Between the Lines

Larry Dignan, Andrew Nusca and Rachel King

Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

By Larry Dignan | July 8, 2011, 7:02am PDT

Summary: Global tablet shipments in the first quarter fell 28 percent from the fourth quarter and failed to hit expectations, according to research firm IDC.

Global tablet shipments in the first quarter fell 28 percent from the fourth quarter and failed to hit expectations, according to research firm IDC.

Specifically, tablet shipments were 7.2 million units worldwide. Although that tally failed to meet expectations, IDC still raised its 2011 shipment forecast to 53.5 million from 50.4 million.

In a nutshell, the tablet market may prove to be just as seasonal as the PC industry and other electronics products. IDC also noted that e-reader shipments of 3.3 million were also down from the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, e-readers are posting 105 percent growth in the first quarter. Tablets don’t have year over year comparisons just yet.

IDC noted that Apple’s iPad continues to carry the tablet market, but the company’s shipments were below expectations. IDC added that “supply-chain hiccups” on screens and the announcement of the iPad 2 hurt units.

Despite the problems with tablet rivals, Android-based devices represented 34 percent of the operating system pie. E-readers, powered by Barnes & Noble’s Color Nook, are expected to ship 16.2 million units in 2011, up 24 percent from 2010.

In a statement, IDC analyst Jennifer Song said:

Although media tablet sales were not as high as expected in 1Q11 due to slower consumer demand, overall economic conditions, and supply-chain constraints, we believe with the entrance of competitive new devices in second half of 2011, the market will sell close to 53 million units for the year and continue to grow long-term.

However, there are a few wild-cards to ponder when it comes to tablet demand. Among them:

Price: $499 as an entry point is still pricey in a down economy. The jobs report on Friday was abysmal and consumers are likely to hold back after seeing some ugly headlines.
Lack of credible rivals to Apple: Apple can’t carry the global tablet market forever. Android tablets—at a better price point—need to step up. TechRepublic’s Bill Detwiler notes that teardowns reveal that HP’s tablet construction resembles a PC. HTC’s Flyer is constructed like a big phone. Those approaches may not work.
E-readers are cheaper: Barnes & Noble’s Color Nook is leading the e-reader race. The dirty secret: The Color Nook is a nice tablet for $250.

Those three items may be enough to prevent tablets from becoming the glory device in terms of unit shipments—especially if the economy remains so-so at best.

Related:

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Topics

E-reader, Sales, International Data Corp., Tablets, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

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New Android 3.1 Honeycomb will make the difference

swisslakes 8th Jul

as many new features included like USB support and gaming accessories expected

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Aerowind 8th Jul

@swisslakes I doubt gaming accessories will help it too much. Anyone who actually wants serious gaming will get a device dedicated to that and anyone who wants casual gaming won't need those accessories.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

przemoli 9th Jul

@Aerowind
That depends on games. You know THE game dev make platform viable for gaming when they release good games. So Andorid can be "next" gaming device. However i suspect that iOS is more likely to become gaming king (as it is right now in smartfones).

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LMAO...

doctorSpoc 8th Jul

@swisslakes.. USB?? seriously?? it's 2011 man.. there's this new thing out.. it's call WIRELESS.. lmao..

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Wireless? Really?

voyager529 8th Jul

@doctorSpoc

Yes, there is such a thing as wireless. Now, watch as those of us with a lick of perspective attempt to extend some to you...

--USB 2.0 is faster than 802.11n and Bluetooth. It can also run at full duplex, whereas 802.11n cannot.

--Wireless of any kind is going to inherently be more complex at the physical layer than USB. With USB, you plug it in. With wireless, there will be some sort of pairing/authentication involved. When it works properly, it's great. When it doesn't work properly, it can be a nightmare, as my friend Linda found out after three hours on the phone with Verizon since she couldn't get her Samsung Galaxy phone to pair with her Ford vehicle's stereo.

--USB can power the device being connected. With wireless, you need to have a separate battery, which means a separate charger.

--With wireless, the device being connected needs some sort of embedded interface mechanism to facilitate pairing. This gets absurd on things like an SD card reader.

--Wireless radios generally suck battery life faster than a USB connection.

--Wireless connections generally don't fare well with multiple connections. Sure, pairing 2 or 3 devices with Bluetooth is possible, but concurrently using them all makes the half duplex nature of wireless communication evident.

