5 ms·

What happened to the iPad killers of 2010?

22 points by ukdm 15y ago

cryptoz 15y ago
on the Xoom: > the ridiculous $800 it eventually debuted at in February 2010 I am so sick of this. The Xoom cost $600 at launch for the WiFi model - every single time anyone quotes Xoom vs. iPad prices, they find the most expensive Xoom and compare it to the cheapest iPad. The Xoom was significantly cheaper than the iPad if you picked an expensive iPad and a cheap Xoom to compare.
- TruthElixirX 15y ago
  How do they compare spec wise at different levels? I am not in the market for a tablet so I'm not even sure what the different iPad competitors are.
- mikeash 15y ago
  According to Wikipedia, the WiFi-only Xoom wasn't available at launch, and only showed up a month later. Presumably that's why.
  - brador 15y ago
    If I remember correctly I was scheduled to purchase one until they crippled the flash (randomly delayed I think it was) and the memory card issue (delayed?). Together with the lack of long-term corporate support it would have no doubt had made it a cancelled purchase for me. Shame really, it looked nice at the time.
gavinlynch 15y ago
I have a pretty solid theory: Anything with "{X} Killer" attributions is going to fail.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
alexwolfe 15y ago
The Kindle Fire is going to compete nicely with the iPad at $199. However being an iPad Killer, is just wishful thinking. Being an iPad Competitor is probably more realistic.
- floatboth 15y ago
  Kindle Fire isn't a direct competitor. It's a device for consuming content from Amazon. Targeted mostly at existing Amazon customers.
  - alexwolfe 15y ago
    Many Amazon Customer are Apple Customers as well. The Kindle Fire is definitely a direct competitor not only in hardware but also in digital goods (books, movies, and music).
  - mikeash 15y ago
    It's at least as much of a competitor as any other 7" Android tablet.
ajross 15y ago
I continue to believe this isn't the right way of looking at the problem. There isn't a "tablet" market yet. The iPad sells to iPhone users only. It's an attractive upgrade/enhancement, and a fun device. But it hasn't creates a new market yet, in the sense that no one decides to buy a "tablet" and then researches alternatives. Instead, people fall in love with the iPad specifically and buy that. So manufacturers chasing "tablet" sales are fooling themselves. Maybe tablets will come of age, or maybe they're a fad. But right now the only way to displace the iPad is to displace the iPhone first.
- geuis 15y ago
  You are entirely wrong about "the iPad sells to iPhone users only". There are lots of customers who use iPads and have Android, Blackberry, and other phones too. People buy the iPad not because it's a bigger iPhone, but because it's the best tablet on the market. However you do have a point about there not really being a tablet market. The iPad really is its own market right now. I've used other tablets like the Xoom and Galaxy S and they really don't compare. My friend that works at Microsoft likes to argue that MS has made tablets for years. I've yet to disabuse him of the notion that laptops with touchscreens aren't tablets. But no, iPads being the most popular tablets has nothing to do with iPhones.
  - ajross 15y ago
    Obviously in any big market there may be "lots" of consumers with any characteristic you want. I'm just saying that in my experience, every iPad I've seen has been owned by a previous iOS user. Every single one. Many of these people are geeks and might "have" Android/RIM devices too, but they're uniformly Apple fans. And they bought their iPads because they wanted the iPad. None of them looked at other tablets. So just like the manufacturers, I think you're fooling yourself, just in the other direction. The iPad isn't "winning" the tablet market. The iPad lives in its own market, and that's a proper subset of the iPhone market.
    - Domenic_S 15y ago
      > Obviously in any big market there may be "lots" of consumers with any characteristic you want. Right... > I'm just saying that in my experience, every iPad I've seen has been owned by a previous iOS user. Every single one. Did the same person write both those sentences?
gamble 15y ago
I was actually impressed with the basic functionality of the Playbook, but it's ridiculous that it shipped months ago and still doesn't have email or calendar support without a tethered Blackberry. It's also hard to believe that they're pinning their hopes for a vibrant app market on emulating Android, instead of encouraging native apps. Can anyone at RIM not see what a disaster that's going to be?
jinushaun 15y ago
I don't know why the iCrowd continues to be so smug about the iPad and write these articles. It just reeks of hubris. It's just a matter of time before what happened to the iPhone happens to the iPad. The same thing happened with Windows and Mac OS. Or McDonalds and nice burger places. Cheap plentiful shit will eventually overtake high quality products.
- ricw 15y ago
  I'm unsure about this. So far it hasn't. And there has been plenty of "plentiful shit" at a cheap price point. The difference to the phone market is that the tablet market is (largely) un-subsidised and not coupled to a contract. It'll be interesting to see how the Amazon Fire will fare. It is subsidised, unlike the iPad, and probably very polished, has a successful ecosystem and will likely be a very good gadget. Only the future will tell..
- chugger 15y ago
  The iPad will dominate the tablet market like the iPod did to the mp3 player market. "Cheap plentiful shit will eventually overtake high quality products" You're right about this one.
amandalim89 15y ago
I think the failure of ipad killers can be attributed to them "having NO humanities and liberal arts in their DNA." as Jobs once said about Microsoft and Google. "They just didn't get it. Even when they saw the it they couldn't even copy it well." I think for that reason no ipad-wannabe-killers (present or future) will come close to displacing the ipad unless they manage to trump it in design/UX/UI. Currently, their only strategy seems to be waging a price war in hopes of covering their cost price(at the very least) and gaining some market share (at best).

