Tech Watch: Can Anyone Compete With The iPad?
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Apple still remains king of the hill when it comes to tablets. Sales figures show that Motorola Mobility has sold 100,000 Xoom's, which was one of the first serious challengers to the iPad. In comparison, Apple sold 300,000 iPad's on its day of release.
CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley Comments:
"I'm a little surprised that Xoom didn't do better because it runs the Android operating system, which so many folks know and love from their smartphones," said CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley. "In fact, by most metrics Android has surpassed the iPhone in terms of current market momentum and hotness and sales. You would think this would give an Android-based tablet at least a decent entrée in front of consumers that they would at least think about."
Cooley said that a new survey shows that between 70 percent and 80 percent of consumers who are intending to buy a tablet are going to buy an iPad.
Critics also say that the Xoom is a little too expensive, priced at the same, or even more than an iPad, around $1,000.
A cheaper tablet, the Playbook, is coming out on the market soon, made by the company that created Blackberries. It will be smaller than the other tablets at only 7 inches, but it will also cost less at around $500 to $700.
"For those who want a cheap tablet, the hot thing to do right now is take the Barnes and Noble Nook Color, which people know as a reader, but it's actually Android-based, and you can do what is called rooting it," said Cooley. "It's a very mild hack, it's not too hard to do, and it turns into an Android tablet just like the Xoom, but for only $250."
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