So to sum up, your solution for removing a cable is to add a different cable by requiring another device to be charged, add complexity when connecting the device to the tablet while decreasing that tablet's battery life, doing so with a slower protocol that gets slower as additional devices are added, and increasing manufacturing costs by adding a radio transceiver (and enough circuitry to handle a TCP/IP stack in the case of 802.11n) and battery instead of a four-pin piece of metal?

I'll pass, thanks.

Joey

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stopped reading when read that USB is faster than 802.11n...

doctorSpoc Updated - 8th Jul

@Joey.. 802.11n is theoretically faster and real world faster.. 600Mb/s for 802.11n vs 480Mb/s.. when since is inaccuracy equal to perspective..

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

voyager529 10th Jul

@doctorSpoc

Citation for a 600Mbit/sec router or AP please. I've only seen 150Mb/s and 300Mb/s flavors. My real-world experience with the 300MBit/sec flavor with my laptop sitting right next to my router has gotten me, at best, 110Mbit/sec during a file transfer/ Anecdotal, yes, but I've never seen with my own eyes a wireless transfer that was faster than a transfer to a USB 2.0 device.

But let's even say that I'm inaccurate, my $120 Buffalo router running DD-WRT is crap, and my USB 2.0 Hard disk that can sustain 30MBytes/sec write speed and my USB 3.0 flash disk that can sustain 70MBytes/sec read speed are all flukes, therefore my speed argument is inaccurate. You gained yourself no credibility by stating that you didn't read my other points about challenges with pairing, half-duplex transmission, battery life, wireless peripherals, and concurrent wireless signals. I didn't even get into the security argument.

Wireless has its place; I'm using it right now to respond to you. But I don't think that the general public is waiting to buy a tablet solely because there aren't 1,001 wireless devices to hook it to.

Joey

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

non-biased 12th Jul

@voyager529 What in the world are you talking about? Speed, who really cares? It's not like I am going to be editing video stored remotely over the wifi connection where I need the speed and full duplex. Wireless speed is far more than sufficient for the transfers that most people are and will do to their tablet devices. Bluetooth syncing with your friends car is far more of an issue than connecting to a wifi access point which we do every single day. Why do we need a battery for the WiFi access point that is plugged into the wall. Wireless does not mean that it has to be over 3/4G network, you even mention 802.11 in your post so you seem to realize it's out there. Embedded interface mechanism for the SD card reader? I don't need any such think to sync the photos I copied off my SD card to my laptop or desktop wirelessly via dropbox of numerous other options. You keep bringing up Bluetooth like that is what he was talking about. Sure you can cherry pick scenarios that fit your argument but those scenarios do not fit the needs or actions of most users.

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Will that make a difference?

John Zern 8th Jul

@swisslakes
I thought the lure of the tablet is that it frees you from needing any accessories at all, The tablet (theoretically) being a light duty "quick info" type of device.

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seriously..

doctorSpoc 8th Jul

@John Zern the propellor heads want to ruin the use of their device by dangling multiple wired devices off of it like some wacky tablet version of power bar.. tether it, dock it etc.. it's a portable device guys attaching all these wired device to it is absolutely idiotic.. and on top of that totally unnecessary in the age of wireless devices..

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doctorSpoc, If people want to do that

John Zern 8th Jul

@John Zern
then I'm all for "do what makes you happy", and I agree with you that some people will welcome the chance to do that, and will carry around those things or take advantage of them at home.

My question is, are there that many people looking for that ability, to make a noticable uptick in tablet sales?

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actually i totally agree.. what's funny is that...

doctorSpoc 8th Jul

@John Zern.. these guys think they are typical consumers.. Android, RIM and HP tablets have those elements along with Flash support and have sold very little.. iPad has outsold them 8-9 to one.. so i think it's pretty safe to say that people in general don't care about such things.. and for good reason.. these features don't really make a lot of sense given present technology and the way that most will use these devices... yes a few people might care but if these commenters or tablet manufactures think this will generate lots of sales.. they are sadly mistaken..

