Corporations Expected To Increasingly Adopt Tablet Devices
A new survey by ChangeWave Research, tablets introduced by a variety of manufacturers from Dell to Apple are helping to drive corporate usage of the devices.
The survey polled IT buyers from 1,641 businesses and the results suggest that approximately 7 per cent of corporations issue their employees with tablets, a 1 per cent rise from the results of the last survey in August. Apple currently dominates the market with an 82 per cent market share, followed by HP which has an 11 per cent market share, and Dell which has a 7 per cent market share.
HP’s whose tablet offering is a Windows powered 8.9 inch Slate 500 said in November that its device was on backorder due to “extraordinary demand,” In 2011, HP is widely expected to release tablets running its recently acquired Palm webOS.
Dell currently has a 5 inch tablet offering called the Streak which runs the Android 2.2 operating system, but has revealed it is developing a range of devices with a variety of screen sizes.
ChangeWave says that the market for corporate tablet devices is poised for rapid expansion in 2011, with 14 per cent of corporations saying they intended to purchase tablets for the first time during the first quarter of the year.
“In other words, the total number of companies making use of tablet devices is set to double in just the next three months—an explosive surge in demand going forward,” Paul Carton, ChangeWave’s vice president of research wrote.
The overwhelming majority (78 per cent) of IT buyers said they intended to purchase iPads, whilst 9 per cent each said they would by Dell or BlackBerry Tablets, 8 per cent said they would consider an HP device and 4 per cent said they were looking at Samsung Galaxy Tab.
“Although the release of the RIM PlayBook isn’t expected until late-1st Quarter 2011, RIM (9 percent) is now tied with Dell (9 percent) for second place in terms of future buying—a positive development for the Canadian manufacturer,” Carton wrote.
Dell Tablet Chief Says He Was “Underwhelmed” By iPad
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last two weeks, most of you will have heard that Apple finally launched its much hyped tablet device the iPad last weekend.
Not to be outdone, rivals Dell, Lenovo, and HP are all scheduled to be developing their own touch screen tablet devices, with HP cheekily releasing a video highlighting the relative weakness of the iPad by clearly demonstrating the strengths of its HP slate.
Sneaky we must say, and it certainly worked on me.
Dell has not made much of a secret of its plans to launch a 5-inch tablet device within the next three months, which is said the be called “Streak”, though that name has yet to be officially bestowed by the company.
Neeraj Choubey general manager for Dell’s tablet division says the Round Rock Texas based company has deliberately steered well clear of the iPad launch, so that its offering is not too closely associated with the Apple device.
The 9.7 inch iPad screen is nearly double the size of Dell’s tablet, so differentiating itself from Apple shouldn’t be too hard.
“We would be in the market at the same time, but we didn’t want the comparison,” Mr. Choubey said.
He added that he was “underwhelmed” by the iPad saying that “It was not what I was expecting, it was kind of like the iPod Touch scaled up.”
“We’re not going to get distracted by what’s going on in the market, we’ll definitely see the competition, recognize it, give credit where it’s due, but we’re not going to chase markets.” Mr. Choubey said.
Dell’s 5-inch gadget appears to be just the first offering in a family of tablet devices, most of which will be powered using Google’s Android operating system, and some with larger screen sizes.
Dell would like its offerings to be able to double as smartphones, with consumers being able to select both voice and data plans
“We’ve struck gold with these devices… once you touch it, feel it hold it, you’ll definitely understand the value proposition.”
A pretty bold statement there and one that sounds exceedingly confident, enough to arouse our curiosity we must say.
The war in the market for hand held internet enabled devices really erupted last weekend, having first simmered in the smartphone market over the last few years. During the next few months and years the choice available to consumer’s looks set to explode, and the battle for consumer’s hearts and minds is going to become incredibly brutal with some winners, and unfortunately some losers.
It by no means is a foregone conclusion that Apple with its first mover advantage in launching the tablet is going to run away with it like it did in the media player and smartphone segments.
Many analysts seem to believe that content and applications will drive sales and clearly with iTunes, its iPhone and now iPad app stores, Apple is well positioned there.
I’m not so sure about that logic myself though. I think sweet systems sell themselves rather than the bells and whistles that they come with. If Apple did well with media players and smartphones, its because they were easy to use products that consumers could work intuitively.
Clearly there is a large market for hand-held internet enabled devices which manufacturers are going to carve up over the next few years, all be it at high cost to some of them. It will certainly be interesting to see which company emerges as the dominant player and alpha dog this time round.
HP’s iPad Killer Has Two Video Cameras
It’s got to be pretty tough to steal Apple’s thunder this week, after it released its highly anticipated tablet device the iPad over the weekend. Despite the intense media coverage the iPad has generated, computer manufacturing giant HP has attempted to steal some of the buzz by releasing new details about its upcoming tablet dubbed “The Slate” which is expected to go on sale later in the year.
In a new blog post and You Tube video, HP highlighted some noticeable differences between the two devices, most important of course is that HP’s tablet comes with not one, but two built in video cameras, the device also supports Flash animation and has a USB connection.
iPad reviewers have been bemoaning the lack of video camera capability in the device, the company’s decision not to support flash, and the apparent lack of USB connection.
HP’s tablet device, like the iPad is also a medium sized hand-held touch-screen device, that behaves like a laptop sans keyboard, or kind of like a giant smartphone.
Phil McKinney chief technology officer for Hewlett Packard said in a blog post that the Slate will allow its users to create content as well as consume it.
“Think about the last time you chatted with friends over Skype on your notebook. Or uploaded a picture from your mobile phone to Facebook or Flickr. How about the last time you viewed images or video from an SD card or a USB device. We know that you expect to be able to capture and share digital content on your mobile devices. And the HP slate device excels there.” Mr. McKinney said in the post.
