What price will consumers pay for a tablet?
![matthew-miller](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/fc17e8c1041353fda869aa6a774cae7eff8e2b3d/2022/08/05/ee87d915-3bf6-40cb-8e7f-6112d3b322bc/matthew-miller.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&frame=1&height=192&width=192)
As you can see in Kevin's article, the "would definitely buy at that price" level is $351 while the "would never pay that much" price is $524. The T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Tab that I have and love can now be picked up for $250 with subsidies. (Tip: Buy it this way and pay the $200 ETF if you want later for a cheaper price than buying it outright.) The 16GB iPad 2 will be priced at $499 and we just saw the first generation iPad sell out on Woot for just $329.
I remember thinking back before the first iPad launched, and even for a bit of time after, that the iPad was a "nice to have" device and there was no real need being met with the iPad or a tablet device. We have now seen over 15 million iPads be purchased by consumers and I have to admit that Apple seems to have created a market for the tablet. That said, it is obvious that Apple owns this market and I just don't think others can compete.
Apple has the benefit of economies of scale in production for the iPad and at this time no one else can compete on price. I like seeing competition because it usually drives innovation and improvements, but unless you are a die hard Android fan I really don't know why you would buy one instead of an iPad or iPad 2.