By 
It seemed almost inevitable for smartphones: after Apple jumped ahead to an early lead in the smartphone race, the singular manufacturer would be quickly outpaced as Android showed up on handsets of all shapes, makes, and price points. Could the same eventually hold true for Android tablets in their fight against the iPad? If you ask Michael Dell, CEO of computer manufacturer Dell, the answer is yes. Dell admits the hour may be far off, but points to Android’s rise to smartphone supremacy as proof positive the shift could happen:
“Not tomorrow. Not the next day. But again, if you look at 18 months ago, Android phones were like, “What is that?” And now there are more Android phones than iPhones. I don’t see any reason why the same won’t occur with Android tablets”
He certainly has a point, but is the comparison fair? While smartphones drop in price and see consistent competition bringing about new features, the tablet market has only recently begun to heat up but mastering the art still alludes Android tablet manufacturers. Apple again finds themselves ahead early, and the release of the iPad 2 isn’t helping Android’s cause. The ability to create a quality product at a reasonable price still eludes big name slates like the Motorola XOOM and Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Dell, of course, has their own reason to be hopeful for Android on tablets. They already count two slates using Google’s OS among their lineup, and are planning at least one more entry for the summer. What do you think? Will Android once again overtake Apple and iOS? Or is the iPad’s hold on the market too much to overcome?
[via IntoMobile]
It is just a matter of when Android will overtake iOS on tablets. There will be too many models, sizes, capabilities and price points for iOS to maintain it’s lead.
That’s what they said about the iPod….
And there are many more non-Apple MP3 players out there than there are iPods… Sure: The iPod is the best, single seller. However, for every iPod out there, there are 5 MP3 players.
Actually, no.
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2009/09/09/ipod_market_share_at_73_8_percent_225_million_ipods_sold_more_games_for_touch_than_psp_nds_apple
http://www.businessinsider.com/through-may-apples-ipod-had-76-of-the-us-mp3-player-market-while-microsofts-zune-had-1-according-to-npd-gro-2010-7
Hm…. Nary a source in there. Do you just believe everything you read?
You really think that the $10 generic MP3 player is pushing fewer units per year than a $50+ iPod?
Huh? It’s NPD Group, one of the biggest market researchers out there. I’ll take their word over yours.
Top Gear is right – Apple has OWNED the MP3 player market for years, but it is a dying market, so oh well.
This market is definitely more comparable with the mp3 market since there is no contract lock-in.
Don’t get me wrong. HC tablets will sell well, I think, especially after it starts getting some tablet optimized apps (screw anyone who thinks scaling up is a good option) and some easy, legal ways to get movies and tv shows onto it.
But until then, it will be in clear second place, with some good distance between it and the iPad.
I like Scoble’s review of the Xoom, which makes it clear that HC needs tablet apps.
http://scobleizer.com/2011/02/23/an-ipad-lovers-review-of-motorola-xoom/
Oh and none of this is taking into account Amazon’s possible tablet. That could be a scary juggernaut, but I would also consider it an Amazon tablet instead of an Android tablet if it turns out the way most think it will.
If you like Apple so much then why the hell do you come to Phandroid? Your just another [bleep] bag that no one cares about. I hope you enjoy Steve Jobs [bleep] being forced down your throat.
So basically, saying something obvious and true “That’s what they said about the iPod” makes someone a fanboy?
Look in the mirror and call yourself that, because then it’ll be a lot more true.
Idiot.
He’s called iKing for a reason, look at the rest of his posts and you’ll see.
idiot.
They don’t scare me Top Gear….it’s cool. Go over to MacDailyNews or Apple Insider and you will see TONS of fandroids offering their opinions. What’s the matter B2L? Can’t handle a difference of opinion?? What kind of world would it be if everyone thought the same way??? Pretty pathetic…
@iKing
But to come to a site JUST to post a difference of opinion….and nothing else….
Yea you can do it, but cmon. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…its a duck.
So someone offers a different opinion and they are at fault how?
As iKing said, go to any Apple website and you will find fans of other devices offering their opinion.
Apple Insider! Oh GOD hell no! That place is Koolaid central. I never seen a site with the most clueless, brainless and arrogant fanbois. They HATE anything that does praise Apple.
@ iKing: Hmmm…..What kind of world would it be if everyone thought the same way?
A ‘Jobsian’ world. That’s what kind it would be.
Cue ‘1984’ commercial….
Like many said Android on phones wouldnt last a year, would be dead by this time?
I was looking to buy an iPod, because the audio jack on mine broke. I didn’t want an iPod touch, as I have no need for iOS or expensive hardware. Went for the Classic iPod only to find the smallest unit they offer is 160 GB 2 & $250 WTF! What happened to the price points?
