Apple claims 50 percent of portable gaming market

Page 6 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Nik

Lifer
Jun 5, 2006
16,101
2
56
Netbooks are a joke. The netbook market is already dead.

Several companies have tried the whole "email console" for mom's at home in the kitchen and crap like that and they fail every time.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
whatever the truth, he's got a point, who the hell carries a ds or psp around these days anyways.:p you gotta be 12 years old to bother.
 
Mar 11, 2004
23,261
5,709
146
Netbooks are a joke. The netbook market is already dead.

Several companies have tried the whole "email console" for mom's at home in the kitchen and crap like that and they fail every time.

Netbooks aren't dead, and if there's anything that will kill netbooks it will be tablets like the iPad. People want a much more portable computer that is more usable than a smartphone. The market might never compete with smartphones or laptops, but there's definitely a market for it.

The problem with netbooks isn't the form factor, its the poor decisions that the companies making them have made (terrible displays, pairing full Windows with weak hardware among other things). Give it time, and better tech (displays and batteries especially would help such a form factor) and they'll be a lot better.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
Netbooks aren't dead, and if there's anything that will kill netbooks it will be tablets like the iPad. People want a much more portable computer that is more usable than a smartphone. The market might never compete with smartphones or laptops, but there's definitely a market for it.

The iPad might lower demand for netbooks but netbooks still do so much more than the iPad and do it cheaper that there will still be demand for netbooks.
 

Nik

Lifer
Jun 5, 2006
16,101
2
56
How does a dead market move 40 million units yearly?

The same reason people keep buying Wii's and then not play them. "Oh look! A cheap novelty item that I'll play with a few times and forget about or hock!"
 

hiromizu

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
3,405
1
0
The same reason people keep buying Wii's and then not play them. "Oh look! A cheap novelty item that I'll play with a few times and forget about or hock!"

I think the only reason why people buy netbooks is because they are cheap. Functionally they are not much different than a small mediabay-less Windows laptop. Those who want something different and more appliance-like will go with the iPad and that'll probably prove to be a longer lasting market because it serves a real need and cultural direction.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
The same reason people keep buying Wii's and then not play them. "Oh look! A cheap novelty item that I'll play with a few times and forget about or hock!"

yea i wonder how many were sold based on brain age....
 
Mar 11, 2004
23,261
5,709
146
The iPad might lower demand for netbooks but netbooks still do so much more than the iPad and do it cheaper that there will still be demand for netbooks.

I'd agree with this, but I think there's plenty of people that will switch from a netbook to a tablet (or have been holding off on getting such a device until a decent tablet costing $300 or so becomes available) because they basically just use it for the internet and other light tasks. I think netbooks will change in that them and ultraportables will merge into the same product (the line is already pretty fuzzy, but I think it'll mostly collapse altogether), with a few outliers (as in a very portable computer with full-size laptop guts, like the Alienware M11).

Tablets will also make ebook readers mostly obsolete.
 

Dominato3r

Diamond Member
Aug 15, 2008
5,109
1
0
I'm not a finance kind of guy at all, but can someone tell me why the hell their share price is so high?
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
142
116
The same reason people keep buying Wii's and then not play them. "Oh look! A cheap novelty item that I'll play with a few times and forget about or hock!"
If your best analogy is the Wii, there is some serious goddamn money to be made in dead markets.
 

RPD

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2009
5,042
547
126
No, it doesn't. Don't blame your ineptitude and poor coordination on the iPod. Apple has clearly taken the dominant position in the portable gaming market. The games made for iOS are cheaper, easier to buy, and more fun to play on the go. Instead of having to carry around a silly DS or PSP, you just take your iPhone or iPod touch and you have access to the internet, text messaging, cell phone, video chat, music, and excellent games -- all in one cool looking device. Everyone knows this.
No, it does, you are wrong. Everybody doesn't need to know it because it's already true.

Just because you like simpleton games that you can have fun with minor coordination doesn't make it a "great gaming device".

But you have fun playing... what exactly on the iphone?
 

Nik

Lifer
Jun 5, 2006
16,101
2
56
If your best analogy is the Wii, there is some serious goddamn money to be made in dead markets.

It was just one example. Another example is the guy who invented the Pet Rock. Dude made millions but that doesn't mean it's going to live on forever or that it has any sort of actual benefit.
 

Acanthus

Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
19,915
2
76
ostif.org
I'm not a finance kind of guy at all, but can someone tell me why the hell their share price is so high?

all speculatory.

I really don't see where apple has to go growth-wise unless they finally break down and move OSX to all PCs or some other radical move. They are a very niche product company.

With a P/E of almost 20, i wouldnt want it.
 

erikistired

Diamond Member
Sep 27, 2000
9,739
0
0
It was just one example. Another example is the guy who invented the Pet Rock. Dude made millions but that doesn't mean it's going to live on forever or that it has any sort of actual benefit.

you were better off trying the wii analogy.
 

bfdd

Lifer
Feb 3, 2007
13,312
1
0
lol. Are you suggesting that the iPad isn't good? You are a fool if you are. The iPad has successfully introduced tablet computing to the masses. Like all Apple products, the iPad's simplicity and beautiful design make it accessible to people who don't want to burden themselves with silly and overly complicated linux based garbage. These are people who actually spend money and buy products, not pirate them or babble endlessly about open source crapware. That is why the iPad is a success, and that is why you are a fool. Everyone knows this.

the iPad is a fucking ridiculous product that no one actually needs, period. one reviewer said "it filled a void I didn't even know existed" you know why he said that? because he's an apple drone. if you have a smart phone and a notebook you have absolutely no void to fill with the iPad, it's a pointless device at that point. Why have an iPad when you can have your smart phone filled up with all the same fucking shit with the same amount of fucking storage AND it fits in your pocket. Then when you need an actual computer OMFG there's the notebook! Give me a break the thing is fucking retarded and so niche there's no way the thing would actually sell without the Reality Distortion Field.
 

