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Read Article When most people think of a tablet computer, the first...
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Americans have certainly embraced televisions, smartphones and the Internet, as 119 million households have four or more TV sets, 212 million Internet users are active online and more than half of households now own a smartphone, according to Nielsen’s new U.S. Consumer Usage Report 2012.
One of the big drivers of Internet and smartphone usage has been social media. Social media continues to increase across all platforms with 164 million users on the computer, 85 million using a smartphone app, and 81 million using a mobile web browser.
Even though Google’s Android mobile operating system has covered quite a bit of ground in the smartphone market over the last few years, there really is no denying the sad reality that the OS hasn’t proven to be of any success in the tablet market yet. But why?
It’s no secret that mobile communication devices (tablets in general) are the “in” thing in the tech industry right now. After releasing the first generation iPad last year, Apple grandfathered an entirely revolutionary and previously unheard of market; one that many didn’t think would go far at all. But here we are now, just a tad more than a year later, and the struggle on the part of retail stores to maintain stock on the second generation iPad speaks for itself in terms of the tablet computer’s popularity and overall success with consumers as a whole. And with the outstanding success of the iPad product line, the last year has brought way to a number of other companies rolling out their own tablet computers in moves quite obviously devised to take a stab at Apple’s stronghold in this promising market.
One of the companies that has been working to anchor into the tablet industry has been Resources In Motion; the company that is best-known for producing and developing the BlackBerry smartphone line. After previously discussing the PlayBook in January I more recently looked at the viability of RIM‘s tablet computer in a critical light, questioning if users would be willing to give the device a go despite the fact that it wasn’t priced any lower than the already established Apple iPad.
A little over a year ago, Apple unveiled the iPad; a powerful (for the time) tablet computer that allowed users to stay connected, productive, and entertained whilst on the go. And while many people voiced skepticism towards the product in the very beginning, the wild success of the iPad has been very well documented over the past year; a fact that neither Apple enthusiasts or skeptics can debate. For Apple, I think the iPad was a bit of a gamble in the sense that the company ventured into what was an uncharted market without knowing exactly how their move would pan out.
Now, a year later, Apple has sold nearly fifteen million iPad units – making it entirely obvious that this “gamble” was a very successful one, and a big home-run for the company. However, now that the iPad (and the tablet computer market in general) has proven to be a goldmine for electronics manufacturers, 2011 is sure to bring a great deal of competition to the iPad. With Google’s Android mobile operating system putting up against Apple’s iPhone OS and handset for market dominance, the company also seems to be making a move to make Android a viable player in the tablet wars that we are going to see unfold in the coming months.
