iPad rivals have better chance in Europe: Forrester

LONDON (Reuters) - Would-be rivals to Apple's iPad have more of a chance in Europe than they do in the United States, but they need to cut prices fast to grasp the opportunity, IT research firm Forrester said on Tuesday.

Apple's relatively small retail presence in Europe -- with 52 stores compared with 238 in the United States -- offers a chance to the likes of Samsung, Acer and Research in Motion, Forrester said.

But their prices cannot yet compete with Apple, which has far larger scale in the tablet market and an efficient supply chain. Forrester said emerging challengers from China and Taiwan would likely step in soon with cheaper offerings.

"There is this opportunity for iPad challengers, but the competition is very fragmented. Competing with Apple will require a different approach from what we've seen so far," said analyst Sarah Rotman Epps, the author of the Forrester report.

Apple still has the tablet-computer market almost to itself after launching the iPad a year and a half ago. It has sold close to 30 million iPads, whose prices start at about $500.

Forrester expects Apple to sell 80 percent of all consumer tablets in the United States and 70 percent in Europe this year.

It expects 2011 worldwide tablet sales to reach 48 million units, with half of those sold in the United States, 30 percent in Europe, 15 percent in Asia and 5 percent in Latin America.

Epps said local content and good retail outlets, along with lower prices, were essential to succeed against Apple.

"A competitor to Apple would have to put together the right content, the right price and the right channel strategy. There isn't anyone that has all three," she said.

Tablets are on sale in Europe from Acer, Archos, Asus, HP, Motorola, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, Samsung and Toshiba.

Dell has not launched its new, 10-inch Streak tabloid in Europe or North America yet but is concentrating on China, where it is number two behind Lenovo and distributes its products through 10,000 retail outlets.

"Manufacturers, retailers and operators we spoke with all commented on the failure of the first 7-inch tablets that attempted to compete with the iPad," Forrester wrote.

"The newer generation of iPad challengers, such as the 10-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Acer Iconia Tab, are getting better reception, but they're still at a disadvantage to Apple in terms of channel strategy."

Forrester surveyed almost 14,000 online adult consumers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Britain, and also interviewed product strategists from manufacturers, telecommunications operators and retailers.

Between 2 percent and 7 percent of the consumers surveyed, depending on the country, said they owned a tablet, and a further 10 percent to 14 percent said they were interested in buying one.

Spain had the highest ownership and France the lowest, while Germans were most interested in buying a tablet. In Britain, where Apple has 30 of its European stores, ownership was relatively low at 3 percent.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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iPad Rivals Fail to Gain Traction, a Report Says

JPMorgan Chase A report issed by JPMorgan Chase warned of an oversupply of tablet computers.

Technology companies who hoped to outdo the Apple iPad by offering alternate slate-like products are not seeing the demand they hoped for from consumers, according to an analyst’s report issued by JPMorgan Chase.

The report, which was issued on Wednesday, said companies building products to compete with the iPad have slowed production by as much as 10 percent since this time last March. At that time, the report said,? competing tablet companies created 81 million tablets; this year the number has fallen to 73 million.

The report named the list of iPad rivals that have failed to gain traction, including Asustek’s Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola’s Xoom, Research In Motion’s PlayBook, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Although the Eee Pad?sold out in stores when it debuted, it is now easily available and in some cases overstocked.

Apple said in March that since the original iPad was introduced in April 2010, the company has sold an estimated 20 million of the devices. That number does not include sales of the iPad 2, which was unveiled this year. The iPad 2 is in extremely high demand, with most Apple stores across the country still sold out on a regular basis.

Analysts have noted that it won’t be easy for competitors to catch up to the iPad, especially because of the head start Apple has in its App Store, which has become a cornerstone of its success.

The author of the report, Mark Moskowitz, has warned in the past of a possible tablet bubble burst, suggesting that a slew of iPad competitors could flood the market and sit there, not tempting customers and leaving a huge oversupply of products.

“We still think a tablet bubble burst could occur later this year,” Mr. Moskowitz wrote in Wednesday’s report, but said the latest reduction of competing products “slightly temper our prior concerns.”

“Non-Apple tablet hopefuls have adjusted to the weak showing so far,” he said.

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Sony Announces iPad Rivals

Apr. 26 2011 - 3:31 am | 862 views | 0 recommendations |  Image via CrunchBase

Consumer electronics giant latest to take on Apple.

Dell. Motorola. Hewlett-Packard. Research In Motion. Barnes & Noble. It seems everyone has lined up to take a shot at Apple’s iPad. Time to add another brand to the list — perhaps the biggest yet — with Sony announcing a pair of Android tablets Tuesday.

The tablets, codenamed S1 and S2 will go on sale this Fall (no word on pricing yet). They include many of the usual features: touch screens, Google’s Android software, Nvidia Tegra processors, and WiFi and wide-area network connections.

The pair of tablets will get some unique touches, though. The S1 has a 9.4-inch touch screen display, about the size of the iPad’s screen. But the the S1 gets an interesting off-center design — it’s thicker at the top than the bottom. Sony claims will make the device easier to hold.

The S2 is even less iPad-like. Rather than a single screen, the S2 has two 5.5-inch displays that can be used together to display content, or used for separate tasks. For example Sony says you could use one screen as a “soft keyboard,” while grinding through email on the other screen.

The two tablets will also get a number of features tying them to Sony’s televisions, electronic readers, and gaming consoles. Sony promises the tablets will give users access to first generation PlayStation games, serve up electronic books, work as a remote control for audio-video devices, and “throw” content onto big screen televisions and wireless speakers.

Sounds good, on paper. Catching Apple’s iPad, however, has proven difficult so far.

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