HP's much-liked TouchPad has been killed off, although that process has demonstrated mass popularity, albeit it a $100 price point.
Acer, Asus, LG, HTC and Dell have all failed in their attempts, while RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook remains a work-in-progress. Motorola's Xoom was nice, but too expensively. Presumably, its new relationship with Google will change the company's future device trajectory.
Perhaps Samsung has managed to compete best, although its Galaxy Tab was too early to market and the Tab 10.1 launch has been bedevilled by Apple legal complaints.
Out in front
This messy situation is well demonstrated in a survey from the analyst arm of asset management company Robert Baird, which asked 531 people which tablets they were interested in. Even allowing multiple answers, only the TouchPad broke into double digits (this was before HP's announcement).
Still, Robert Baird analyst Colin Sebastian thinks there is one strong competitor on the way.
He expects Amazon's yet-to-be-announced Android tablet to be a game-charger, in part because of its sub-$300 price point, expected as Amazon subsidises the initial cost for the long term revenue gained when users buy items through its various stories.
Sebastian forecasts sales of up to 3 million units in the first year.
[source: Reuters/Silicon Valley Insider]
