Since Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been feeling the pressure from lower priced Android competitors in the smartphone business, many believe that this new product is a sign of trouble for Apple and its iPad. Henry Blodget from Business Insider, for example, has recently published an article entitled: “HP’s New $169 Tablet Is a Missile Fired Right At Apple”
Apple will most likely lose market share over lower cost Android tablets in the middle term, but that’s perfectly fine, even natural. Besides, it’s not precisely Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) who needs to worry about the ultra low priced Slate7.
The rise of the Android tablet
A couple of years ago, the iPad was both the best and the cheapest tablet in the market. This was mostly because Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) had not yet launched a tablet-optimized Android version, and hardware manufacturers were well behind Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in terms of quality. Then came Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) with its amazingly cheap Kindle products, and Google’s Nexus 7 received some really positive reviews while offering a competitively priced alternative at $200 per unit versus $329 for an iPad Mini.
Manufacturers like Samsung and Asus will continue introducing new Android tablets with different price levels over the next years, and this will almost certainly mean growing market share for Android in the middle term. The new Slate 7 from Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) needs to be analyzed in this context; it competes against lower priced Android tablets, not so much against the iPad.
Seeing it from the perspective of a potential customer, you would probably first need to decide if you are going for an iPad – different ecosystem, brand image, quality etc. – or if a lower priced Android tablet is a better choice for you. If you choose Android, that’s when you need to compare the new Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) tablet versus alternatives from Amazon, Samsung and other manufacturers.
We still need to see how the Slate 7 works, but HP won’t have an easy time competing in the tablet market. The price difference of $169 versus $200 for a Kindle Fire or a Nexus 7 is relevant, but still not an absolute game changer. Even if HP can deliver a competitive product in terms of functionality, other manufacturers have a better reputation in consumer electronics, and HP is coming late to the tablet party.
The point remains that HP still needs to prove it can compete in the low end of the market. The fight between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Android tablets is a whole different thing, and HP doesn’t even qualify for that competition right now.
On innovation and market share
According to IDC, Apple had a 51% market share in tablets during 2012, while Android alternatives were led by Amazon with 20.1% of the tablets market, Samsung and Asus came in third and fourth place with 8.2% and 7.3% of the market, respectively. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is still solidly dominant, but Android tablets have been gaining participation over the last months, and most analysts believe that the trend towards market share gains for Android products will continue in the middle term.
