The New iPad & the Tablet Market - 0 views

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  #1 Mauricio Henson on 04 May 12

   

  WIth the new iPad's release behind us, it's time for the annual iPad hystera. Since its launch in Q2 2010, the iPad has defined the industry. Tablet sales have been zooming over the past year, with growth rates higher than 250%. However, in the last quarter of 2011, the iPad's market share dropped below 55% as compared to 45% for Android tablets. Even accounting for this decrease, absolute sales numbers for the iPad have seen phenomenal growth, which emphasizes the staggering growth of the tablet market.
  
  Now, as with the launch of any major Apple product, the iPad will have a surge in market share this quarter. But how will the iPad's market presence change over a longer period? In order to understand this, we need to understand the primary product segments in the industry. Industry segments typically evolve over time and show greater impact as an industry matures. We have seen a very early stage of this kind of segmentation starting to form, with products like the Asus Transformer Prime and the Kindle Fire. For these buyers, the major factors affecting their purchasing decision is decided by brand, pricing & a large application base. This is the primary reason why the Kindle Fire has managed to succeed in such a short time frame. Based on the target market for this product segment, the screen size and the price of most of the products would be at the lower end (7+ inches & $200-$400). This segment will become significantly more competitive this year, with Google launching $200 quad core tablet from Asus and Amazon set to launch the upgraded Kindle Fire.
  
  2) Hybrid Tablets
  A hybrid tablet is essentially a high-end tablet, with the added functionality of dockable keyboard. The form factor is similar to a ultra-slim netbook and it is also compatible with a mouse. This segment was innovated by Asus, with the Asus Transformer and has grown more popular with the launch of the Asus Transformer Prime. Now, other TabletOEMs have targeted this segment and have begun launching similar products. Typing long emails has long been a nightmare on touchscreen-only tablets and Hybrid tablets have come to the fore as a solution. In addition, it is far more convenient to use| & carry, as compared to a tablet with a bluetooth keyboard accessory. In terms of usage trends, hybrid tablets could be used for productivity or high end gaming, apart from media tablet uses. Based on these usage trends, the target user base for hybrid tablets are essentially high-end home users/power users and in time, enterprise users. For these users, the key factors affecting their purchasing decision are most likely processing power, a keyboard dock, long battery life & a large, high-end application base. Based on this user base, the screen size and the pricing of the majority of products would be at the higher range of the market (10+ inches & $400-$600).
  
  How does this affect the iPad?
  The new iPad and the iPad 2 are still essentially high-end, high priced ($400+) media tablets, without the added functionality of a hybrid tablet. As these segmentation trends begin influencing the market over the next year or two, the iPad will be sandwiched between these two segments. ipad market share

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">WIth the new iPad's release behind us, it's time for the annual iPad hystera. Since its launch in Q2 2010, the iPad has defined the industry. Tablet sales have been zooming over the past year, with growth rates higher than 250%. However, in the last quarter of 2011, the iPad's market share dropped below 55% as compared to 45% for Android tablets. Even accounting for this decrease, absolute sales numbers for the iPad have seen phenomenal growth, which emphasizes the staggering growth of the tablet market.<br /><br />Now, as with the launch of any major Apple product, the iPad will have a surge in market share this quarter. But how will the iPad's market presence change over a longer period? In order to understand this, we need to understand the primary product segments in the industry. Industry segments typically evolve over time and show greater impact as an industry matures. We have seen a very early stage of this kind of segmentation starting to form, with products like the Asus Transformer Prime and the Kindle Fire. For these buyers, the major factors affecting their purchasing decision is decided by brand, pricing & a large application base. This is the primary reason why the Kindle Fire has managed to succeed in such a short time frame. Based on the target market for this product segment, the screen size and the price of most of the products would be at the lower end (7+ inches & $200-$400). This segment will become significantly more competitive this year, with Google launching $200 quad core tablet from Asus and Amazon set to launch the upgraded Kindle Fire.<br /><br /><b>2) Hybrid Tablets</b><br />A hybrid tablet is essentially a high-end tablet, with the added functionality of dockable keyboard. The form factor is similar to a ultra-slim netbook and it is also compatible with a mouse. This segment was innovated by Asus, with the Asus Transformer and has grown more popular with the launch of the Asus Transformer Prime. Now, other TabletOEMs have targeted this segment and have begun launching similar products. Typing long emails has long been a nightmare on touchscreen-only tablets and Hybrid tablets have come to the fore as a solution. In addition, it is far more convenient to use| & carry, as compared to a tablet with a bluetooth keyboard accessory. In terms of usage trends, hybrid tablets could be used for productivity or high end gaming, apart from media tablet uses. Based on these usage trends, the target user base for hybrid tablets are essentially high-end home users/power users and in time, enterprise users. For these users, the key factors affecting their purchasing decision are most likely processing power, a keyboard dock, long battery life & a large, high-end application base. Based on this user base, the screen size and the pricing of the majority of products would be at the higher range of the market (10+ inches & $400-$600).<br /><br /><b>How does this affect the iPad?</b><br />The new iPad and the iPad 2 are still essentially high-end, high priced ($400+) media tablets, without the added functionality of a hybrid tablet. As these segmentation trends begin influencing the market over the next year or two, the iPad will be sandwiched between these two segments. <a href="http://www.tech-thoughts.net/2012/03/new-ipad-tablet-market.html" rel="nofollow">ipad market share</a></div>

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