NEW ORLEANS — Though a relatively nascent market at two years old, tablets already are having a significant impact in the wireless space, from the amount of traffic their driving across carrier networks to the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend that is putting pressure of corporate IT staffs.
No tablets have been more dominant than Apple’s wildly popular iPad, which reinvigorated the space when it was introduced in 2010. Since then, OEMs have come out with their own tablets, with most based on Google’s Android mobile operating system. Also, vendors that didn’t before have a name in the compute space–like Amazon and Barnes & Noble–now also have tablets on the market, getting there through their e-readers.
Despite the increased competition, Apple continues to rule the market.
Whether that’s going to change anytime soon was a subject of discussion at a couple of panels at the CTIA Wireless 2012 show here, without much resolution. However, Nick DiCarlo, vice president of product planning for Samsung Telecommunications America, cautioned that tablets–while popular–still constitute a new market.
It’s in the very early days, DiCarlo said during a panel discussion May 9, noting that he expects the market and consumer tastes to change significantly over the next few years.
The latest analyst numbers show Apple with a significant lead in the space. IDC analysts May 3 said that in the first quarter Apple’s share of unit shipments rose to 68 percent, while sales of Android-based devices fell, with Amazon taking a significant hit. The same day, NPD DisplaySearch analysts said that while Apple holds the lead, the gap between iPad and Android devices will shrink by 2017, with Apple expected to hold 50.9 percent of the unit sales and Android devices climbing to 40.5 percent.
"A growing diversity of operating systems is driving the increase in demand for tablets, as well as rapidly evolving features," NPD DisplaySearch analysts said when their results were released.
DiCarlo, whose company currently ranks a distant number two behind Apple in the tablet space, said Samsung has at least seven tablets in its portfolio, given consumers options that Apple can’t. He noted that Samsung has seen success with its 7-inch tablets, a differentiator from Apple’s 10-inch devices. The smaller systems are easier for people to hold and carry with them, which is why the company debuted with the 7-inch form factor.
“The outcome of that is that 7-inch tablets are very successful,” DiCarlo said. “What we knew at the time of its first tablet release was that mobility is very important in buying decisions .”
Jaime Iannone, president of digital products for Barnes & Noble, which offers the Nook tablet and e-readers, said user experience also will play a key role going forward. With the Nook, customers immediately saw it as a device for reading, and are willing to consider it for other uses now that the Nook tablet offers such capabilities, such as email, Web browsing and apps. And like DiCarlo, he said the portability of the 7-inch form factor is important to users.
Android tablets also are facing a challenge in the enterprise, where iPads have helped fuel the trend towards the consumerization IT. Employees already were looking to use their own smartphones for work; iPads have only furthered the BYOD drive. In addition, they’ve become increasingly popular with high-level executives in companies, putting even more pressure on IT departments to find ways to secure and manage these devices, according to panelists at a forum on May 8.
To read the original eWeek article, click here: Tablet Market Still an Apple iPad World
