back to article The END of the FONDLESLAB KINGS? Apple and Samsung have reason to FEAR

The two traditional kingpins of the tablet market may soon be hearing the footsteps of competitors gaining on them as both Apple and Samsung have lost market share in the latest report from IDC. The research firm said in its Quarterly Tablet Tracker report that the likes of Lenovo and ASUS picked up market share in the last …

  1. Khaptain Silver badge

    ASUS

    Some of tha ASUS tabs appear to be Okish the T100s for example. Not really a tab more of a hybrid but cheap and usefull.

    Build quality, according to various forums, might be a little bit dodgy. Apparently the keyboards keys stops reacting although the mouse pad continues.

    Although I like the Samsung I would be happy to see more a bit competition that is capable of producing reasonable quality material without displaying an Apple price tag.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm quite happy with my £200 quad-core 1920x1380 no-name (Cube) tablet. Only feature it lacks is GPS, which wasn't a big deal.

  3. GitMeMyShootinIrons

    Not too surprising.

    While the likes of Apple and Samsung (plus MS with Surface) have all rested somewhat on there laurels cranking out perfectly competent products at a specific price bracket, there are a considerable number of second-tier brands and no-name manufacturers who have recognised that there is a gap in the market for devices that are 'good enough'.

    I've recently bought an 8" android tablet (quad core, 16GB memory) for sub £100 - with a decent screen and pretty good build quality. For most, this sort of device fits the 'good enough' description and purchasing (or even losing/damaging) such a device is easier to swallow than spending 3-4 times as much simply because of brand name.

    1. kmac499

      Re: Not too surprising.

      Yup when I bought last year it was either a cheap more than good enough Tab or summat a bit more expensive. As it was partly a birthday gift I got a Sammy 8 Note with the Wacom stylus (yes a standard wacom pen works a treat.) The idea being it was more accurate for sketching out schemas and stuff. It is also a lot easier to edit text and do handwriting recognition

      Was it the right choice? Probably, but I don't use the desirable stuff as much as I thought I would, and the extra bloatware of Sammy versions of apps and the skin changes do get in the way sometimes. The simplicity of a vanilla no-name is still tempting.

  4. Matt Bridge-Wilkinson

    I bought an iPad 1, there is one simple reason I have never upgraded it. For 2 years it was fantastic but it has became more and more unusable as time has gone by as iOS evolved quicker and quicker, it got rapidly left behind. Even common apps and sites like facebook crash the device in moments and Im left with an email device I can stream movies on and view some websites. No doubt these are software issues that can be resolved but Apple have no desire to update older os theyd rather you bought a new one.

    For me its just too much money for something to be obsolete in 3 years, apple no doubt intend that though, but queuing up for the latest device isn't for me and it seems not for many others now either. I will just buy a cheap one next time.

    1. 20legend

      'For me its just too much money for something to be obsolete in 3 years'

      Isn't that a prime reason not to pay over the odds just to have an Apple product? It will always depreciate in value - thus the more you pay, the more you have to lose...

      1. lurker

        @20legend

        That's exactly what he said..

      2. Steve Todd
        Stop

        @20legend

        You'll find that the second hand value of Apple kit is considerably better than most other companies. As the spec is quite high to start with they are normally usable for longer and, factoring in sale when you want to replace it, they end up costing you less.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @20legend

          Really?you could buy a no name android and replace it every year with the "latest" model and still be better off.

          1. Steve Todd
            FAIL

            Re: @20legend

            A no-name with a 9.8" full HD screen for less than 100 quid? You can still flog iPad 1's used for £100 so that's what you'd need to be able to beat in order for the no-name to be cheaper.

            Yes, you can buy cheaper devices, but they will be cr*p in comparison, worse to use and won't save you money in the long run.

            1. Enrico Vanni

              Re: @20legend

              Are you the sort of person who would buy second-hand underpants if they had a designer lable on? Some things should just be bought new, and those things include items with non-replaceable rechargeable batteries, oh and nether-region covers!

            2. Craigness

              Re: @20legend

              Steve, buying iPads new and selling for £100 is an effective cost of £300 or more, making the Android cheaper. If you compare new androids and 2nd hand ipads the androids win because they are more functional (apple doesn't update older kit).

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @20legend

          > You'll find that the second hand value of Apple kit is considerably better than most other companies.

          That would probably be because they start at a higher price than other kit.

