XOOM sales and Japan earthquake scared ASUS and HTC

[runawayprisoner]

The juicy bit (actually the whole article):

More players have apparently decided to postpone the launch of tablet PCs due to concerns of the prospects of the industry and the possible shortage of key components caused by the Japan earthquakes, according to industry sources.

The tablet PC market had been expected to become a battle field as early as in the second quarter as a number of potential players were expected to push models into the market after Google released its Android 3.0 OS and Motorola spearheaded with the launch of Xoom tablet PCs.

But sales of Xoom tablet PCs have been lower than expected, said sources at Taiwan's notebook makers, citing brand image, pricing, insufficient applications and the unstable performance of Android 3.0 as reasons for the doldrums.

With Google unable to offer sufficient support to cooperation partners at present, many players have decided to delay the launch of Android 3.0 tablet PCs, the sources added.

Asustek Computer reportedly has postponed the launch dates of its Android 3.0 16GB and 32GB Eee Pad Transformer tablets in the Taiwan market to the end of April and to May, respectively, instead of April 15 as originally planned, the sources indicated.

Smartphone vendor HTC has also intended to postpone the date set for volume production of its Flyer tablet PCs as the company has been slow in the purchase of touch panels, pointed out sources at upstream component makers. The company is set to launch the Flyer table PCs in the second quarter.

In response, HTC said that its roadmap for the tablet PCs has remained unchanged. But the company failed to hand out a timetable for the launch of the Flyers.

Source: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110415PD205.html

The short of it is, if you'd excuse the "biased Honeycomb bashing", "unreliable sources", and "misquotes", ASUS and HTC are delaying their upcoming tablets.

 

[boomhower]

Sales of the Xoom are more due to price than product IMHO. A $400 Transform will sell well. A $400 16GB Xoom would sell well. $600 is to high of a starting point.

 

[mammador]

Does Foxxconn makes smartphones, as well as IBM clones? if so (and they're made in China) how would the earthquake/tsunami affect production?

 

[IntelUser2000]

Japan manufacturers a LOT of semiconductor parts, so its not just assembly that's the problem. If you need a certain chip, and its coming mostly from Japan, the whole product based on it will be delayed.

A lot of US companies rely on Japan for big part of revenue. Rambus for example, the company famous for working very closely with Intel on RDRAM, relies significant amount of its revenue from Japan. From what I can recall, the numbers were more than 1/3rd. The good quality capacitors used in your motherboards are Japanese manufactured ones, among others.

 

[SunnyD]

Wow, you're like the Rollo of mobile devices.

 

[amdhunter]

Sales of the Xoom are more due to price than product IMHO. A $400 Transform will sell well. A $400 16GB Xoom would sell well. $600 is to high of a starting point.

My thought exactly. XOOM is an overpriced POS. Doesn't help that it has a slow and buggy ass operating system on top of price.

 

[MagickMan]

Meh, what kills the Xoom is price and it's shi**y display. It's TN panel just looks awful.

 

[TheInternet1980]

Wow, you're like the Rollo of mobile devices.

zing!

 

[theeedude]

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2044401/asus-eee-pad-transformer-sold-uk

Demand for the tablet "has been far beyond our expectations", said Asus. Additional testing procedures for the Transformer have meant delays for a number of shipments of the device to the UK and the next stock is due at the end of April or early in May.
Read more: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2044401/asus-eee-pad-transformer-sold-uk#ixzz1JtqvSzwh
The Inquirer - Computer hardware news and downloads. Visit the download store today.

I can see them delaying it due to component shortage, but not sold on the Xoom connection.

 

[boomhower]

Meh, what kills the Xoom is price and it's shi**y display. It's TN panel just looks awful.

