Apple iPad's rivals have difficulty finding market acceptance

Amid the tablet craze brought by Apple Inc.'s iPad, we now have more offerings in the market: BlackBerry maker Research In Motion's PlayBook, Apple nemesis Samsung Electronics Inc.'s Galaxy Tab, Netbook pioneer Asus' Eee Pad and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.'s Xoom have tried to be the iPad killer, but these iPad wannabes have barely made a dent in the market. Joining the tablets on shelves this month are top desktop vendor Hewlett Packard's Wi-Fi version of HP TouchPad ($500 for the 16 GB unit) and Internet protocol-based networking provider Cisco Systems Inc.'s Cisco Cius ($750). Amazon will also reportedly launch a tablet PC in the third quarter.

But according to research firms and analysts, Apple's iPad has continued to dominate the market this year and will continue to be the top tablet in the coming years.

Market acceptance

Research firm International Data Corp. said Friday that Apple's iPad and the recently introduced iPad 2 continue to dominate the media tablet market, as other vendors have had a more difficult time finding market acceptance for their products.

Mobile phone vendors, such as Samsung and Motorola, who have focused their distribution through the telco carriers, found moderate success with their media tablets, but sales were largely stymied by many consumers' unwillingness to sign up for the 3G/4G data plans that the carriers typically require along with these devices. As an operating system, Android-based devices grew to 34% of the global total in the first quarter, a share increase of 8.2 points over the previous quarter.

IDC has raised its worldwide shipment forecast for 2011 to 53.5 million units from a previous projection of 50.4 million units.

According to market researcher ComScore Inc., Apple's iPad accounted for 89 percent of worldwide tablet traffic on the Internet in May, besting Android-based tablets and other tablets.

ComScore said late last month that in Australia, iPads accounted for 98% of the total tablet traffic in May. Apple's iPhone accounted for 50.0% of Internet traffic for non-computer devices (tablets and smartphones).

Dominance to continue

eWeek.com reported that in a July 7 research note issued by Canaccord Genuity, analyst T. Michael Walkley and his co-authors suggested that the iPad 2's price point is making it difficult for rival tablets to compete in a profitable way. "Our checks indicate both the Motorola Xoom and RIM PlayBook have not sold well at current price points, as we believe competing tablets must sell at a substantial discount to the iPad 2," they wrote.

According to eWeek, the Canaccord analysts estimate Apple's share of the global tablet market at 56 percent in 2011, Samsung far second with 12 percent, and Asus with 5 percent. LG Electronics, Motorola and Research In Motion are all given 3 percent of the market, followed by HTC with 2 percent. Although Amazon.com has yet to release a tablet, the note pegs their 2011 share at 5 percent. Nor do those percentages change much for 2012, although Apple loses 5 percent of its overall share to rival manufacturers.
Cupertino, California-based Apple has already sold more than 20 million units of the iPad tablet since its April 2010 debut.

The iPad2, which was released by Apple in March, features a 9.7-inch touch screen, Apple-A5 dual core processor (2 times faster than iPad's processor), Imagination's SGX543 dual core graphics technology, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB of storage, front facing VGA video camera and a 0.7 megapixel still camera at the back, HDMI Support, and an iOS 4.3.3 operating system. More than available 100,000 applications optimized for the iPad are available for downloading from the App Store, in addition to the 200,000 iPhone apps that can be used for the tablet.

Reports have indicated that, to further boost Apple's sales, Apple will be launching an iPad HD or the iPad 2 Plus this September. The new tablet will double the resolution of the iPad 2. The new tablet will also be loaded with new software, including the Aperture or Final Cut Pro designed for the iPad. Apple did not confirm the reports.

Australia, Asia ex. Japan

In the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region, media tablets will experience a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 54%, multiplying nearly ten times to 21 million units from 2 million units shipped in 2010, according to IDC. IDC expects more consumers to adopt media tablets to hit gaming, Web-browsing, and social networking needs on the go.

IDC notes that mature countries like Korea, Australia, and Taiwan are showing high interest in mobile devices like media tablets while China continues to demonstrate high purchasing power for new tech products. Emerging countries in APEJ, like Indonesia and Malaysia by contrast, have more conservative attitudes toward media tablets, and still prefer mininotebooks with better keyboard input and a familiar user experience.

IDC adds that Apple became more active in Asia for the iPad 2 launch, similar to its approach with the iPhone 3G. "Apple's aggressive pricing and strong branding left little room for other players to prosper. Samsung focused on its 7-inch tablet, relying on its domestic brand strength to boost its numbers. A host of local Chinese brands form the long tail in this market. With product development speed being their key strength, they may survive in some niche markets," IDC said.

"Over the next five years, Apple will set the pace for the media tablet category. Competitors to iPad must innovate ways to differentiate their products though, lest consumer interest wanes in favor of the next tech gadget. Some of this demand may be driven by the education sector, such as the Thai government's recently announced plan to distribute 800,000 Android tablets to primary school students. While this latest announcement has not been yet factored into IDC's forecast, there are certainly opportunities out there to keep driving media tablet growth," adds Melissa Chau, Research Manager for Client Devices Research at IDC Asia/Pacific.

The APeJ comprises Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, the People's Republic of China, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.