So I decided to download Double Twist and use my Nexus One. Once Google Music is released I will have no need for an Apple product—by, by iTunes. Oh happy day.
There are no Android MP3 players, yet. You made a classic Steve Jobs type comment there, when you can’t win add in sales from a market where your competitor doesn’t even compete with you. I’m sure that Android tablets will surpass the iPad but I don’t see how Android MP3 players could ever be better then the iPod, honestly.
In the end we win.
Archos makes some Android MP3 players. They actually play video formats as well. One of the small models starts at $100.
“That’s what they said about the iPod….”
Really? I don’t think I’ve ever seen any serious person claim Android PMPs were going to dethrone the iPod…
Let me fix that for you:
“That’s what they said about the iPhone….”
That IS what they said, and look what happened in that marketspace.
Yep…..all 170+ Android phones on all 4 carriers (with Verizon practically giving phones away with 2 for 1 Droid deals) pitted against 2 phones (iPhone 4 and 3gs)
What a great “victory”…..
Works for me.
But further, you are ceding the argument here… the point you were replying to was that the same will happen on tablets as happened with smartphones. There will be 170 different tablets at every size, shape, quality, design and price point, just like there are Android phones.
Not ceding it at all….iPhone carrier exclusives are what led to Android’s rise in smartphone market…..no such advantage exists in the tablet market…whenever Android is placed side by side with IOS, iOS wins every time….that’s a fact….this market will much more resemble the iPod market, not the smartphone market
“whenever Android is placed side by side with IOS, iOS wins every time”
Android is outselling iPhone on Verizon:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/apple_let_rumble_FxtJK3utOYVqmQBLB3gbBM
I look forward to your further equivocations :)
iKing your argument is invalid. The iPhone has no exclusivity in Europe and Android still outsells it. There is no “fact” that iOS wins every time side by side with an Android because it is all subjective.
I don’t get why Apple fans sit on an “ANDROID PHONE FANS” website and get all butthurt. Stick to your own community, troll.
The Verizon iPhone is the TOP selling handset on Verizon Wireless, accounting for 30.1% of all handset sales on the carrier:
http://www.devicemag.com/2011/04/09/apple-iphone-4-driving-verizon-market-gains/
How’s that for an equivocation?? :-)
Pretty classic equivocation actually… if you are losing an argument, change the terms of the debate. Remember we were talking about platform sales, not individual handsets. Android has been completely crushing Verizon sales for over a year now, as far as 80% as of this fall:
http://www.bgr.com/2010/12/10/android-dominates-verizon-smartphone-sales-blackberry-tanks/
Which implies that Android still has well over 50% of their sales, assuming that iphone exclusively stole Android sales and that Android didn’t grow against others in that period, both assumptions I would bet against.
Considering how massively hyped the iPhone launch was, color me unimpressed. Add in the fact that it looks like the Thunderbolt is already eclipsing iPhone sales there, the picture is pretty clear.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/apple_let_rumble_FxtJK3utOYVqmQBLB3gbBM
Have a nice evening.
That’s bcuz ur a fandroid idiot. It is a perfectly good comparison seeing that the iPhone IS THE ONLY PHONE ON THE PLATFORM THAT RUNS IOS….doofus
Apple is KING of ubiquitous mediocrity.. The Wii of gadgetry… Leader of boring electronics for the unwashed, brainless masses…
Steve Jobs: “My world IS flat and it’s held up with black turtlenecks all the way down!”
Who is talking about the iPod here! This site is about mobile phones not portable music devices. It would have been more precise if you would have mention the iPhone but wait, Android has beat that already!
Also the galaxy tab was going to take down the ipad, then the xoom. I don’t see any single android tablet taking over the Ipad’s top spot any time in the foreseeable future. It will take an abundance of tablets combined and at the point it won’t be all that impressive.
Most likely no single tablet will over take the iPad, just like no single phone has outsold the iPhone.
however, there are more Android OS phones out there, than there are iOS phones…
If you look at single phones specific to carriers the Thunderbolt has done just that. It was even released at a later date. 4G maybe the selling point buyt it still gives me hope.
I think they mean iphones to date which is nearly impossible at this time.
The Thunderbolt has done nothing of the sort….iPhone is selling 550,000 units every 2wks on Verizon….Thunderbolt 260,000 every 2wks…..less than half…..more fandroid fuzzy math
To compare the tablet market to the smartphone market is a complete demonstration of ignorance. Smartphones require carriers. Apple’s big mistake with the iPhone was sticking with carrier exclusives too long. I can’t tell you how many friends I have that really wanted an iPhone but were scared off by at&t’s horrible reputation (deserved or not) and would up settling for Android. No such disadvantage exists with the iPad. Anywhere u can get an Android tablet, the iPad will be sitting right next to it. Even the 3G version of the iPad is contract free. Those factors, coupled with the iPad’s low entry price point ($499), will result in the tablet market being a duplicate of the PMP market (70% iPod)…..
