Acer slashes tablet sales forcast by 60%

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OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
ARM SoCs are being moved to newer processes. I think the A5 is on 45nm bulk, but the next SoC is probably going to be on a 28nm process. That's going to allow them to cram in the power necessary to drive a graphics display like that and not have the costs spiral out of control.

Apple also invested several billion into display manufacturers this last year. They've already spent the money to make sure that their suppliers can give them a large number of these panels at a reasonable cost.

It might eat into Apple's profit margin a little, but they'll probably eat the costs if they can deliver a tablet that no other competitor can touch for at least eight months.

they already have a tablet that is vastly outselling the competition, they dont really need an upgrade anytime soon. tablets are a maturing form factor, it only makes sense to try to increase profits by releasing a tablet as a "pro" version and charging a lot more for it, just like the do with laptops. they dont need to be giving out 2200x1900 retinas to the average customer for $500
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
8,474
7,708
136
Apple might have also misjudged the market. Most people were expecting that Android tablets would explode and start to dominate the tablet space much like they did with smart phones. However, this really hasn't come to pass, and I don't think any Android tablet released this year has sold more than 500k units.

There's also the consideration that when your product has a yearly release cycle, you need to provide a compelling reason to upgrade. The iPad 2 offered some significant speed upgrades over the original, but for several reasons further increase in computational power won't provide substantial gains over the current iteration. There needs to be a new hook to drive upgrades and a tablet capable of displaying 1080p video at native resolution is a compelling upgrade for many people.

When they do decide to sell a "retina" tablet, the cost to them won't be substantially more than the previous generation device was at the time of launch. Even though they've invested a generous sum of money in multiple display manufacturers, you can bet that part of that arrangement stipulates that Apple has first dibs on all of those displays. If they do increase the cost of their 10" tablet, it will only be because they've introduced a smaller tablet that can command the same price as their previous devices.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
Apple might have also misjudged the market. Most people were expecting that Android tablets would explode and start to dominate the tablet space much like they did with smart phones. However, this really hasn't come to pass, and I don't think any Android tablet released this year has sold more than 500k units.

There's also the consideration that when your product has a yearly release cycle, you need to provide a compelling reason to upgrade. The iPad 2 offered some significant speed upgrades over the original, but for several reasons further increase in computational power won't provide substantial gains over the current iteration. There needs to be a new hook to drive upgrades and a tablet capable of displaying 1080p video at native resolution is a compelling upgrade for many people.

When they do decide to sell a "retina" tablet, the cost to them won't be substantially more than the previous generation device was at the time of launch. Even though they've invested a generous sum of money in multiple display manufacturers, you can bet that part of that arrangement stipulates that Apple has first dibs on all of those displays. If they do increase the cost of their 10" tablet, it will only be because they've introduced a smaller tablet that can command the same price as their previous devices.

Actually you're mistaken, Android did not jump in and start dominating the smartphone market. Android phones didn't start selling well until the first Motorola Droid (Milestone). Android phones before that weren't huge hits before that. Android tablets are actually doing much better than Android phone were in the same amount of time. Competition is reacting much faster with tablets than they were in the smartphone realm. People act like it's been forever, it's only been a year and we've just started to get decent competition. Apple's tablet marketshare has already dropped 20% and it's only going to drop more.
 

mammador

Platinum Member
Dec 9, 2010
2,120
1
76
I don't how IBM clone makers are getting into the tablet market. Yes, it's a growth product, but Apple, Samsung, Motorola, etc. all have a head start. They also can transfer the expertise of smartphones into tablets, which Acer certainly cannot. This is truth doesn't surprise me.
 

makken

Golden Member
Aug 28, 2004
1,476
0
76
I don't how IBM clone makers are getting into the tablet market. Yes, it's a growth product, but Apple, Samsung, Motorola, etc. all have a head start. They also can transfer the expertise of smartphones into tablets, which Acer certainly cannot. This is truth doesn't surprise me.

funny then that the most successful tablets have been from companies that also make PCs -- Apple has the mac line, Samsung also makes PCs; though they're generally not sold in the US, and Asus has quite a laptop lineup.

The smartphone only makers have been disappointing with their tablets -- The motorola Xoom, the RIM playbook, the HTC flyer have all been getting relatively negative reviews compared to the iPad, galaxy tab, and transformer.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
funny then that the most successful tablets have been from companies that also make PCs -- Apple has the mac line, Samsung also makes PCs; though they're generally not sold in the US, and Asus has quite a laptop lineup.

The smartphone only makers have been disappointing with their tablets -- The motorola Xoom, the RIM playbook, the HTC flyer have all been getting relatively negative reviews compared to the iPad, galaxy tab, and transformer.

Its because PC companies are not looking for cell-phone margins on their products. Compared to some netbooks under the same brand I bet the highest-value Transformer is way more profitable per unit. Plus the PC companies are used to a larger form factor.

The exception is Dell, who makes a crappy tablet AND charges too much for it.
 

Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
25,195
0
56
funny then that the most successful tablets have been from companies that also make PCs -- Apple has the mac line, Samsung also makes PCs; though they're generally not sold in the US, and Asus has quite a laptop lineup.

The smartphone only makers have been disappointing with their tablets -- The motorola Xoom, the RIM playbook, the HTC flyer have all been getting relatively negative reviews compared to the iPad, galaxy tab, and transformer.

Interesting observation, I hadn't noticed that, but you're right...
 

mammador

Platinum Member
Dec 9, 2010
2,120
1
76
funny then that the most successful tablets have been from companies that also make PCs -- Apple has the mac line, Samsung also makes PCs; though they're generally not sold in the US, and Asus has quite a laptop lineup.

The smartphone only makers have been disappointing with their tablets -- The motorola Xoom, the RIM playbook, the HTC flyer have all been getting relatively negative reviews compared to the iPad, galaxy tab, and transformer.

What share of PC sales do both Apple and Samsung have? It's hardly their core products. Samsung for one even makes TV sets, radios, hard drives, etc., so to them PC sales are small fry. Both companies core product lines are mobile devices, HP or Acer cannot say the same.