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Rob.sharp@... 8th Jul

@John Zern

Agreed! It's not a gamers first choice and it never will be! Most gamers would choose an Xbox 360 and their 52" display any day of the week. Tablets are over-sized smart phones. Productivity isn't very good so they can't compete againsts a full fledged PC or laptop but they're nice for quick access to info.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

doctorSpoc 8th Jul

@Peter Perry.. your assertion that because a tablet does not replace a laptop, have all the features etc are completely and utterly irrelevant to the discussion of the viability of tablets.. tablets are not meant to, don't have to and are not designed to.. they serve a particular computing niche.. i know it's hard for many here to understand but the thing is that most people simply don't require all the power, complexity and don't want to put up with all the bs and maintenance of a traditional computer and a tablet completely fulfils their computing needs.. others it fulfils their computing needs most of the time and it a better form factor most of the time so it still provide utility and value.. you're think about it bass akwards.. it's not about replacing a laptop.. that's irrelevant.. it's about meeting needs, providing utility and value.. why am i going to buy a device that is more complex, requires more maintenance, is not ideal to use in many typical scenario in my life.. just to get a bunch of features i don't use anyway.. it doesn't make sense for most people..

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Peter Perry 8th Jul

@DoctorSpoc The iPad maybe but the iPad 2 isn't likely to have out sold Honeycomb Tablets 8 or 9 to 1. I think a lot of people will be surprised by the numbers when these companies release them and when 3.2 / LTE roll out these tablets will start to sell more.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Peter Perry 8th Jul

@Doctorspoc I read the IDC report on another site and their numbers have the iPad at 56% of the Market and Android Tablets at 25% with Samsung leading the way.

These numbers do not include book readers but if they did then Android would probably be closer to 40% or more (Hardly the blowout you were claiming).

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hardly anyone buy tablets 3G/4G tablets..

doctorSpoc 8th Jul

@Peter Perry.. from Apple's numbers WiFi tablets outsell 3G tablets almost 4 to 1.. no one with two brain cells to rub together is going to get a data plan on a tablet.. even the non-apple manufactures have wizened up.. new galaxy tab.. wifi only out first.. hp touchPad.. wifi tablet out first.. people don't want a data plan for a device that most people use 95% of the time in their home or hotel etc.. places that have WiFi.. people that use tablets know that they don't make very good mobile device (devices used on the go) they are really very good portable devices though.. your cell phone is more than adequate on the go and tablets get used when you get where your going.. that's why almost no one wants 3G or 4G tablets.. they really don't make a lot of sense for most.. and that's REAL reason why android tablets are not going anywhere.. they will not have carriers propping them up like android phones.. hard selling them, putting them prominently on display, subsidizing them etc.. android tablets will simply not be getting the exposure of andorid phones because people don't want 3g/4g tablets and carriers don't want to sell them unless they are sold with a data plan.. android tablets will not sell like android phones for that very simple reason.. no free exposure, advertising, subsidies etc.. they need to stand on their own and against the juggernaut that is apple they stand little chance.. go to best buy and you see the non-apple tablets in the tablet ghetto just like you see the non-iPod MP3 players in the MP3 player ghetto..

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Peter Perry 8th Jul

@Doctorspoc. Apparently you missed the part where IDC noted that Android Tablets are at 25% of the market and closer to 40% with the Nook thrown in there so going nowhere is a gross understatement... Apple had roughly 8 months lead on the first competitive Android Tablet and 16% is not a huge gain.

as for 3G / 4G you're wrong, consumers don't want 3G but they do want 4G and as more of these come to market you will see people scooping them up. Crud, I could see a lot of people going to more basic phones and using a Tablet for the net as they travel.

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that 35% is shipped tablets.. not actually sold to customers..

doctorSpoc Updated - 8th Jul

@Peter Perry.. read again.. how many of those non-Apple tablets are collecting dust on store shelves? lots by the look of it.. we see for example that RIM is estimated to have only sold approx. 1/4 of the tablets shipped.. and they didn't ship that many and announced layoffs... Samsung refused to release actual number of galaxyTab sold to customer.. only shipped.. and we know that Apple sells as many iPads as they can manufacture...

iPads share of tablets actually in customer's hands is still in the area of 90-95%..

http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-share-2011-3

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Peter Perry 9th Jul

@Doctorspoc Don't just read news, go see for yourself, there are bunches of the iPad 2 sitting on store shelves as well and honestly, I don't see a ton of these other tablets on shelves... Do I see some? sure but not a crazy amount like you want people to believe.

Anyway, you can stick to speculation and I will stick with what I see with my own 2 eyes.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Peter Perry 8th Jul

@swisslakes Don't listen to these Bozos... they minimize the support because the iPad doesn't have it...