Must be why so many Verizon users are jumping on the iPhone 4. Oh wait… that’s not the case. The Thunderbolt is selling more units than the iPhone 4. Looks like a single model can best the iPhone on a single carrier. The only Apple products that I’ll ever have any interest in are the iPod and iTunes, and they’re losing me there too. I agree that without carriers it’s a different game, but Android is everywhere, and Android can benefit by not being carrier specific too. IMO, The Zune was never as popular as Samsung, HTC and Motorola Android handsets.
Not an iPhan (I mod on the forums here) but if this is true – then 2.2 million iPhones were activated on Verizon while 260k Bolts were in the same period.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/21/verizon-reports-strong-q1-earnings-27-billion-revenue-2-2-m/
http://www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/7699-htc-thunderbolt-steals-iphone-4s-thunder
iPhone was released on Verizon earlier
“Must be why so many Verizon users are jumping on the iPhone 4. Oh wait… that’s not the case.”
Uh, what planet have you been on???? Verizon just released the sales figures for the iPhone 4, reporting that they’ve sold 2.2 million units in less than 8 weeks! That’s an average of 550,000 every 2 weeks, more than double the TB’s 260,000 2 week average….
“Android can benefit by not being carrier specific too.”
Android has NEVER been carrier specific. Certain models have been, but the OS as a whole has never been. That, coupled with the iPhone’s stubborn refusal to be carrier agnostic for so long, is what led to Androids rise in the first place. But as we’ve seen with the iPhone (At&t and Verizon) as well as the iPad, whenever consumers are given a DIRECT choice between the two platforms, more people choose iOS…..that’s a fact. I’m not making excuses for Apple. Had they not been so stubborn they could have dominated the smartphone market had they abandoned carriers exclusives a lot earlier than they did. Now they have to deal with an opponent that would have been a lot less formidable had they made better business decisions
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Research-firm-ITG-says-that-HTC-ThunderBolt-outsells-the-Apple-iPhone-4-to-be-number-one-at-Verizon_id18308
I guess ITG and BTIG are both lying for the hell of it–despite being reputable research firms. Go play with your app juke box and its dumbed down software. Why does the iOS even have a home screen? It’s essentially just a giant app drawer. Incredibly lame IMO. Come talk to me when you have more than just apps and shinny icons. Come talk to me when your phone has better navigation, multitasking and file structure. Come talk to me when iOS has apps like ADW Launcher that give you complete control of your OS. Come talk to me when you can load a custom ROM on your iPhone. That day will never come because you are told what to like. You have one choice, and it sure sucks once you get past the app library.
Yes Android has never been carrier specific. Just my point. It will help Androids tablet sales when Honeycomb gets its roots and has a significant app library.
Hmmm let’s see here…..do I take the words of research firms who are basing their reports not on raw data or actual numbers, but on the strength of calls placed to select Verizon retail outlets (150 out of 2000 stores; no Apple Stores or Best Buys, which also sells Verizon iPhones, were included in the “survey”), or do I take the numbers of the retailer itself??? Retailer’s numbers FTW!!!
My jailbroken iPhone is every bit as customizable as any Android fake iPhone out there, complete with widgets, wallpapers and ROMS. And it’s MUCH better looking. And the funny thing is I don’t even use those things! Couldn’t care less….I can do all than u can and STILL have access to the BEST 3rd party software available…..game over
You are correct about the carrier aspect. I completely agree with you that it is not going to be a straight repeat of the smartphone market and people are silly if they believe that. However you fail to factor in that there was no common OS in the PMP market for Apple competitors. Everybody was rolling their own. Now everyone is standing on Google’s giant shoulders. There is a lot more brand recognition with Android than there was with any single PMP and you now have a consistent user experience. Also, ASUS and Acer just beat Apple in starting price at $399 and $450 respectively and we aren’t even midway through 2011 yet. So that $499 isn’t going to do much to help them with people looking for a cheaper tablet. It will end up somewhere in between.
