iPad 2.0 will Help Apple Rule for Years, Analyst Says - PCWorld

Image via WikipediaiPad 2.0 will Help Apple Rule for Years, Analyst Says - PCWorld

By Ross O. Storey, MIS-Asia Mar 5, 2011 8:40 am

With Apple's launch of the second version of its iPad, research house Ovum predicts that it will take until 2015 for devices running Google's Android platform to catch up.

Ovum principal analyst Adam Leach said that in such a fast-moving market, Apple was forced to release a new version of its iPad hardware to stay ahead.

"Apple clearly had first mover advantage. However, its competitors have been hot on its heals with a slew of tablet devices from big brand vendors such as Samsung, Motorola, HP, HTC and RIM, all of which have announced tablet devices which aim to replicate the Apple experience, which is notoriously difficult to match," Leach said.

"Much of the early growth of the tablet market can be attributable to the Apple iPad, a device whose sales constituted 90 per cent of the total market opportunity in 2010. The remaining 10 per cent of shipments in 2010 was made up of devices running variants of Google's Android OS".

Honeycomb Popular

Leach said most device vendors are looking to exploit Google's latest version of the Android operating system, honeycomb, to deliver a user experience that can compete with Apple's own iOS.

"However, some vendors, notably HP and RIM, are choosing to invest in their own software platforms," he said.

"Ovum's belief is that the platform dominance of Apple and Google will continue through 2011 and beyond, albeit with devices based on Google's software platform commanding an increasing proportion of the total market opportunity".

"However, devices based on Google's platforms will only overtake those based on Apple's platform by 2015, when we forecast 36 per cent and 35 per cent market shares respectively, of a total market with shipments of about 150 million units in 2015," Leach said.

This compares with Ovum's estimate of 10 per cent for Google and 90 per cent for Apple at the end of 2010.

Apple, ASUS top reliabilty while AT&T, Dell, HP flounder | Electronista

Apple, ASUS top reliabilty while AT&T, Dell, HP flounder | Electronista

Apple and ASUS lead reliabilty and service ranks

Apple and ASUS lead the way in computer reliability and support while Dell and HP are often the worst, according to a reader study published today by PCWorld that also included smartphones. Macs took the top spot in both desktops and notebooks as they almost always rated above average both in how few needed repair and in the quality of their over-the-phone support. ASUS came next closest with very high reliability for notebooks but mostly average desktops and phone help.

Both computer builders were significantly below the average for the number of systems needing repair in either category.

Dell and HP, however, consistently trailed in the results, often ranking at the bottom with most scores for both reliability and support going well below average. Both their business PC lineups fared better, but the deliberate sacrifices to the quality of home PC support were made apparent with wide gaps in the results. The two companies are well-known for producing some of the cheapest notebooks in the industry and were two of the first to outsource US support for home users beyond North America. HP has stressed it has set up support offices in Arkansas and New Mexico but has yet to staff them to where they can supplement outsourced help.

Apple wasn't uniformly the highest scoring in the smartphone study, taking the top marks in overall ease of use and happiness but losing out to Motorola's Android phones. Both rated well for an overall lack of issues, but only Motorola scored above average for its ability to cut down on major problems. The relatively heavy-duty construction of phones like the original Droid, Droid 2 and Droid X may have played a part.

Among phone designers, RIM was rated the worst with the number of problems and ease of use all rated as below average. LG, Nokia and Samsung were also criticized for the difficulty of using their devices; HTC achieved completely average scores in reliability, but Android's ease of use helped boost it to third place. Palm had poorer reliability, but webOS' ease pushed it higher up than some others.

In carriers, AT&T's claims of top marks were directly contradicted by scores. The current iPhone exclusive carrier was the only network to rate below average in any category, scoring at the bottom for both mobile data and voice. It had above-average retail help but was beaten by T-Mobile in phone help. Verizon was rated above average in both call and data quality, while Sprint also rated well in data and T-Mobile in voice.

