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The Apple iPad is one of the decades success stories. They have already sold millions and have generated Apple several billion dollars in the space of a year. Sony have entered the tablet market with their latest range, but so far critics don't seem impressed.
It is common knowledge that if you want to beat Apple at their own game, then you need to release a product which is just as good, or better, but at less money. While Sony are entering the tablet market a year later, their prices aren't really any better than the iPad 2. The two models they sell in America are $499 and $599 respectively. This is the same as the two lower specified Apple models.
Sony are claiming they will be the ‘Number 2' in the tablet market by 2012, however analysts aren't buying it. Gartner analyst Carolina Milansei told Reuters “Consumers want tablets, but they are not prepared to pay the same amount they'd pay for an iPad for something that's not an iPad. Despite the brand and different design, with its pricing so close to the iPad, it will be challenging for Sony.”
Sony are a huge player in the electronics industry, but the tablet market is completely dominated by Apple, and the general public have bought into the whole concept of the Apple iPad, thanks to clever marketing, and a genuinely good product.
Sony will need to ramp up marketing and drop the price a little, and even then we aren't sure if they will take a good percentage of the market.
Kitguru says: everyone is facing the same situation against Apple. offer more at a lower price, and even then sales are not guaranteed.
“It is common knowledge that if you want to beat Apple at their own game, then you need to release a product which is just as good, or better, but at less money.”
No. As the Touchpad has shown, you don’t need to have a better product or an item that is just as good. You just need a decent product at an amazing price. It does not need to match or be better. A bit surprised that Kitguru would say something so obviously wrong in light of the insatiable public demand for the HP Touchpad the past couple days.
@ Peter. Thats a very niave business statement. Hewlett Packard have had a disaster on their hands with the Touchpad, after ditching WEBOS. Did you know they are losing $300 for every tablet they sell? No other company is going to follow this business model and lose a fortune. They also need to support the tablet in future. HP are applying a few updates and thats it. Which is why people are already looking into replacing the OS with Android.
Unless you expect sony to sell their range at a huge loss, I see no relevance in your statement. The only company who may be able to sell the tablet with a marginal profit will be Amazon who have such a huge store infrastructure in place that they factor in recouping costs through sales of software.