We agree that Android has acheived brand recognition…..so i ask….based upon that brand recognition, why haven’t more people jumped on the Galaxy Tab and the Xoom?? When the G1 was first released, sales were slow bcuz very few people had even heard of Android. But by the time the GTab and the Xoom was released, Android was a household name. So why haven’t they fared better? I read online today that the Playbook is outselling the Xoom (don’t know how true that is)……
Hopefully this explanation will make some sense: GTab. 3G only and insanely overpriced without contract. Remember the price of $650? Xoom. 3G/4G only and insanely overpriced without contract. $800 ring a bell? Nobody wants another 2 year agreement and nobody wants insanely priced hardware. Apple did it right. Motorola and Samsung botched it horribly. Maybe they assumed it was going to be just like smartphones. I don’t know. But to take those horrible examples and extrapolate for the entire market is a huge mistake. On a side note, I really like the Playbook. There is a lot of potential there. I also think Apple did a fantastic job with iPad 2. That is some very nice hardware with exceptional design. It really makes the iPad 1 look pathetic in comparison with it’s 256MB of RAM and single core 1GHz CPU. The width and weight reductions from the original just threw the rest of the industry a curve ball. However, I still don’t see this being a PMP type situation. This is not a bunch of PMP’s with their own OS and their own unique incompatible apps. Like I said, somewhere in between. http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/electronics/1232597011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_e_1_3_last Also, you might want to look at this link and compare it to this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/electronics/1264866011/ref=zg_bs_nav
So the main reason is price? Now that we have some Honeycomb tablets that have matched or beaten the iPad entry price we shall soon see….
Transformer sold out. Pretty good indication that price and no contracts matter.
The end days of the iSheep is nigh.
I think Android lost momentum with their tablets. Manufacturers ended up making a subpar series of phones and focused on tablets. So we’ve ended up with phones that are only very slight upgrades over last years phones and a bunch of tablets that very few people want. There is nothing interesting that you can do on the newer phones that I can’t do on my Nexus One and hence no reason to upgrade.
But Apple doing that with the iPhone still sees record sales with every new model….
If Apple can do it and succeed, why cant Android?
I can think of some Android phones that are subpar, and some that arent.
As for the Nexus 1, getting a newer phone means better battery life, better gaming, better multi tasking, better Flash performance, better browser performance…a better overall experience.
Because with the flood of Android phones on the market, there is no one Android phone that can hold the imagination of the public long enough…..HTC, Motorola, Samsung and LG compete with one another as much as they compete with Apple, so phones like the TBolt will be forgotten by summer (how was that jroc??) lol
That’s fine, but we’re not talking about individual makers here vs. Apple.
We’re talking Android mindshare vs. Apple mindshare.
And Android is winning.
So, all of the sudden variety and choice became a bad scary thing? In the world of Jobs’ mindless bitches that is.
I can’t believe this was actually posted as news…Didn’t we all know this already? Of course android is going to take over….there is no competing once for every type of customer their is a tailored device. (A cheap one, a high-tech one a mediocre one, a photograph oriented one a stylus optimzed one etc etc etc)
With samsung starting to use android in music players I think if the other companies folluw suit, then android will conquer the mp3player market too. (If that market exists long enough, because frankly I am fine with my smartphone as mp3 player and for other purposes almost every other current mp3 player does the job)
At first I wouldn’t have agreed with this statement because of lame Motorola and their horrible XOOM launch. But not after seeing what Acer, Asus and Samsung have to offer, I think it is quite possible. Can’t wait for HTC to release a 10″ tablet.
I agree, I think time and time again Motorola has proven they are just the worst manufacturer of mobile devices and even with software handled, they can’t compete.
I think the same will happen… its almost destined
@iking. Finally, the true explanation of you being here. You feel insignificant amongst all the douche bags with no opinion of their own on Apple’s sites that you just must come here and say your insignificant mumbling to get noticed. Learn to be self-respectful and a stand-out individual, live outside of the crowd, who buy image products and blindly follow their classmates. Then your opinion will matter.
(Yawn) u say something???
captain obvious :) it also has to be considered that the tablet market will grow many times in the next years, two years from now a first time tablet owner will choose among 4 or 10 android tablets, the ipad4, touchpad3?, maybe some windows8 ones… at thet time the millions of ipad1 and ipad2 will be just a single digit percentage
Some of you are talking about iPhone not outselling android phones because of it being carrier specific. While this is a problem in the american market, it is not in many other countries. In many european countries, like here in Norway, you can move your phone number between carriers anytime you want and there will still be more android phones sold than iPhones.
Sure the iPhone might still be the number one selling phone, but if you compare iPhones to high-end android phones as one that might not be the case. If you bought an android phone last year you could choose between many great models like the HTC Desire, EVO or Samsung galaxy S which are similar devices, but still have some different attributes, all being at least equal to the iPhone.
This is why i think android tabs will eventually outsell iPads as well. The iPad will still be the single most sold unit for many years to come, but as the market will overflow with great android tabs by the end of the year i dont think the iPad will still be in the lead by the end of 2013 compared to all android tabs.