back to article Gartner: Apple rivals can't touch iPad

Pretenders to Apple's fondleslab crown will not overcome the domination of the iPad any time soon if the beancounters at Gartner are to be believed. In one of their less challenging predictions, the analysts said that rivals remain so far behind Apple and its shiny slates that the US giant will have a "free run" of the market …

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  1. The Brave Sir Robin
    Facepalm

    Oh dear

    “So far, Android’s appeal in the tablet market has been constrained by high prices, weak user interface and limited tablet applications,” Milanesi said.

    I must have been mistaken in my belief that my ASUS EEE Pad Transformer was comparatively low priced, with an excellent user interface, loads of expansion potential and a perfectly acceptable number of very useful and entertaining applications that do everything I want.

    I'd better throw it away immediately and buy a iFad so I can have an expensive device, limited multitasking, no expansion, no keyboard and access to a massive number of applications, of which 5% are any good and which are available just the same on Android.

    1. Craigness
      Thumb Up

      Marketing

      Once again, it really comes down to people not knowing what there is on offer. People know the ipad, they don't know what Android does.

      If I had a tablet it would be Transformer.

    2. a_been
      Facepalm

      The ASUS EEE Pad Transformer is the Fad

      As shown by how few beyond the tech fanboi crowd are buying it.

    3. KroSha

      Cheaper, but not cheap. It's still ~£300. Ok, £100 less than iPad2, but still a wedge of cash for most people.

  2. ChrisInAStrangeLand
    Alert

    I dare say Gartner has it wrong. Android's lackluster sales have been caused by legal injunctions preventing devices from reaching market.

    1. DZ-Jay

      Really?

      It had nothing to do with the lackluster reception of things like the Galaxy Tab or the Xoom?

      Keep in mind that the legal injunctions against Samsung started just a couple of months ago, while Android tablets have been in the market for longer.

      -dZ.

    2. a_been
      Facepalm

      Oh, OK

      That explains the piss poor reception of the Xoom, Touchpad, Playbook and every 7" tablet then. As well as the last 10 years of Windows tablet PC sales.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Seriously ?

    iOS5 or "‘Ice Cream Sandwich’" - now which one would you take more seriously and pay a premium for ?

    1. JarekG
      FAIL

      Ice Cream Sandwich - it's has potentials...can be customized.

      iOS5 - the same thing over and over....

      Well i think i'll go with Ice Cream Sandwich - free upgrade...

      I already payd for iOSx once so I don't think I need to pay again...at least with the other I get free upgrade

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        So you choose something that dosn't exist over something that dose?

        Talk about being in denial!

    2. Craigness

      Or...

      Windows 7 Professional versus Lion versus Lucid Lynx.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ...plus

    The bitter legal battle resulting in possibly the best Android hardware not available to purchase.

  5. Joe Montana
    FAIL

    As HP proved...

    What matters is apps, until you have an equivalent selection and quality of apps as Apple do, you won't be able to compete with them head on... Your product will always be seen as inferior, and people won't be willing to spend the same on it as they would on an Apple device.

    Instead, you have to offer your tablets cheaply and compete from below. Slash your margins, or even put out a loss leader ala HP... Had HP not dropped the touchpad, and simply offered it at the price they did anyway they would likely be sitting on a respectable market share right now.

    Once you have the user base, apps will be developed... Few people will develop apps if there is little or no target market for them, and few people will buy a device for which there are very few applications. It's a catch 22, and something drastic like an extremely low price is needed to overcome that.

    1. asdf
      FAIL

      not just apps

      I do like my touchpad but it is quite a bit bulkier (mainly due to battery I think) for about the same battery life and though the cpu is better the peformance is still worse than the IPAD due to linux not yet being optimized for tablets.

  6. Alan Denman

    Could it possibly be true that the new iPhone has a 2.6" screen?

    Well it would certainly be quite a good companion to the iPad.

    Keep em small and keep em sweet I say.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lets have this conversation in 12 months time

    when Android Ice Cream Sarnie is established and has unified the Android phone and tablet OSs, Asus's Transformer and Slider have gotten more of a foothold, Archos' G9 tablets have bedded in and Samsung's Note has perhaps proven that what many people want is a "tablet!" they can hold in one hand like a big phone.

    The iPad's dominance now is not surprising, 12 months ago iPhone/iOS ruled the smartphone roost but now Android has much the larger market share and the gap is widening.

    It's all to play for.

    1. DZ-Jay

      @AC

      Sure, let's. And how about after "Ice Cream Sandwich" we wait until the next Android version, you know, The One that's going to kill iOS. Or is it the one after that?

      -dZ.

      1. Craigness

        T'is done

        I doubt iOS will be killed in the next few decades but already Gingerbread has wrestled it to the ground and kicked its face in. In both tech and market share.

      2. majorursa

        Why wait? iOS is already unable to catchup, clearly. And it's on the market 5 times longer.

    2. Armando 123

      Wait, I thought the next twelve months was the year that Linux won the desktop. [DUCKS]

      1. majorursa

        Desktops are marginal. Linux won the mobile platform (Android) and in general soon there will be more *ux systems around than Windoze (iOS is a Unix too remember).

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What?

    I want an Android, but it appears not only closed but also never updated. Seems Apple does the fixing of security holes better (and is also closed, and has more apps).

