Nvidia CEO 'not pleased' with Android tablet sales
Motorola's Xoom tablet has received a lukewarm reception but Jen-Hsun Huang points to issues effecting all Android-based tablets, as impacting on sales.
In an interview with CNET, Huang is stated as being 'not pleased with the cool reception' that Android tablets have received so far.
The new Android Honeycomb-based Motorola Xoom tablet, which uses Nvidia's Tegra 2 hardware, had sales far below those of the iPad 2. While Motorola claims that 250,000 units were sold in the period between the tablet's launch in February and the end of April, iPad 2 sales were around the 1 million mark in just the first weekend.
Huang stated 'It's a point of sales problem. It's an expertise at retail problem. It's a marketing problem to consumers. It is a price point problem. And it's a software richness of content problem.' Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility cited a lack of apps as being one of the main reasons for poor sales.
Interestingly, Huang voiced concerns over the price and configuration of non-iPad rivals his company had hardware stakes in. 'The baseline configuration included 3G when it shouldn't have... Tablets should have a WiFi configuration and be more affordable. And those are the ones that were selling more rapidly than the 3G and fully configured ones.'
It wasn't all doom and gloom for Honeycomb, though, with Huang apparently being stunned at the rate at which the tablets were improving, with future products solving many of the issues of the first generation of Android tablets.
Do you think Android tablets will ever be able to compete with the iPad and the weight of Apple's App Store, or were they doomed from the start? Let us know in the forum.
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Discuss in the forums Replyi was looking for Tegra2 tablets just a moment ago, wondering whether i can pick one up cheaper in LA next week.
380 USD for a Dell streak 7 with Tegra 2 but Andriod 2.2, 3.0 update TBA.
or
600 USD for a Xoom with Android 3.0
how about a 400 USD wifi-only one with latest Android? why is the latest Android tablet so hard to come by? must Google make a Nexus tablet?
(on an android related note, only android phone i would buy is a Google nexus phone, for its consistent updates)
Tegra 2 was actually ready and on the market before Christmas on the Advent Vega.
The high-end tablets have only been on the market for a matter of weeks, so its still a little early to judge on how they are performing. Don't forget that the first android phone (the G1) also wasn't a big sales success.
I personally am waiting for the next generation of Android tablets with the new Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS and quad-core Tegra 3!
Apple's Marketting Machine is... well a T-Rex while everything is already extinct in my eyes. They're the only company who can sell the same machine I have for £1000 more because it has an Apple logo! AND PEOPLE BUY IT! - which is the main issue for Anti-Apple-Activists... AAA anyone? :P
People need to know more about these tablets... marketting is heavily needed otherwise people walk in and go "iPad2" and anything anyone says is heresy and they don't understand.
I've still not worked out how you're supposed to use a tablet comfortably while sitting - plop it on the desk and you have to hunch over, tilt it up with one arm and your arm gets tired easily. The only place it's comfortable to use is slouched on a sofa where you can balance it on the armrest.
Consumers don't care. All they know is that this other company already has a nifty tablet that looks good, and can do all sorts of things. Again, they really do not care that the processor runs at X speed or that it can perform Y floating point operations per second. All they care is that it can play Angry Birds and do Face Time. And if the competition is the first to market that feature, it's not enough to stand up and say, "Oh, well we can do that, too!"
well said, aim tegra 2 at the gamer market and pump a few million into advertising and there we go, brand awareness, no one i know in rl would even know who nvidia were let alone tegra 2
So I bought an Acer A500, typing this reply from it now, I love it!
iOS initially got to where it is simply because there was no competition. When other mobile OS's started to compete it was difficult to dig apple out of their trench because of an economic feedback loop - Since iOS was the most pervasive, developers targeted iOS, and ignored the others, because there was a higher ROI.
However Android is now gaining traction - Apples market share increased by 0.1% from 2010-11, whereas android's increased by 7.7% and android now has a higher market share of the smartphone market of 31.2% versus Apple's 24.7% (comscore).
Android also targets multiple devices, and more importantly, price brackets. Considering Moore's Law in a few years most phones will be smartphones, and likely running an iteration of android. Apple on the other hand has 3 high-end products that they incrementally update.
The ubiquity of android will make it the more economically viable platform, reverse that feedback loop I mentioned, and relegate Apple back to where they belong - Producing high price-of-entry niche fashion products.
Android's fight against iOS's dominance may seem premature, but as AMD's CTO Eric Demers once said "The best way to lose a fight is to not show up."
Long term I think we'll see a fraction of the manufacturers that we see now, and they will all be on a more even footing to Apples line-up.
The exception being asus who (a) put an IPS screen on it, (b) made it cheap, and (c) gave it a unique selling point with the bolt on keyboard/battery. They could probably sell 5 or 10 times what they can produce right now.
this
went to best buy to look at a camcorder...very knowledgable about them...ask about tablets...she immediately says ipad2...i ask her why, she says androids are new and there's not alot known about them(ie she hasn't been trained on them..it is bestbuy afterall), ipad has been around for awhile and has tons of apps...