Is it that bad? I am itching for tablet and just can't decide what to do. I am going to use it for a lot of movies so the Androids appeal to me in that respect. The Xoom is really the only game in town. I really like to looks of the Transform but when are you going to be able to buy one? Who knows. iPads you can't even find. My birthday is this week and I wanted to treat myself but if I do the Xoom is really the only thing I can buy.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Is it that bad? I am itching for tablet and just can't decide what to do. I am going to use it for a lot of movies so the Androids appeal to me in that respect. The Xoom is really the only game in town. I really like to looks of the Transform but when are you going to be able to buy one? Who knows. iPads you can't even find. My birthday is this week and I wanted to treat myself but if I do the Xoom is really the only thing I can buy.

Just wait a tiny bit for the competition to come out.

 

[Spoooon]

Is it that bad? I am itching for tablet and just can't decide what to do. I am going to use it for a lot of movies so the Androids appeal to me in that respect. The Xoom is really the only game in town. I really like to looks of the Transform but when are you going to be able to buy one? Who knows. iPads you can't even find. My birthday is this week and I wanted to treat myself but if I do the Xoom is really the only thing I can buy.

Dude, just wait. You don't want to blow a bunch of money on the Xoom just yet.

UK Transformer review: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/18/asus-eee-pad-transformer-uk-edition-review/

The software is bound to catch up.

 

[theeedude]

Brilliant. Love the metal and carbon styling. Reminds me of my road bike

 

[Aikouka]

Hmm still a little disappointed at how immature the Honeycomb software is, but I think that expecting more than that (with the state of the Xoom) would be foolish of me :\.

 

[runawayprisoner]

I can see them delaying it due to component shortage, but not sold on the Xoom connection.

I think (if this is already not a fact) that components can be sourced at China, Taiwan and/or Korea in case Japan is down for a long time, unless it's a specialized part or there is some sort of contractual obligation. That is even more true as Asus is Taiwan-based.

If the Transformer actually did sell that well over in Europe, Asus could have said that sales exceeded their expectations instead, but their actual statement was more along the line of "we think there are many who want the Transformer". I could be wrong, though. And perhaps the Transformer had some great sale.

XOOM connection may still hold true for HTC.

Of course, at the end of the day, it's that Asus and HTC are delaying their devices due to whatever reason, and it may or may not have anything to do with either component shortage or market demand. We never know for sure...

 

[boomhower]

Dude, just wait. You don't want to blow a bunch of money on the Xoom just yet.

UK Transformer review: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/18/asus-eee-pad-transformer-uk-edition-review/

The software is bound to catch up.

Wow, that screen puts the Xoom to shame. Wow, that thing is big. My only concern is with software updates. Considering how immature the OS is I would imagine updates will come relatively quickly. With the work Asus has to do for it's custom implementation how long is it going to take them to get the updates out?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Wow, you're like the Rollo of mobile devices.

There's Rollos on both side so that's fine.

 

[Spoooon]

Wow, that screen puts the Xoom to shame. Wow, that thing is big. My only concern is with software updates. Considering how immature the OS is I would imagine updates will come relatively quickly. With the work Asus has to do for it's custom implementation how long is it going to take them to get the updates out?

Yeah, valid concerns unfortunately.

I think the ipad is pretty slick, I just want a higher res screen.

 

[QueBert]

Is it that bad? I am itching for tablet and just can't decide what to do. I am going to use it for a lot of movies so the Androids appeal to me in that respect. The Xoom is really the only game in town. I really like to looks of the Transform but when are you going to be able to buy one? Who knows. iPads you can't even find. My birthday is this week and I wanted to treat myself but if I do the Xoom is really the only thing I can buy.

Curious why Android appeals to you so much for movies? iPad's have XBMC, which is IMHO the greatest piece of software ever for watching movies. Android has uhhh... Rockbox which is crappy beyond belief.

 

[boomhower]

Curious why Android appeals to you so much for movies? iPad's have XBMC, which is IMHO the greatest piece of software ever for watching movies. Android has uhhh... Rockbox which is crappy beyond belief.

Form factor. 4:3 isn't exactly ideal.