The Tab has just a tad of the market, the PlayBook isn't much of a player, and it's touch-and-go for the TouchPad.
But Apple's iPad 
is still going strong, dominating North American tablet computer sales with a solid 81 percent share of consumers in the second quarter, according to a new report that comes a little more than 18 months after its unveiling by then-CEO Steve Jobs sparked a revolution in media consumption and mobile Internet browsing.
Tight Grip
Boston-based Strategy Analytics said Apple controls four-fifths of the tablet market, "a tight grip that Amazon and others will find difficult, but not impossible to break."
The report comes as Amazon is believed to be on the verge of launching the Kindle Fire, an upgraded version of its successful e-reader that will be able to access magazines and newspapers, possibly powered by Google's Android operating system. The price is believed to be in the $300 range, cheaper than Apple's lowest priced, 16-gigabyte iPad at $499. A launch event is scheduled Wednesday in New York.
And on Monday, Research In Motion lowered the price of its QNX-powered PlayBook tablet to $249 for its 16 GB model. New tablets, mostly Android-based, seem to be hitting the market on a regular basis, attempting to steal the iPad's thunder.
"Apple's share in North America was a strong 81 percent in Q2 2011, and the combined sales of mega-vendors like Motorola and Samsung, as well as emerging Asian vendors like Asus and HTC, have been unable to dislodge Apple from a strong No. 1 spot," said Strategy Analytics senior analyst Alex Spektor.
Strategy Analytics did not release to the press figures for other regions of the world, including Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Central and Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East from its report, "Global Tablet Vendor Market Share by Region: Q2 2011." Those details are in the full report the firm sells to its clients, including manufacturers, wireless carriers and others.
But Strategy Analytics said the iPad dominates every major region, particularly North America because its brand and distribution networks are best established here. Meanwhile, it said, "HTC's tablet strategy struggled to make an impact in Western Europe and elsewhere."
What's Next?
Apple released the second incarnation of the iPad in March, making the device slimmer and lighter, with a faster dual-core A5 processor and front and back cameras. The Wall Street Journal reported that the iPad 3 is likely to debut early next year.
So what could Apple add to the device to keep it competitive?
"There's only so much they can add to it now," Spektor said. "Apple has succeeded in the laptop and music player spaces by offering devices at different price points and with varied capabilities, to target consumers of different budgets and needs. Perhaps some future iPad growth can come from further segmentation beyond different memory capacities."
0 komentar:
Post a Comment