A mobile phone is something that you tie yourself into for 2years, a laptop is something thats replaced when something newer comes along. Do you really wanna be tied into a laptop for 2 years? Most people own a netbook or even a higher end laptop. Tablets will see but I still see it as a limited market with 4" smart phones being just as fast and handling media just as well. If you want to type a document you'll want a hardware keyboard.
Oi!
Just ignore the adverts! :P (Did you watch #3/4/5?)
While Mr. Nvidia makes nice hardware, he fails to acknowledge is not just price, it's the fact that iPad swooped up a lot of the components supply for itself which makes manufacturing ramp-up that much harder for everyone else. The OS and software needs development time and 3rd party software dev's don't just magically make apps compatible with Android 3.0 overnight - it's a chicken and egg issue of market saturation point too.
There's also the more subtle point that many companies are not keen to invest a lot of money in the tablets they make because they are not sure of cost recuperation versus the MANNNY competitors hitting the market: why would people buy an x/y/z "me too" tablet? Unlike Windows devices, Android stuff requires considerable investment in software engineering, because the most you follow the dev kit from Nvidia/Google directly, the easier it is for people to copy you.
That's my analysis on the Android 3 tablets launched so far anyway.
We are $399! :P
every commercial is the same..play a song, watch a movie, toss in a facebook logo cut.
at least Apple has better marketing scheme and really shows off some alternative functions to these giant cell phones.
Apple has Apps GALORE while Android has no or few Apps.
I'm still hoping for a well made Sony Vaio tablet but other than that the Asus ep121 seems to be the only iPad2 Killer as it runs a full Win7.
In pure count, Android actually has more apps than iOS. Not tablet specific, no, but remember Android is a year behind there. ;)
Just out of interest: name me one thing that iPads do natives that Android 3 doesn't. :) Also Android 3.1 is a nice improvement - as should be Ice Cream when it arrives. :)
They are just different - there's more choice with price and hardware with Android, but if you want all that Apple gives you in its neat bundle and you can stomach only ever using iTunes, than get an iPad :D Horses for courses.
While I appreciate the recognition I still think you are off the mark as the EP121 is a professional tablet with Wacom interface. It's not focused on the touchscreen and simplicity like Android and iPad tablets are. That said, we still can't make enough of them to fill demand
-There are more apps for iOS.
-More of the AAA titles turn up on iOS first (often exclusively)
-There is more money to be made by developing iOS apps (Big! difference)
-The iPad2 is a powerful little beast with great battery life
-You buy an iPad and you know you're getting something that will work well and be supported
-There's been malware in android app markets, can't find evidence of the same for iOS
-The iPad2 is not expensive when comparing it to it's rivals
-The iPad2 (and other premium tablets such as the Xoom) is expensive compared to alternatives (Kindle, Budget android tablets etc)
-The iPad2 sucks if you want to tinker with it.
So it's easy to see why the iPad2 is selling well. A lot of people want a premium product that does what it's supposed to and doesn't need their 12yo nephew to get it working for them
Not enough! :'(
(I was just correcting an assumption!!11)
If you notice the difference hats off. Your hardly gonna be counting. The fact is Apple has "quality control" which android kinda lacks. Sheer numbers mean nothing.
still not really a selling point. Its like xbox "exclusives", companies are shooting themselves in the foot if they don't port. Even then Android will have some cheap knock off. In fact Apple's QC can hinder app development on that point.
by apple. Just put ads in your app and release an ad free version
Best thing about the ipad
True but who knows when Jobs will next dictate how you use it? Again look at quake being put on android tablets. YOu do that and the Apple bods come knocking on your door almost!
Amazingly since everyman and his dog has an iphone at least. Again QC at work. Anotehr good point for Apple
Its still too expensive. Until all the rivals release we won't see what prices will do. Apple and xoom will remain premium products tho
Pretty much plus lack of focued competition. Android 2.3 isn't officially out yet so Apple have had the entire market to itself really. Samsung went a different way with 7" form and adding phone capabilities in and matched the price. Apart from that there has been no competition or choic high end. Apple addressed the problems with the ipad ie. weight but personally and quite a few agree that 7" is preferable or at least should be an option. iOS is very intuative to use and markets are well established. The biggest reason it sells well is the ecosystem. Very few don't have itunes. Why move away even if the competition is better. ipad allows total device and media integration since its so tightly locked down. Ironically the reason I didn't buy into itunes. I want to choose what device I listen to my music on, not be forced into an ecosystem. Android spans as many devices that takes my fancy and soon it'll hit blackberries when QNX ports to the phone front. With Apple its this device, with this software nothing else. You've invested already tough.
Oh, come on, you opened yourself up for that one. :D