For the record though I use Bluetooth game controllers with my XOOM now and it works great for games that support it.

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Not true at all. I have no tablets

John Zern 8th Jul

@Peter Perry
and at the moment little need for anything, wherther it is an iPad, Xoom, Galaxy, ect.

I have more important things I want to spend my money on.

With that said, what I am saying is that will the addition of a USB, and game controller add-ons be the catalyst that will increase sales by 100%, or by only .01%.

Is it really the defining factor for that many people that do not have a tablet, the lack of USB support?

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Peter Perry 8th Jul

@John Zern That is what most of us have been saying all along!

Apple is walling people in and that's a dead end for most but not so with the Honeycomb or Windows 8 Tablets.

Think of it like this, You want a laptop and somebody shows you an iPad... You're like, that's cool but it doesn't do nearly enough to cover me.

Next situation, You're looking for a Laptop and somebody shows you an EeePad Transformer with keyboard dock that lasts 15 hours! So you start to ask questions like:

Can I edit Spreadsheets?
Can I play games on it?
Can I connect a mouse to it?
Can I play music on it?
Can I watch movies on it?
Can I connect my Camera to it?
Can I connect it to a larger monitor?
Can I connect a portable hard drive to it?
Can it play Flash?
Does it support HTML 5?

All of a sudden all these answers comeback as yes and you start asking if you really need a laptop?

See the problem, the iPad will never replace the laptop or a real PC but these other tablets have it almost 100% covered.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

browser. 8th Jul

@Peter Perry What are you smoking?? Here are your answers for the iPad... Go figure!
Can I edit Spreadsheets? - Yes, iWorks, DocumentsToGo, and many other choices
Can I play games on it? - Dude, iPad games would f**kin kill all other games. This is the place where game devs are making money. Take a look at another ZdNet story. In short, we have more choice of games in iPad than any other tablet.
Can I connect a mouse to it? Really! Only a geek wants mouse. My parents and grandparents are so much relived they do not have to move the freakin mouse to use the iPad. But if a geek wants to, he can - http://www.intomobile.com/2010/05/09/ipad-bluetooth-keyboard-bluetooth-mouse-desktop-ipad-computer/
Can I play music on it? Ha ha! Please tell me you are joking... There is no music player other than iPod and iPad has iPod in it.
Can I watch movies on it? Again this question is a joke
Can I connect my Camera to it? Yes - Use the camera connector kit
Can I connect it to a larger monitor? Yes, it supports 2 modes, video mirroring and also as a dual display that apps can send specific screen info. Check out iOS5 and we will have mirroring over wifi... Yes that is right, no hooks attached
Can I connect a portable hard drive to it? Many people have had success in connecting a USB harddrive via camera connector kit, but hey... with the cloud around, who needs to connect to an external harddrive?
Can it play Flash? Ha ha! This must be the only argument that Fandroids can come up with... Flash sucks! and I am glad my iPad does not have it. Move on
Does it support HTML 5? iOS was the first mobile device to support HTML5. So your point is?

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

rhonin 8th Jul

@browser
Peter is correct though....
I have an ASUS UL and just bought the ASUS Transformer with keyboard dock.
With some gaming exceptions (my UL has a 1gb video card) and the fact is does not run Win7, the transformer can do everything the UL does AND I have the ability to undock the touchscreen and go really portable.
It is cheaper than most UL's and more expensive than most netbooks.
It does have greater flexibility.

btw: I also have an iPad2 with the dongle and a BT keyboard.
The Transformer runs rings around it. grin

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

doctorSpoc 8th Jul

@Peter Perry.. would you run photoshop or transcode video on a tablet? NO.. you would never do that.. they are just too damn slow.. ditto for a netbook.. a netbooks could run it, but it would be too damn slow to reasonably do so because a netbook is not a new class of device, "netbook" is just marketing speak for crappy laptop.. no tablet on earth today takes the place of real laptop or desktop.. the processing power is not there.. they screen size is not there.. the storage capacity is not there.. but wake up! that's not the point.. a tablet is not meant to replace a laptop it's an different sort of device altogether.. it's for doing short term computing on the sofa, in bed, be easily transported here and there.. it's not meant to replace a traditional computer.. does a microwave replace traditional oven? no and yet almost everyone has both.. both have their uses but neither replaces the other.. same with tablets and traditional computers... people that use them understand their utility and where and when to use them.. propellor heads are still trying to put a square peg into a round hole..

