android phone sales either (e.g., in the form of segment data from the makers themselves). Can anyone point to a link?
Until these companie come out and talk about some actual sales numbers -- one can understand if it's in the ballpark or somewhat vaguely articulated, for competitive reasons -- I think it's FUD.
I'll just find it easier to believe if they can past mumbles such as "not small, but smooth...." or some IT consulting firm-du-jour or 'source' throwing out its speculation-du-jour.
Incidentally, I'm not sure that I've seen any hard numbers on Android phone sales either (e.g., in the form of segment data from the makers themselves). Can anyone point to a link?
Who needs facts or figures? Android is taking over the world, that's all we need to know, right?
It is pretty simple really; look at the Nook and the amazon pads, they are almost an ideal size for reading documents and being handy enough to have with you all the time. You can't say that with iPad.
Apple may have a point in that a smaller iPad might not be as useful as the current one but who cares? That is like saying the Touch isn't useful because of it's size. Interestingly enough I'm seeing more and more people carrying around Touches as PDAs than ever before. These users don't use them for music or media and instead use them for mail, calendar, and the ocassional web access. Think about the people that carried Daytimers and the like around constantly.
How ironic that the artsy Apple-folk are such luddites when it comes to non-Apple products!
If all other things were equal, I'd probably prefer a smaller form factor. But things aren't equal because iOS isn't available on a smaller tablet size. The OS and overall features and function would override the size preference.
The OS is huge here. Having played with Nooks and Kindles it isn't the physical size that is the problem but rather the software and mire specifically the GUI. One only needs to try using one of these to realize just how borked the interface is.
It has already been proven that iOS works well on small devices so Apple should have zero issues with bringing up a seven inch class device.
Let's see, on this web site? The only thing that matters is that if Apple isn't doing it, it must stink. Of course, the tiny iPhone is awesome, and the big iPad is awesome. But anything in between that must be pure junk...
How ironic that the artsy Apple-folk are such luddites when it comes to non-Apple products!
Did you read my post? Of course there is scope for a 7" device. It's just a matter of who can actually pull it off reasonably well within reasonable price points... using what is now until further notice a proprietary, closed source operating system.
and the 10.1 is the same price as the iPad two, with arguably better or equal specs.
I think not. I guarantee the GPU in the current Tab 10.1 is not even close to that of the iPad 2 (and that is really a place that it will count and show it's inferiority). The iPad 2 GPU has 3.5x higher triangle rate and has absolutely no slow down when doing full-scene anti-aliasing.
Judging from the stats around wikipedia etc. the Galaxy Tab GPU will be around half way between the iPad 1 and Motorola Xoom.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4216/a...p2-benchmarked
So, the Tab sucks in that, ultimately the most important, respect. Cameras are generally irrelevant.
1) Devices that are small enough to fit in your pocket, but involve obvious sacrifices in readability due to their 4" or smaller screens. The iPhone and its smartphone competitors all fall into this category.
2) 9-11" tablets that are the converse of the above. (And if an iPad fits in your pocket, well...)
Of course a 7" tablet falls in between those two. It might fit in a more generous sized pocket, albeit not very conveniently, but it's still a fairly small display. In a something-for- everyone world I imagine that this will be just right for some people. But for the majority of the market a 7" screen seems like an uncomfortable compromise, failing on both counts.