iPad falling: Apple holds lead in tablets but market share dented by Android rivals

New data from research firm ABI shows Apple's share of the tablet market dropped by 14 percent in the third quarter, with Android-powered rivals making gains.

While it’s safe to say the iPad isn’t about to drop off people’s wish lists any time soon, recent reports by various research firms continue to show that Apple’s tablet is gradually losing market share to rival devices powered by Google’s Android operating system.

The latest data comes from ABI Research, who on Tuesday said that although the Cupertino company continues to maintain its lead in the tablet market, its shipment share slipped by 14 percent in the third quarter.

That still leaves it with 55 percent of the market, putting it at the top of the tablet heap for the tenth straight quarter. However, due to the growing popularity of relatively new Android-powered tablets such as Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s range of Kindle Fire devices, Apple’s share is now at its lowest since it created the tablet market with the launch of the iPad in 2010.

If the current trend continues, it won’t be too long before Apple slips into second place behind Android, which currently powers 44 percent of shipped tablets.

Indeed, ABI’s Jeff Orr said that as Google’s mobile operating system is the most popular choice for tablet manufacturers, the Android ecosystem is certain to go on growing, with “new manufacturers, better device choices for reaching more markets, and more developers finding value from apps and content.”

While Apple may be hoping to steal back some of the market share from Android by challenging the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire devices with its recently launched 7.9-inch iPad Mini, its higher price is likely to deter many from opting for the smaller tablet.

“With the introduction of a smaller, lower-cost iPad Mini, Apple has acknowledged Android’s beachhead of 7-inch-class tablets, though at the same time, it has failed to deliver a knock-out punch through innovation, pricing, and availability during the most critical selling period of the year,” Orr said.

Separate data from IDC Research earlier this month also showed the iPad’s share of the market falling in the face of increased competition from Android-powered devices.

With Apple only offering two tablets, and Android powering countless rival devices, Tim Cook and his team won’t be too surprised to see the iPad’s market share slipping, though you can be sure they’ll be doing everything in their power to maintain consistent sales numbers.

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Barnes & Noble Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets hit UK stores in time for Christmas

Barnes & Noble has continued its assault on the UK market with the release of the Nook HD and Nook HD+ Android tablets, sold not only through its own website, but through a series of big name high street retailers too.

Barnes & Noble has expanded its range of hardware available in the UK with the announcement of the Nook HD and Nook HD+ Android tablets. Both devices are being delivered to stores this week, and anyone who pre-ordered the tablets should be receiving notification their device has shipped soon too.

This marks the second Barnes & Noble hardware launch in the UK in as many months, as it released its Nook Simple Touch e-readers in October, which further strengthens the bookseller’s place in the UK, a market where it was almost unheard of until September.

It was during September that B&N signed several important distribution deals, which will see its Nook products reach major stores such as John Lewis, Dixons and several supermarkets such as Asda and Sainsburys. In addition to these high street retailers, Barnes & Noble sell Nook tablets through a new, UK specific website. At this time, the company doesn’t operate any shops of its own.

Buyers looking at the Nook HD will get a tablet with a 7-inch screen with a 1440 x 900 pixel resolution, a dual-core 1.3GHz processor, either 8GB or 16GB of internal memory and a battery that should return around 10-hours of use. The Nook HD has been priced at £159 for the 8GB model and £189 for the 16GB.

Moving on to the Nook HD+, the price has been upped to £229 and £269, depending on whether you want 16GB or 32GB of storage space. Additionally, the screen size is increased to 9-inches and the resolution taken to 1920 x 1280 pixels, and the processor clocks in a 1.5GHz.

In the U.S., the Nook HD starts at $200 and the Nook HD+ at $270, making the UK equivalents £50/$80 more expensive than the current exchange rate would suggest. You can read our hands-on report of both B&N Android tablets here.

Barnes & Noble have sorted the content side too, with more than 2.5 million books available at launch, plus the Nook app store and newsstand too. Then, in December, Nook Video will go live, adding films and TV shows for owners to buy or rent. There’s no information on which studios will be offering their content, with the press release only saying “a broad collection” will be offered.

All this shows how serious Barnes & Noble is about the UK market, however, it’s going to need more than just enthusiasm if it wants to make an impact. Aside from being almost unknown outside the U.S., the Nook HD and HD+ have to contend with the already established Amazon Kindle Fire and Fire HD, the Nexus 7, the Apple iPad Mini and Kobo’s Arc tablet too.

Price-wise, the Nook HD slightly undercuts the 16GB Nexus 7, matches the Kindle Fire HD but has half the memory, and is identical to the Kobo Arc. However its real winner could be the Nook HD+, as Amazon hasn’t bothered to release the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 in the UK at all.

It’s shaping up to be a five-way fight for supremacy in the cheap (or in the iPad Mini’s case, cheapish) tablet market this Christmas.

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Sony and Samsung rumored Windows 8 Tablets surface

While Microsoft is busy readying the company's Surface tablets, it looks like others are working on tablets of their own.  We've heard of Lenovo working on tablets and even some speculation that Nokia is working on one as well.  Today we can add Sony and Samsung to the list.