          I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 for £300 two years ago. A quick look at ebay reveals that second hand ones are selling around the £100 mark or 33% of their original value after 2 years. This is a remarkable figure for any piece of quickly evolving technology.

          If I sold it now then my tablet would have cost about £2 per week. I don’t know what the equivalent iPad was 2 years ago but I suspect that if you performed the same calculation it would cost considerable more.

          As for support, I had a recharge problem with the device. I emailed Samsung and asked them how I could resolve the problem. They rang me, sent me packaging and postage to send the tablet back and had it back to me within the week. The cost to me? Nothing.

    2. Steve Todd

      That's the issue with being an early adopter and is pretty much the case with any product you care to mention. The first few iterations change quite rapidly, after which things slow down.

      The iPad 2 will be getting iOS 8. The problem with the original iPad was that it was short of RAM, which is the reason it's not updatable.

  5. Wang N Staines

    Always bought Nexus tabs, recently bought an LG Pad 8.3 for £100 <--- excellent value for the money.

  6. sleepy

    The iPad, the android tablet and the windows tablet are not interchangeable. It is a mistake to think they are equals competing in an imagined god-given tablet market. Ipad will take a major share of the market now served by Windows PC's, but it will take ten more years. The last thing Apple wants is to allow competitors to attach themselves to the iPad market. The products will move apart, and iPad volumes and margins will be almost unaffected by competition.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Maybe on your planet there will be peace and the lion shall lay down with the lamb.

      On my planet, in the meantime, the lamb makes a tasty morsel and people will still shoot at each other.

      There isn't anything on the iPad (or android or windows) that sets it apart from the competition. There is no killer app or function. They are all interchangeable for 99% of their usage and remaining 1% isn't enough to make a difference.

      People don't decide "Oh I need an iPad and a tablet", they decide "I need a tablet" and then decide whether they buy an iPad, Android or Windows tablet. This means that they are competing for the same market which in turn means that every new entry into the market will impact them.

  7. sam tapsell

    its a great time for gadget lovers

    There is a gadget revolution taking place.

    Apple makes great things, other people make cheaper copies, some of which are also very good.

    Apple has to work hard to make things better...

    iPhone and iPad have set the standard for a whole class of smartphone and tablet devices.

    I love these gadgets and am hoping for more...

    A wristwatch with GPS, music, siri type functions, maybe monitors heart rate, glucose, blood pressure, Oxygen saturations. Calls and messages perhaps, camera too?

    That could be great for me, or an elderly person with poor memory who lives alone.

    Microsoft will be left behind protecting its income from windows and office, but those products have both been `good enough` for 10 years and I have no interest in them.

    1. Mark Cathcart

      Re: its a great time for gadget lovers

      Actually, I'm looking forward to October when I get my Dash headphones which really in combination with a phone, eliminate much of the need for a watch. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellobragi/the-dash-wireless-smart-in-ear-headphones

  8. Richard Lloyd

    It's the price, surely?

    The reason Apple and Samsung are losing market share is surely the price of their gadgets? Apple have a massive (and unjustified) mark-up on all their hardware and Samsung have either under-spec'ed and/or overpriced pretty well all their Android tablets in their history.

    Samsung have finally produced a tablet to match/beat the iPad Air - the recently launched Galaxy Tab S - and what do they go and do? Set the RRP *higher* than the iPad Air! All they had to do was price it at 10 quid less and it would probably fly off the shelves (no sale to me until CyanogenMod works on it, because you really don't want Samsung bloatware).

    It also doesn't help that Samsung have released far too many phones/phablets/tablets in recent years (something HTC was hugely guilty of several years back with their phone range) - there's a bewildering number of Samsung models out there and it can be quite confusing to differentiate between them.

    Update: Looks like Expansys have the Tab S 10.5" in at 324.99 pounds (as a "pre-order" despite it already having been launched - I think they mean it's out of stock and they'll get more stock at some point). At this price point, it's surely *the* tablet to buy right now?

  9. Charles Manning

    Here comes Huawei

    Huawei, or someone of that ilk, is soon going to emerge as the tablet king.

    That any of the existing brands swaps the crown between them for a month or two means nothing in the long run.

  10. Amorous Cowherder

    Had an ASUS TF-101 for the last two and half years and I'm happy with it. Recently rooted it and put KitKat on it, battery life is better than ever and it seems a tad more responsive. It works perfectly for everything I need but when it does finally die I'll be more than happy to buy another ASUS tablet based on my good experiences with this one.

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