This weekend, I visited a friend who has replaced his Blackberry Playbook with an Android HTC Sense tablet. I enjoyed playing around with the device and with an open mind. I have to say that I was blown away by how it felt to complete HTC Sense (Android 4.0). It is simply amazing. As I browsed through the options, one thing dawned on me: it is only a matter of time before we start seeing Android on Desktop PCs. Such was the natural feel.
The key question is: how are other tablet operating systems (OS) competing with Google Android? I think it will be tough, especially for Blackberry maker RIM. As RIM keeps begging for more time to release a credible finished operating system for both their phone and tablet devices, it seems Android is moving at light speed in viral mode. While this article is based on the Tablet market, I will use smartphones and tablets interchangeably because they flow directly into one another.
Android vs. Blackberry
This is no context. As much as I loved Blackberry devices, they are out of touch with today’s demands. As I stated earlier, RIM is pushing the next major revamp on their smartphones to Q2. That doesn’t look well for a company that is already struggling. RIM’s business model is the first killer. The fact that they control the full hardware and software ecosystem has resulted in expectation overload. At the same time, Google can focus on getting Android ready while manufacturers work out how best to present it on their hardware. Let’s move on fast to the real challenges... iOS and Windows 8 tablets.
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Android vs. iOS
Today, Apple’s iPad, which runs iOS, is the biggest competition for Google’s Android. iOS became the benchmark when released but faced intense competition from Android regarding raw feature capacity and customization. To further complicate matters, Apple seems to be walking along the same path as RIM’s old business model of tightly controlling the hardware and software. I don’t think this will hold up well in the hot tablet market. It would be tough for Apple to be as innovative as Google in that department, and history confirms this if we look at the impact Android has had in the smartphone space. To further quantify the point that I’m trying to make, Apple dropped from 65% to 54% between September and December 2011. The main beneficiary ismsung, whch r, whichse from 5% to 13% during the same period.
Android offers so much in terms of device customization and a flexible ecosystem for user interaction, making Apple’s iPad a less attractive option. While Apple tries to entrap consumers in its ecosystem, Google’s Android liberates them from being tied into one. This was apparent when my friend’s brother, who purchased an iPad2 because he believed that only he could seamlessly use his other iOS-related files, was given HTC Sense to play with. His reaction? He was left in complete awe. I think that his response is indicative of what we are going to start seeing this year. If Apple fails to fully revamp iOS on iPad3, which is due later this year, I predict that would become the beginning of the end of the strong market share that Apple currently enjoys. The price margin is also coming under intense pressure.
Oh yeah, to understand the power of innovation based on Android, check out the video below of Asus Transformer Prime. It was made last year and further shows why Apple’s business model on their hardware will not hold up in the innovation department against Android-based devices. There are too many of them, making it an unfair battle.
Asus Transformer Prime running Android 3.0
Android vs. Windows 8 tablet
So, onto Windows 8 Tablet. Given the lack of media attention on Windows tablets compared to iPad and Android-based counterparts, it is ironic that these Windows 8-based tablets would eventually become the only tablet competing with Android. My rationale for this prediction is that, unlike Apple, Microsoft’s business model in the tablet space is similar to Google’s. They make the operating system and leave hardware manufacturers to go to war with it. This translates to more and more options for consumers. Also, what would power Windows 8 tablets is that they run a complete Windows desktop operating system. Imagine that on the Asus Transformer Prime in the video above… It would be AMAZING! Quad-Core thin Tablet that’s thinner than iPad2 and runs full Windows 8 with Metro UI effects. Thinking about it blows my mind.
The early developer version of Windows 8 running on Samsung Tablet
Also, here’s a news flash for you… Samsung will show off a new tablet built on Windows 8 during this week’s Consumer Electronics Association – CES 2012. We can all expect that to be something that would compete with Asus Transformer Prime, and the fact that it would run on Windows 8 might even make me a buyer.
Reasons why Android will dominate
The points above are similar to Microsoft’s Windows 8, except for point 2. It is hardware agnostic – Motorola, Samsung, HTC, Sony, ASUS, Acer, Dell, you name it, all have Android as their primary OS. Android is based on an open-source software stack. The development cycle is the best in the sector. I still remember Android 1. x lagging badly behind, but the transformation to what we have today is simply remarkable.
Conclusion
Well, I conclude that RIM is out of the market, irrespective of what they do later in the year with QNX software. Then you have Apple, which will start feeling the pinch from competitors, especially hardware competition. I think Apple will survive through to iPad3. But it would be tough for them to compete with the level of change expected of them ever so frequently from consumers. A “giant” iPhone would no longer cut it, which is more or less what an iPad is. That would need to change for them even to get iPad3 to compete. Apple will eventually be remembered for shaping the tablet space just like it did in the smartphone world, but it will not innovate fast enough in the future.
That leaves only Microsoft’s Windows 8 as the main competitor to Android. o. The only question is whether Microsoft would successfully market its advantage as the only tablet operating system backward compatible with an old PC application. This is what it is going to boil down to. Ns.
My final prediction is that consumers will start deciding who wins, and my money is on Android and Windows 8 tablets due to their flexibility and raw richness.
I am a technocrat—an avid Science, Technology, and Philosophy follower. I enjoy gaining a deeper knowledge of security systems and identifying gaps in technologies used to exchange information. I believe this is important if we will enhance secure interaction between multiple systems, applications, and end-users, especially in the new Internet age.