Intel & Microsoft hope to push iPad's global market share under 50% in 2013
Both Microsoft and Intel are said to have been working closely with PC makers in hopes of pushing Apple's iPad to less than 50 percent of the global tablet market by mid-2013.
Original design manufacturers based in Taiwan indicated to DigiTimes that Intel and Microsoft have been working closely with partners to develop new tablets based on the forthcoming Windows 8 operating system, which will launch this fall. The sources indicated that Microsoft will release Windows 8 for traditional PCs to device makers in September, while Windows RT, the newly announced name for the ARM-based version, will be issued some time after.
A total of 32 Windows 8 tablets are expected to be available this year. Participating manufacturers Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asustek, and Toshiba are expected to launch models by the end of 2012.
Windows 8 tablets from Lenovo and Acer are expected to be priced as low as $300, to take on low-end Android tablets, while more expensive and powerful models will target Apple's iPad. Those tablets will reportedly cost as much as $1,000; Apple's most expensive iPad model with a 64-gigabyte capacity and wireless cellular connectivity is $829.
Intel has been looking to make up for lost ground in the mobile space ever since Apple decided that Intel's Atom processors weren't efficient enough to run the iPad. Instead, Apple developed its own new ARM chip design, which it dubbed A4, that debuted in the first-generation iPad.
Now, most smartphones and tablets run on ARM processors rather than Intel's mobile chips, which continue to dominate in more traditional PCs. Intel, however, hopes to find more success with smartphones and tablets with its new "Medfield" processors, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year.
Microsoft, meanwhile, plans to hedge its bets between Intel and ARM with the release of Windows 8 later this year. The Redmond, Wash., software giant revealed last year that Windows 8 will offer compatibility with ARM-based processors, which allow longer battery life for portable devices.
Since the iPad launched in 2010, Apple's device has been the dominant player in the touchscreen tablet market. One recent prediction from Gartner called for Apple to account for 61 percent of tablet sales in 2012.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
That'll probably be about as successful as their plan to take down the iPod with the Zune.
Also about as successful as their ultrabook strategy as well.
Well the only way they can do that is by making a better product, so I hope they do.
Both Microsoft and Intel are said to have been working closely with PC makers in hopes of pushing Apple's iPad to less than 50 percent of the global tablet market by mid-2013.
In that case I'll take two.
I get why Intel wants it to happen, they don't have any say in the iPad whatsoever. But why are Apple and Microsoft still fighting each other this hard? Google is a much closer threat to both companies than they are to each other. I understand the iPad threatens the Windows dominance (to a point), but if Microsoft would just release a badass version of Office for the iPad, people would probably make it their first App Store purchase when they get a new iPad, even if Microsoft wanted to charge a premium for it.
I am not sure about Google actually! As Tim Cook said in his phone conference, there is another competitor out there which is not Google (referring to MS).
I think Google would not be the main competitor for at least until they are done with the acquisition of MOTO and refining the software/hardware package. This gives another year to both Apple and MS. Google was initially a threat to MS but MS managed to steer clear and it is now on the safe side. For instance Google docs are great products but they did not punch a hole sadly.
And in 2013 I will be working with various political parties to become the President of China.
We could go back in time and hear the exact same argument regarding iPods vs mp3 players. Or iPhone vs any number of single hardware iterations.
The fact that Apple has gotten a foothold into enterprise - well it's not a foothold because they've created and own the iPad category, tells me it's going to be all the other tablet manufacturers on the outside trying to get in. I'm sure they'll chip away at Apple's market share, but then again Apple isn't going to sit still with what they have - hardware or software wise. That's the part that I think these prognosticators forget. They're talking about moving forward as if Apple is going to sit still and we know that just isn't the case.
I'm still waiting to see ANY other company come up with something radically new and different as far as a smartphone or tablet or something entirely new. It's not happening, unless we factor Apple into the mix, which is sad. What happened to companies creating things? It seems like everything we're seeing out there for tech is just a copy of what Apple has created.
iOS is so much more than a hunk of hardware and an OS.
IMHO, Microsoft ought to become more like Apple and make their own tablet - hardware, OS, everything. Partner with some manufacturers if you must, but make it a MICROSOFT device. (Although the Zune didn't work out so well for them, but the XBox has.)
- Jasen.
I get why Intel wants it to happen, they don't have any say in the iPad whatsoever. But why are Apple and Microsoft still fighting each other this hard? Google is a much closer threat to both companies than they are to each other. I understand the iPad threatens the Windows dominance (to a point), but if Microsoft would just release a badass version of Office for the iPad, people would probably make it their first App Store purchase when they get a new iPad, even if Microsoft wanted to charge a premium for it.
Count me one of them.
Success in smartphones and tablets are tied together in the long term
"Intel & Microsoft hope to push iPad's global market share under 50% in 2013"
Well the only way they can do that is by making a better product, so I hope they do.
Yeah that headline.. it sounds like they'll do whatever it takes to defeat their enemy. Give away wintel tablets for free even. What about introducing some great products?
I get why Intel wants it to happen, they don't have any say in the iPad whatsoever. But why are Apple and Microsoft still fighting each other this hard? Google is a much closer threat to both companies than they are to each other. I understand the iPad threatens the Windows dominance (to a point), but if Microsoft would just release a badass version of Office for the iPad, people would probably make it their first App Store purchase when they get a new iPad, even if Microsoft wanted to charge a premium for it.
But then MS is saying they'll take a submissive role as an App Store developer. With Office for Mac they were making plenty of money on it without giving up their Windows dominance, but to go that route does help strengthen a platform that is monopolizing the tablet market while eating away at their PC sales... which also include their Office suite et al. app sales.
At this point they should be fighting to win.
I get why Intel wants it to happen, they don't have any say in the iPad whatsoever. But why are Apple and Microsoft still fighting each other this hard? Google is a much closer threat to both companies than they are to each other. I understand the iPad threatens the Windows dominance (to a point), but if Microsoft would just release a badass version of Office for the iPad, people would probably make it their first App Store purchase when they get a new iPad, even if Microsoft wanted to charge a premium for it.
Don't underestimate Microsoft. They have been hamstrung the last 10 years by antitrust monitoring but that is over now. Meanwhile Tim Cook is demonstrating weakness by letting every pressure group and their dog push Apple around. I expect MS to make a comeback soon.
"Intel & Microsoft hope to push iPad's global market share under 50% in 2013"
Well the only way they can do that is by making a better product, so I hope they do.
I second that. I'm an iPad 2 and 3 owner but I would like to see what Windows 8 brings to the market in the tablet spectrum. Sure there will be poor offerings with some, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and hope that they bring some actual competition to Apple. More competition = more innovation/cheaper prices/big win for the consumer.
They have a revenue sharing plan ready for developers (IMHO, they ought to make it a 50-50 split to give developers better return than Apple.)?
- Jasen.
Apple's agency model stipulates that developers receive 70% of the revenue produced from their products and services.
Apple's agency model stipulates that developers receive 70% of the revenue produced from their products and services.
Oops. You're right. Ok, make that 80-20 or 90-10. My bad, I though Apple was keeping 70%.
- Jasen.