Samsung is prepping what is rumored to be a 10" (or larger?) tablet with Windows 8 that will be revealed at the IFA 2012 (consumer electronics convention) that will be held in Berlin. The Samsung tablet will have a dockable keyboard much like you have with the ASUS Transformer tablets. We had heard rumors earlier of a Samsung tablet but this is the first we've seen of a dockable keyboard.  IFA runs from August 31st to September 5th so we won't have long to wait for more specs on the Samsung tablet.  We'll have Mobile Nations field agents at IFA and try to run down the low down on these and other tablets.

Sony on the other hand is rumored to be working on the Sony VAIO Duo 11 tablet. The Duo 11 appears to be a convertible styled tablet with a fold out keyboard that appears to be backlit. The "11" should stand for the screen size and beyond that, not much more is being shared on the Duo 11.  The design concept is a little different that what we have seen with Sony's Android tablets and has a bit of appeal to it.

Still a little partial to the Microsoft Surface but it appears that if the Surface isn't your cup of tea, you'll have a few Windows 8 tablet alternatives to choose from.

Tune in to Windows Phone Central Thursday morning for our Live Blog of the Samsung announcement.

Source: PocketNow, WParea; Thanks, Chris and Aldo, for the tips!

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HP creates Mobility division to handle tablets and such

Almost exactly a year after HP announced the cancellation of all webOS hardware development, kicking off a fire sale of the remaining devices and an exodus of high- and low-level talent within the webOS Global Business Unit, the Palo Alto technology giant is giving things in the mobile space another go. According to an internal memo obtained by The Verge, the Printing and Personal Systems Group (PPS - the result of the merger of the Personal Systems Group and the Imaging and Printing Group) head Todd Bradley has created a new Mobility Global Business Unit to "reinvest in mobility via dedicated leadership, focused research and development, amazing new products, and a growing suite of applications and services."

The new Mobility GBU will be headed by seven-year Nokia veteran executive Alberto Torres, who is joining HP as a Senior Vice President. The upcoming Slate 8 tablet, however, will stay under the Computing GBU with the notebook team that helped to build it.

What exactly HP intends to do with the Mobility GBU isn't entirely clear, though we have little doubt their focus will be on tablets and not smartphones, and it's all but certain Windows 8 will play a major role going forward. What sort of role webOS will play is a big unknown at this point, though with HP spinning off the webOS GBU as a separate company, we can't be certain of anything at this point. The wording of the memo, specifically the word 'reinvest', doesn't exactly have overtones that we find encouraging for webOS with the Mobility GBU.

As the world's largest PC and printing business, we make it matter for hundreds of millions of people each and every day. Today we are taking an important step to serve even more customers in new and exciting ways.

I am pleased to announce that we are creating a team dedicated to delivering the best mobility solutions in the industry. With this move, we are building on our commitment to re-invest in mobility via dedicated leadership, focused research and development, amazing new products and a growing suite of applications and services.

Our new Mobility Global Business Unit initially will focus on consumer tablets and will expand to additional segments and categories where we believe we can offer differentiated value to our customers. Our existing notebook teams, including our soon-to-be launched commercial tablet, will remain within the PC GBU under James Mouton at this time.

To lead the Mobility GBU, I am thrilled to announce that we have recruited a proven executive from the mobile-device industry. Alberto Torres, who most recently oversaw the MeeGo products and platform at Nokia as Executive Vice President, will join HP as Senior Vice President of Mobility, reporting to me.

I am excited to have Alberto join us. During his seven years at Nokia, he held a variety of critical leadership positions, including two years on the company's Executive Board. In earlier roles at Nokia, Alberto ran the company's premium brand, its accessory and CDMA businesses and corporate strategy. Prior to Nokia, he was a partner at McKinsey and Company, where he worked with industry leaders in mobile devices, consumer technologies, software and Internet services. A Ph.D in computer science from Stanford University, Alberto currently holds vice chairman roles with the firms Bang & Olufsen and Opera Software.
Alberto's first order of business will be to accelerate our tablet strategy and begin to execute products against our consumer/SMB target. The exact structure of his team will follow that strategy.

Alberto's start date will be September 3. Please join me in welcoming Alberto to HP and in supporting him and his team in their important work.

Regards,

Todd

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Lenovo says Windows 8 tablets will cost between $600 to $700 with RT versions $300 cheaper

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, David Schmoock who's head of North American operations for Lenovo, gave some fairly specific pricing points for both Windows 8 tablets and the more consumer-focused RT variant running ARM processors. It's the most specific data on pricing that has been presented so far on the new but elusive Microsoft category.

There has been some wild speculation as to how much these Windows RT tablets would cost with Surface proving to be the focus of some of the more controversial pricing 'guestimates', going from thousands of dollars to just $199. 

Lenovo's Schmoock is quoted by Bloomberg as saying “RT will play in the consumer and retail at very aggressive price points”.  Even more noteworthy is that he goes on to price standard Windows 8 tablets saying they will cost between $600 or $700--a much lower price point than many of us have anticipated.

If accurate, this tells us two things:  standard x86-based machines will be quite affordable and second, that consumer-focused RT tablets could fall between $300-$400. That last number comes from this statement from Bloomberg: "Windows RT software will cost $200 to $300 less than competing products using Windows 8 software".

At $400 that’s priced to compete head to head with the cheapest iPad 3, which fetches for $499. Windows RT is going right up against Apples iPad and if indicators are correct, at the same price point (or even lower). 

With Lenovo going on record with Bloomberg, do you think these pricing rumors have any validity? Let us know in comments.

Source: Bloomberg

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