The smartphone figures lent support to the importance of a Verizon iPhone widely expected to launch next year, since it would mate both one of the top-rated smartphones with a similarly well-received network.

Other top scorers in general electronics included Canon, whose cameras and printers were among the best, as well as Panasonic for its cameras and TVs. Brother, LG and Sony also fared well in printers and TVs.

Related articles

• Reliability and Service: Laptops (pcworld.com)
• 2010 Reliability and Service Survey: Desktops (pcworld.com)

Apple MacBook gains are others' losses | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

Apple MacBook gains are others' losses | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

If the new MacBooks are the "future of notebooks," as Apple CEO Steve Jobs proclaimed, that future is off to a good start. For Apple, that is.

New MacBook Air

(Credit: Apple)

ChangeWave Research said this week that Apple is seeing a surge of interest in its MacBooks, driven by the two MacBook Air lines announced in October. A whopping 36 percent of buyers planning to buy laptops say they'll purchase a MacBook, a jump of 11 points since a previous survey a month ago, ChangeWave said.

"Simply put, it's the highest level of planned laptop buying ever for Apple in a ChangeWave survey," the market researcher said.

The plus for Apple is a minus for others. The percentage of consumers who say they'll purchase a Dell laptop has dropped 4 points to 19 percent, since last month, while Hewlett-Packard is also down 4 points to 22 percent, according to ChangeWave.

More...

Related articles

• Shoppers Pick Mac Laptops (pcworld.com)
• Consumers vote Mac for laptop buying plans (macworld.com)
• New MacBook Pros To Sport Light Peak Technology (apple.slashdot.org)

The HP Slate’s out! « Akihabara News

The HP Slate’s out! « Akihabara News

No, you’re not dreaming: after months of speculations, rumors and leaks, HP has finally announced the Slate 500 — with a twist: it’s meant for business, not for consumers (though anyone can buy one if they’re willing to fork over 800 bucks). In that sense, I don’t think it can be thought as competition for the iPad, but if designed correctly, it might be way more useful in a professional settings (say, a hospital) than the iPad.

The HP Slate 500 packs a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD under its 8.9-inch touchscreen, as well as 2 cameras and a special stylus, since yes, you can take notes with the Slate! Its Wacom active digitizer lets you use your stylus to do pretty much anything you want, if you don’t like handling touchscreens with your fingers. That, among others, definitely sets the Slate apart from most other tablets out there.

More...

Related articles

• Hands-on with the HP Slate 500 (news.cnet.com)

Apple overtakes Acer, gets 10.6% US computer market share | Electronista

Image via CrunchBaseApple overtakes Acer, gets 10.6% US computer market share | Electronista

Apple achieved a rare feat and outsold Acer in the US this summer, new IDC estimates showed today. The company is estimated to have shipped almost exactly 2 million Macs just to the US in the quarter, beating out the combined Acer and Gateway's 1.95 million. Apple grew more than twice as quickly as any other US vendor, reaching 10.6 percent of the market after it shipped about 24.1 percent more Macs over the same time last year.

Acer's 10.3 percent was a rare decline for the Taiwan PC builder and represented its backlog of unsold inventory as it overestimated demand for its mostly low-end notebooks and netbooks. HP and Dell also lost share despite holding on to the top two spots at 24.3 percent and 23.1 percent, while Toshiba's growth rate hasn't been enough to keep up with Apple and left it in fifth place at 8.4 percent.

The iPad had definite impact on the US market as a whole, IDC VP Bob O'Donnell said: it not only had "some negative impact" on netbooks by leading buyers away but created a halo effect around the Mac.

Worldwide, Apple wasn't enough to register in the top five during the summer, but top three system makers HP, Acer and Dell all lost share, dropping to 17.7 percent, 13 percent and 12.5 percent each. The fastest movers were China-focused Lenovo (10.3 percent) and ASUS (5.4 percent) while Toshiba only advanced slightly to 5.2 percent.

More...

Related articles

• Apple now 3rd largest PC seller in U.S. (news.cnet.com)