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Rob.sharp@... 8th Jul

@Peter Perry

Anyone suppoting Apple is a bozo. Those guys are clowns and so are the consumers that support them. Steve Jobs flings over-priced and over-hyped products like a pile of poo.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Peter Perry Updated - 8th Jul

@Doctorspoc Seriously? Photoshop users and such aren't the people these are targeted at so you're trying to compare these tablets to something they're not.

This is the reality, Most users that get a tablet tend not to use their computers anywhere near as much as they used to. The fact that more users aren't using tablets can be blamed on the whole industry.

Apple is to blame because the iPad 2 limitations excludes some users.

The Honeycomb Tablet group is to blame because they're not effectively marketing their products as alternatives!

Fix both of these and Tablets will expand.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Peter Perry 8th Jul

@Browser can you do all of those things at once on an iPad? On a Transformer you can!

Now let me clarify this for you as you obviously couldn't understand it...

We were speaking of the flexibility of the Honeycomb Tablet and no matter how much you argue that these things can be done via hacks or more expensive add-on cables the reality is, Honeycomb does these things straight out of the box.

Even more, I didn't say the iPad couldn't do many of these, I said it wasn't as flexible and you did nothing more than prove me right.

As for the question of better games, I didn't comment on the quantity of games just that you can play games... Also, most games are being ported to Android but not all Android games are being ported to iOS.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Pete "athynz" Athens 9th Jul

@rob.sharp@... Anyone suppoting Apple is a bozo. Those guys are clowns and so are the consumers that support them. Steve Jobs flings over-priced and over-hyped products like a pile of poo.

Oh now I'm hurt... seriously. Some random clueless f'ing troll on ZDNet called me a bozo and a clown of having an iPhone (an Apple product). Please, spare me the Apple hating insults that you feel the need to - how did you put it? Ahh yes - "fling like poo." Way to go there, genius.

Apple products are not perfect by any stretch but as far as smartphones they work damn near perfect for me - especially once I jailbreak my iPhone. As far as a tablet is concerned I do pretty well with my Nook Color that can dual boot the stock Nook Color OS and Android 2.3 Gingerbread via an SD Card and they cyanogen mod. With laptop/ desktop computing Windows 7 based PCs (an HP and Dell) serve me well.

As far as your insults and frothing at the mouth quasi-religious fever go - honestly they make you look like nothing more than an ignorant troll. At the very least give some lip service to a competing product you like and tell us why you like it instead of the comparable Apple product... Wait, what am I saying - something like that would entail you having to put some amount of coherent thought into such a reply and judging from your post I sincerely doubt you have that capacity. Never mind, troll away.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

non-biased 12th Jul

@Peter Perry I minimize the support of USB not because it is not something that Apple does but simply due to the fact that since I have started using services like DropBox I have found that my USB flash drives sit basically unused even between PCs. You on the other had minimize anything to do with Apple simply because it's Apple.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Rob.sharp@... 8th Jul

@swisslakes
Say what? USB will be good but these aren't game machines. Sure they offe fun for a little while but consoles will continue to dominate for years to come. I'd much rather sit in front of a 50" screen instead of a 10" POS!

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Peter Perry 8th Jul

@rob.sharp@... Actually Rob, the Tegra Zone highlights why these can be very good game machines.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Andre Richards 8th Jul

@swisslakes: When I want that, I go to my computer or gaming console. The tablet is only really useful for quick, light access but it's so damn good at that, that it beats everything else out there. I was skeptical about the iPad (bought it mostly for my wife) but it's won me over big time. I almost never use the laptops I own anymore. Tablets fill the void for ultra-fast access, the ability to pick it up and go instantly. No multiple user accounts, no file system to maintain, no logging in, no long wakes... just immediate access.

But I have no doubt Android and every other Apple competitor will botch that and over-complicate things needlessly.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

The_Omega_Man Updated - 8th Jul

@Andre Richards I would suggest that you try an Android tablet before you judge them so harshly. The ipad is basically a large ipod touch and is essentially just a stepping stone between a mobile app launcher and a full fledged general purpose personal computer, whereas an Android tablet/slate or a Playbook is basically a light weight mobile computer, with more general purpose computing capability than just app launching. This makes Android a more of a power user platform than those products leveraging ios. Both fill specific niche segments with some overlap, but frankly I would not compare the two platforms (Android and ios) with equal criteria, as they both have their strengths and weaknesses in different areas. For me, ios is ideally suited to the novice mobile computing user, whereas something like Android is more ideally suited for the more advanced mobile comuting user. And when you really need to get more heavy duty business level work done, then the real PC or laptop needs to come out and play. The lines defining general computing are certainly being blurred by the ever increasing computing capabilities of todays mobile computing platforms.