HP posted a short YouTube video which suggests that the gadget will have two video cameras, one which could be used for taking photos of the users environment, and the other that captures the person holding the device which can be used for video chats.
HP unveiled the device at the Consumer Electronics show back in January, and ever since has engaged in a stealth marketing campaign, leaking videos which reveal new details about how the device will work.
There has however been no indication on how much the device will cost consumers when it is finally rolled out.
Tablet Devices Pose Threat To Netbook Sales
Analysts believe that there will be strong growth in worldwide shipments of netbooks during the first quarter of 2010, however sales are likely to be affected by the launch of tablet devices such as the Apple iPad, and the highly anticipated Slate from Hewlett Packard, which are expected to prove extremely popular.
According to a report authored by research firm DisplaySearch, netbook shipments are estimated to touch 8.7 million units during the first quarter 2010, an increase of 44.9 per cent compared to the same time period a year earlier.
DisplaySearch says that tablet devices, which give users the ability to read e-books, view video, and the surf the internet could hamper sales growth.
Low prices have driven the growth in netbook sales, but computer manufacturers and retailers are concerned by the low margins generated by the sales of such products. As a result analysts are predicting that manufacturers may shift some of their focus to higher margin products such as tablet devices, which generate greater revenue, whilst delivering similar functionality as netbooks.
Tablet devices which include content and its delivery, as well as applications will produce increased revenue and higher margins for manufacturers and retailers according to the report.
Apple’s iPad, which began shipping last weekend is a 9.7 inch touch-screen hand held-device. Unlike netbooks however, the device lacks a built in keyboard which may limit its use for creating documents.
Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Asus and Lenovo are scheduled to come out with competing tablet devices later in the year.
Despite the arrival of the hand held tablet device on the market, and the threat posed by them, DisplaySearch says it expects netbook shipments to continue to grow, and estimates that the shipments of mini laptops including tablet devices this year could amount to 43.8 million units, representing year on year growth of 28.5 per cent.
HP Tablet Device Ready To Do Battle With Apple’s iPad
The impending release of Apple’s much talked about iPad on April 3rd has rivals ratcheting up the preparation for their own offerings with the competitor Hewlett Packard rumoured to launch its tablet device dubbed as The Slate.
HP’s Phil McKinney recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that “the feedback that we got from our customer base is: I want to be able to browse, I want to able to watch movies, I want to be able to listen to my music, I want to read magazines and do books. So the Slate device can give you not only reading capabilities but also give you that rich media.”
Much of the marketing hoopla surrounding HP’s Slate centres on the fact that the tablet supports Flash, a capability that Apple’s iPad notably lacks. HP evangelists say the difference will be the “game-changing” difference between the two devices.
Reports suggest that the Slate will start shipping by September, nearly six months after consumers get their hands on the iPad, though some believe it may be available in the market even sooner.
Microsoft’s tablet offering Courier will also be launched in the near future, the device which is shaped like a booklet, and features dual screen and a pen type interface.
Tablet Technology Has Well And Truly Arrived
Last week the big news was the launching of Apple’s iPad tablet, however there continues to be very little talked about the number of alternatives available in the rapidly emerging space for such a device.
Apple’s much awaited tablet offering came amidst the kind of hype only the Cupertino California based company can generate. However, most people fail to mention that the concept of a tablet style device has been around for more than a decade.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates revealed a prototype device at Comdex back in 2000, and since then, industry watchers have waited with baited breath for such kind of device to become the next big thing.
Early incarnations of tablet devices have tended to be hybrid in nature, bundling touch-screens and Qwerty keyboards. Despite the fact that multiple manufacturers have launched tablet type products, they have remained in a very niche segment.
Apple could well entice interest in this category and all manufacturers may benefit from renewed interest in the space that only Apple can generate.
Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo are all in the process of developing and even launching devices later in the year, and without question are probably hoping that Apple can capture the public’s imagination with its release.
Lenovo revealed its IdeaPad during last month’s Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, whilst late last year the rumour mill began throwing out speculation that Microsoft was in the process of readying a dual-screen tablet device that is calls the Courier.
Despite all the speculation, the Courier could not be found at last year’s CES, and instead Microsoft CEO spoke about an impending HP tablet device. While providing precious few technical details, Mr. Ballmer said the HP device was designed for reading, entertainment and internet access.
It will be very interesting to see what all the innovation in the space will mean for consumers, and whether they ultimately end up adopting a technology which it can only be said has well and truly arrived.
Apple Sales Vault During Fourth Quarter 2009
IT market research firm Gartner, on Wednesday released a market share report for computer manufacturers.
The results of its survey shows that Cupertino California based Apple, shipped nearly 1.5 million units of its Mac product ranges during the fourth quarter of 2009 up from 1.2 million in the same time period during the previous year.
The nearly 25 per cent increase in sales vaulted Apple into the number five slot of computer manufacturers.
Market research firm Gartner released a report Wednesday showing U.S. market share for the top computer companies.
Despite the increase in sales, Apple’s market share during the quarter declined marginally from 7.7 per cent in 2008 to 7.5 per cent in 2009.
Apple was not unique in experiencing an increase in sales, with most major computer manufacturers reporting robust sales in the fourth quarter of 2009, reflecting growing consumer confidence compared with a year earlier and a desire to upgrade.
Market leader HP saw shipments jump by 45.9, Acer saw a 48.4 per cent increase, whilst Toshiba shipments leapt a whopping 70.7 per cent. Dell recorded the smallest percentage increase in shipments, coming in a 5.5 per cent.
There were 19.8 million computers shipped by all vendors in the fourth quarter of 2009, up from 15.6 million in the same period last year.
Keep Up to Date with the Latest Offers
Enter your email address for members only special offers.