    Google needs to get its act together.

    1. The Brave Sir Robin

      There have been

      3 updates to the ASUS Transformer since I got mine. It's running the latest 3.2 and is likely to get ICS in Nov.

      As I said before, more apps is not necessarily better apps, just a bigger selection of dross. There are probably similar quantities of good apps.

  9. sisk
    Thumb Down

    They may have the right prediction, but their reasonning is WAY off.

    "This, she reasons, is because Apple has built better tablet hardware, software and content"

    Unless you're comparing the El Cheapo Android tablets the hardware is more or less the same. As for software and content, Android is the clear winner. Seriously, I've tried to use an iPad. The thing is limited as hell.

    And content? I can't imagine a less user friendly process for getting apps than what Apple has put together. To get one app I had to put in my iTunes password twice AND THEN confirm. I've done this for every single app I've gotten. On top of that there are far more apps available in the Android market. And that's without having to go to any of the various third party markets for Android.

    And on price, what Android tablet costs more that the iPad2?

    All in all I'd say this was a very biased report

    1. majorursa

      Correct summary. It seems to me that most iSheep never even tried an Android. They should. They are build from the same chips in the same Asian factories and the OS is so much more flexible it's almost not funny.

      1. rpd9803
        FAIL

        Well

        Maybe flexibility in an OS isn't a benefit. I mean, hell, we could all be running KDE and set it all up however we want, but, as it turns out, most people want simpler, at least in their tablets.

        And, by the way, the sales numbers don't lie, Android tablets right now are just not selling.

        1. sisk

          Re: rpd9803

          I never said that iPads weren't outselling every other tablet on the market combined. The point I was trying to make is that particular trend has little or nothing to do with the comparitive quality of the products. More sales does not always equate a better product. Sometimes it's just better marketing or, in the case of iOS devices, just a whole lot of hype, or any of dozens of other factors. In fact I would go so far as to say that the best selling product in any given field is rarely the highest quality one.

      2. Nic 3

        Just out of interest what do you mean by Flexible? if you mean what you think I mean then you've missed the point of mass market apeal. flexibility isn't it.

        1. majorursa

          Flexibility to me means I can make my tab work and look anyway I want, eg. limited like an iPad or with all kinds of dynamics. I like to make those choices myself and I need a real multitasking OS to do my daily workflow. My desktops are specifically tailored to tasksets, and I make extensive use of scrolling widgets for appointments, announcements and alerts. Granted I had to install a 3rd party desktop manager for that latter feature but at least I could do that.

          And installing apps is much much easier too, also a form of flexibility that really does appeal to the masses. And of course no iTunes, the ultimate benefit.

          Anyway, I sincerely think that many iFans should take a serious look at the Androids, I'm certain many won't look back.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      How many Android tablet apps are there?

      The more that Apple win and Google lose on tablets, the more the fandroids say the earth if flat and everyone else are sheep for not choosing some POS tablet with no apps and no support. Do these people have a life?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Gartner = Fanboys?

      Biased? Because it's not in Android's favor? Those guys at Gartner must be iPad-owning swigging the Kool Aid by the gallon...

  10. pikey

    it's not all about apps

    I am sorry but it's not all about apps. I have a IPad, and I like to use it for browsing the web, and only have a few apps. And I can say that the web browsing on the IPad is painful at best, lousy formatting and frequent hits on not being able to view content because of no flash, etc. . I just want the it to work. (and don’t get me started on having to connect to ITunes before I can use it)

    Now I got a shiny new EeePad, and compared to the IPad it's a joy to use. No plugging it in to something to get approval to start using it, nice easy interface, the apps are easy to get, and most all the web browsing is a joy. It just works, which is what I want

  11. Mark2410

    They are right

    I am a big android fan and i want a tablet but, honeycomb is a bit poo. worse still thats not the real problem, the problem is i want to used the device in portrait and both honeycomb and manufacturers dont like that. they seem dead set on insisting the only F ing thing you could want to is watch video and so you must use it in landscape and have a 16:9 screen

    i want a 10 inch tablet but a 4:3 one.

    1. Baudwalk

      >>> i want to used the device in portrait and both honeycomb and manufacturers dont like that <<<

      In what way?

      I use mine in portrait mode 90+% of the time. That's for reading e-books, mail and browsing.

      Of the top of my head, I only remember using it in landscape for Android Market and for playing Angry Birds and Sprinkle.

  12. JaitcH
    WTF?

    I guess Gartner doesn't read The Reg

    Item:

    "Apple sued for iPhone and iPad chip 'patent rip-off'"

    And they haven't seen the latest offering from Samsung, on sale in the Far East - enough to make even an iPhan wet their pants.

  13. Armando 123

    But it's not just the iPad

    It's not the hardware, nor iOS, nor the app store; it's all of them, and the fact that the thing is just dead simple to use. "Open" and "flexible" are nice for geeks, much in the same way that most people don't want to work on their own cars.

    1. majorursa

      You will only know how important 'open' and 'flexible' are in practice if you try it yourself. Let's just hope that the 'user-friendliness' of iOS doesn't spell another 2 decades of shitty public standards like Windows did 15 years ago. I see an equal danger looming and that alone is reason enough for me to avoid Apple like the plague.

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