So if and when you ever decide to take the training wheels of your mobile computing needs, there will be an Android or other non-ios device waiting for you, with Many bells and whistles on, that you now find yourself in need of.

(Typed entirely on my shiney new ASUS Transformer tablet!) This thing can change really the game.

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many new features...

nfordtchrpub 8th Jul

@swisslakes - I agree. That's why the Amazon sold out of its Toshiba Thrive 8GB preorder allotment. The Thrive has many unique features: swappable battery, fullsized USB, SD and HDMI ports, etc. I got an Archos 70 with a unique 250GB internal HDD back in January, right before all stores sold out of them for weeks.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

The_Omega_Man 8th Jul

@nfordtchrpub The ASUS Transformer has been tought to get as well. I felt lucky to get mine before the had sold out again.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

non-biased 12th Jul

@swisslakes Not an Android fan myself but I do hope that 3.1 makes some improvements as competition is good for all of us. I don't think USB support is going to be any kind of game changer though. If USB was that big of an issue then people wouldn't be buying the iPad.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

LoverockDavidson 8th Jul

And I'm not surprised. Tablets are a media hype and nothing more.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Tommy S. 8th Jul

@LoverockDavidson Quite like PDAs, Netbooks etc.

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...as are phrases like "still pricey in a down economy"

Schoolboy Bob 8th Jul

@LoverockDavidson
Define a down economy. Are most of us hurtin for doe? Is the stock market sunk? People desperate and starving? I hate seeing misinformation like this. It's not media hype, just stupidity.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

rhonin 8th Jul

@LoverockDavidson
Yuo... hype.
Suppose that's why mine has replaced lugging my notebook around for quick business trips..... wink

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

I12BPhil 8th Jul

@rhonin Ignore LD. He'll keep whistling that tune until he gets his mythical Windows tablet, then he'll say there's no media hype. Pfft!

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

LoverockDavidson 8th Jul

@rhonin
You are only using it because you spent over $500 on it so you think you have to use it to justify the price when deep down inside you know the notebook can do everything the tablet does and more, as well as be more productive. Basically you chose the wrong technology.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

pupkin_z 8th Jul

@rhonin based on the discussion and the comments like "can I connect the mouse, monitor" the expectations for tablets are way too high compared to what they can offer. As with netbooks, people treat them as if they are real full-fledged PC. They are not.

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

rhonin 8th Jul

@LoverockDavidson
You are only using it because you spent over $500 on it so you think you have to use it to justify the price when deep down inside you know the notebook can do everything the tablet does and more, as well as be more productive. Basically you chose the wrong technology.

Say what? Huh?
I own both. Actually more than both.
For me it is not a cost issue, it is a weight / space issue.
Dude - you need to get out more.... wink

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

The_Omega_Man Updated - 8th Jul

@LoverockDavidson I used to think the same as you. But since using one, I now find the one that I did get ( ASUS Transformer ) to be an indespensible tool. I started with a nook color to see if this was something for me. At $250 it was an affordable primer, as it were. I realised that I needed more power and flexibility and versatility, and the Trasformer with the keyboard dock fits the bill nicely. Along with incredible battery life. (Going on hour 12 for today!) :-D

Oh and a side benefit, my smart phone now goes two days on a charge, because most of my more heavy duty apps came over to the tablet, so my phone is a phone again!

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RE: Tablet shipments below lofty expectations, says IDC

Pete "athynz" Athens 9th Jul

@LoverockDavidson How do you figure that with millions of iPads and millions of other tablets sold? The lofty expectations were just that...

I have a Nook Color that I dual boot into Android 2.3 Gingerbread every so often when I need the functionality of a tablet and my iPhone's screen is not large enough... but that is at most a once a week thing as usually I use the Nook Color as a Nook Color. Tablets are useful at times for me and there are those who use them far more than I do and likely ever will - as proven by the sales of the tablets as I mentioned above.