VinylxScratches

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2009
1,666
0
0
the iPad is a fucking ridiculous product that no one actually needs, period. one reviewer said "it filled a void I didn't even know existed" you know why he said that? because he's an apple drone. if you have a smart phone and a notebook you have absolutely no void to fill with the iPad, it's a pointless device at that point. Why have an iPad when you can have your smart phone filled up with all the same fucking shit with the same amount of fucking storage AND it fits in your pocket. Then when you need an actual computer OMFG there's the notebook! Give me a break the thing is fucking retarded and so niche there's no way the thing would actually sell without the Reality Distortion Field.

This is so much fail.
 

theflyingpig

Banned
Mar 9, 2008
5,616
18
0
the iPad is a fucking ridiculous product that no one actually needs, period. one reviewer said "it filled a void I didn't even know existed" you know why he said that? because he's an apple drone. if you have a smart phone and a notebook you have absolutely no void to fill with the iPad, it's a pointless device at that point. Why have an iPad when you can have your smart phone filled up with all the same fucking shit with the same amount of fucking storage AND it fits in your pocket. Then when you need an actual computer OMFG there's the notebook! Give me a break the thing is fucking retarded and so niche there's no way the thing would actually sell without the Reality Distortion Field.

Silly little boy. Your words mean nothing. You know what really speaks? Money. And that is what Apple is making; money. Lots of it. $500 for an iPad. People are buying it because they want it. Get that through your silly little skull. You are wrong, Steve is wright. Everyone knows this.
 
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
81
??? Why are you comparing a PSP which has no touchscreen at all and a DS that doesn't rely on it's touchscreen for everything and then bringing in Android multi-touch into it which has NOTHING to do with the discussion at hand. You're acting like you have to have a touch-screen to have good gaming. It's actually the other way around. Buttons are better for gaming than a touch-screen is.

I'm not talking about the gaming aspect of multi-touch. I'm saying Multi-touch allows you to do so much more on the device BESIDES gaming. I will not argue that button gaming is the way to go, but when was the iPhone aimed at hardcore gaming anyway?

Seriously portable gaming was always a joke and to me console gaming is a joke too. If you want real gaming sit yourself down at a keyboard and mouse. The only place where video games might rule is arcade games like street fighter or perhaps sports games, but my friend and I honestly dominated NBA Live on the PC so well, we thought the console versions were kinda lame. But Madden I'll agree requires a console.

What I'm saying is multitouch allows you to surf the web well, and type well. The iPhone/iPod Touch masters this, and Android to an extent can do that well too. How do you expect Sony and Nintendo to compete on this front?

Sure it's a gaming device, but you can also do so much more on the iPod. And what kind of media player do you expect on a Nintendo or Sony device? Once again I invoke Android. As an open OS, why is it that we don't have a good enough media player on it still? And you expect Nintendo/Sony to deliver better?
 

FallenHero

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2006
5,659
0
0
lol. You have been amazing in this thread. You just lumbered in, dropped your pants, squatted down and shat out a huge pile of stupidity and ignorance for all to see. Your failure to recognize the fact that the iPhone is revolutionizing social gaming only shows how shortsighted and foolish you are. You sound like one of those fools saying the internet is just a fad. Games on the iPhone aren't supposed to be played for hours at a time, they are meant to be played at will; that is when ever the user feels like it. Standing in a long line? Take out your iPhone and play a game. Waiting on a take out order? Take out your iPhone and play a game. Simple. You only see little kids taking out PSPs and DS's in these situations. And really, who can be bothered to carry these silly portable consoles around all the time? No one worth talking to, thats for sure. It's time for you to face the facts. The iPhone is the best portable gaming platform there is. Everyone knows this.

Trollface_HD.jpg
 

FallenHero

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2006
5,659
0
0
the iPad is a fucking ridiculous product that no one actually needs, period. one reviewer said "it filled a void I didn't even know existed" you know why he said that? because he's an apple drone. if you have a smart phone and a notebook you have absolutely no void to fill with the iPad, it's a pointless device at that point. Why have an iPad when you can have your smart phone filled up with all the same fucking shit with the same amount of fucking storage AND it fits in your pocket. Then when you need an actual computer OMFG there's the notebook! Give me a break the thing is fucking retarded and so niche there's no way the thing would actually sell without the Reality Distortion Field.

successful-troll-is-successful.jpg
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,446
126
Look at it this way... nobody is saying that the iPhone 3G is the best camera on the planet, yet there are more pictures on Flickr taken with the 3G iPhone than ANY other camera (cell phone or not) on the market? Why? Because it's always in your pocket, ready to take a mediocre looking snapshot when you need it.

Same logic applies to Apple's game selection. Most of the games suck, but they're still going to have a massive market share because there are so many people who have instant access to Apple's app store all of the time.

Besides, we all know phones are supposed to be used for calling your girl and texting your grandma. :)