22 points by ukdm 15y ago

on the Xoom: > the ridiculous $800 it eventually debuted at in February 2010 I am so sick of this. The Xoom cost $600 at launch for the WiFi model - every single time anyone quotes Xoom vs. iPad prices, they find the most expensive Xoom and compare it to the cheapest iPad. The Xoom was significantly cheaper than the iPad if you picked an expensive iPad and a cheap Xoom to compare.

TruthElixirX 15y ago
How do they compare spec wise at different levels? I am not in the market for a tablet so I'm not even sure what the different iPad competitors are.
mikeash 15y ago
According to Wikipedia, the WiFi-only Xoom wasn't available at launch, and only showed up a month later. Presumably that's why.
- brador 15y ago
  If I remember correctly I was scheduled to purchase one until they crippled the flash (randomly delayed I think it was) and the memory card issue (delayed?). Together with the lack of long-term corporate support it would have no doubt had made it a cancelled purchase for me. Shame really, it looked nice at the time.

gavinlynch 15y ago

I have a pretty solid theory: Anything with "{X} Killer" attributions is going to fail.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

alexwolfe 15y ago

The Kindle Fire is going to compete nicely with the iPad at $199. However being an iPad Killer, is just wishful thinking. Being an iPad Competitor is probably more realistic.

floatboth 15y ago
Kindle Fire isn't a direct competitor. It's a device for consuming content from Amazon. Targeted mostly at existing Amazon customers.
- alexwolfe 15y ago
  Many Amazon Customer are Apple Customers as well. The Kindle Fire is definitely a direct competitor not only in hardware but also in digital goods (books, movies, and music).
- mikeash 15y ago
  It's at least as much of a competitor as any other 7" Android tablet.

ajross 15y ago

I continue to believe this isn't the right way of looking at the problem. There isn't a "tablet" market yet. The iPad sells to iPhone users only. It's an attractive upgrade/enhancement, and a fun device. But it hasn't creates a new market yet, in the sense that no one decides to buy a "tablet" and then researches alternatives. Instead, people fall in love with the iPad specifically and buy that. So manufacturers chasing "tablet" sales are fooling themselves. Maybe tablets will come of age, or maybe they're a fad. But right now the only way to displace the iPad is to displace the iPhone first.

geuis 15y ago
You are entirely wrong about "the iPad sells to iPhone users only". There are lots of customers who use iPads and have Android, Blackberry, and other phones too. People buy the iPad not because it's a bigger iPhone, but because it's the best tablet on the market. However you do have a point about there not really being a tablet market. The iPad really is its own market right now. I've used other tablets like the Xoom and Galaxy S and they really don't compare. My friend that works at Microsoft likes to argue that MS has made tablets for years. I've yet to disabuse him of the notion that laptops with touchscreens aren't tablets. But no, iPads being the most popular tablets has nothing to do with iPhones.
- ajross 15y ago
  Obviously in any big market there may be "lots" of consumers with any characteristic you want. I'm just saying that in my experience, every iPad I've seen has been owned by a previous iOS user. Every single one. Many of these people are geeks and might "have" Android/RIM devices too, but they're uniformly Apple fans. And they bought their iPads because they wanted the iPad. None of them looked at other tablets. So just like the manufacturers, I think you're fooling yourself, just in the other direction. The iPad isn't "winning" the tablet market. The iPad lives in its own market, and that's a proper subset of the iPhone market.
  - Domenic_S 15y ago
    > Obviously in any big market there may be "lots" of consumers with any characteristic you want. Right... > I'm just saying that in my experience, every iPad I've seen has been owned by a previous iOS user. Every single one. Did the same person write both those sentences?

gamble 15y ago

I was actually impressed with the basic functionality of the Playbook, but it's ridiculous that it shipped months ago and still doesn't have email or calendar support without a tethered Blackberry. It's also hard to believe that they're pinning their hopes for a vibrant app market on emulating Android, instead of encouraging native apps. Can anyone at RIM not see what a disaster that's going to be?

jinushaun 15y ago

I don't know why the iCrowd continues to be so smug about the iPad and write these articles. It just reeks of hubris. It's just a matter of time before what happened to the iPhone happens to the iPad. The same thing happened with Windows and Mac OS. Or McDonalds and nice burger places. Cheap plentiful shit will eventually overtake high quality products.

ricw 15y ago
I'm unsure about this. So far it hasn't. And there has been plenty of "plentiful shit" at a cheap price point. The difference to the phone market is that the tablet market is (largely) un-subsidised and not coupled to a contract. It'll be interesting to see how the Amazon Fire will fare. It is subsidised, unlike the iPad, and probably very polished, has a successful ecosystem and will likely be a very good gadget. Only the future will tell..
chugger 15y ago
The iPad will dominate the tablet market like the iPod did to the mp3 player market. "Cheap plentiful shit will eventually overtake high quality products" You're right about this one.

amandalim89 15y ago

I think the failure of ipad killers can be attributed to them "having NO humanities and liberal arts in their DNA." as Jobs once said about Microsoft and Google. "They just didn't get it. Even when they saw the it they couldn't even copy it well." I think for that reason no ipad-wannabe-killers (present or future) will come close to displacing the ipad unless they manage to trump it in design/UX/UI. Currently, their only strategy seems to be waging a price war in hopes of covering their cost price(at the very least) and gaining some market share (at best).