In 2011, the must have electronic device has been a tablet and I am pretty sure that I can make the argument that tablet usage has become mainstream. This thought has been confirmed by the amount of tablets (not to be confused with medicine) I have seen in coffee shops and on public transport. Let me be frank; 2011 was the year of the tablet.
The iPad received a facelift in March which has become the tablet that all other tablets are compared to. We all know the benefits of the iPad (apps, comfort etc) but with all due respect no other manufacturer has made a significant dent on the effect that the iPad has had. Apple is the benchmark in the tablet ecosystem.
Samsung made the first real iPad challenger. The earlier version of the Galaxy Tab range provided users an alternative to purchasing an iPad. Later in the year, they added a 10.1” Tab which featured Android‘s then latest version Honeycomb operating system. The 10.1” Galaxy Tab I believe will be a range to watch in 2012.
The Motorola XOOM was used by Google to pilot the usage of the Android Honeycomb software. The plethora of Android devices has made it very difficult for one company to succeed. Keep an eye on what Google will do with their new asset (Motorola Mobility) in 2012.
HP unveiled the TouchPad with a great amount of fanfare but in terms of adoption and sales, it went nowhere. I suspect that HP‘s intention when purchasing WebOS was to provide an enterprise competitor to all the other tablet manufacturers. The WebOS division at HP is currently under review and HP CEO Meg Whitman is due to make an announcement on what will happen to it.
BlackBerry, I suspect would like the entire PlayBook story to go unnoticed. They launched their tablet with a great amount of press hype but unfortunately it did not help. The Playbook has been nothing short of a disaster. Disappointing sales has led to Research In Motion declaring a $485 million hit on their finances for 2012.
Asus, Acer and Lenovo have all added tablets to their product lines but have stayed under the radar in terms of sales and success. Acer has unveiled a tablet with a quad core processor and it is without a doubt something to keep an eye on for 2012.
Amazon unveiled their Kindle Fire in October and for the moment only focuses on the US but rumors are doing the rounds that Europe may get Kindle Fire distribution in early 2012. The Kindle Fire has the potential to make a significant dent in Apple’s domination.
Will we see an Android tablet that surpasses the iPad in 2012? Is the Apple iPad 3 going to feature Siri’s voice recognition software?
