Media Tablets: Evolution to Revolution

The pace at which technology is moving is breathtaking. Till the time one gets addicted to one innovation, another path-breaking tech comes to astonish. Media Tablets are the new innovation revolutionizing the way tablets are being used.

Media tablets like Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Cisco Cius have captured a major portion of the market and have almost cannibalized the market for other consumer devices such as e-readers, gaming devices and media players. Also, going by what experts have to say, average selling prices of tablets will drop below $300 over the next 2 years.

In the enterprise space, at least for the immediate future, the main use of media tablets is as a notebook companion or as a secondary device to take on the road or use for fast access to email calendaring, interrogating web applications and information sources, and showing PowerPoint presentations.

The majority of knowledge workers cannot use media tablets to replace their notebooks. Since these workers usually also have smartphones, media tablets become their third device. Most organizations will not buy that third device. Because of the convenience factor for travel and an “instant on” for quick look-up functions, many users are paying for the media tablets with their own money to use both for work and pleasure.

As media tablets move from early adopters to mainstream, media tablets will become a family purchase as well as a personal one. The touch user interface, the applications available on the different operating systems and the simpler set up compared to a full-fledged computer make media tablets ideal for a range of consumers-from power users to techno-phobics. As costs decrease, media tablets will be added to the list of the devices lying around the house that are shared by the family.

Number Game

The shipment, price and revenue data for media tablets, eBook readers and netbooks are in for the third quarter of 2010. Published in ABI Research's ' Netbooks, MIDs, Media Tablets and Mobile CE Market Data' shows that media tablets were indeed the 'promising new talent' they appeared to be: some 4.5 mn of the fashionable devices shipped during the quarter.

ABI Research confirms that the hardware category has astonished everyone as tablets are no longer scorned by consumers and mostly bought by businesses. Industry analysts say the media tablets are a “promising new talent” with millions already having been sold to fashion conscious followers.

Apple iPad sales made up 93% of tablets sold. The possible reasons are not tough to guess. For a start, Apple didn't have any competition in the consumer tablet field and its netbook without a keyboard device was left alone for several months by RIM, Google, and others.

Analysts also are of the opinion that sale of high-end smartphones may be affected too, particularly as more people buy 7-inch tablets, and perhaps settle for a cheaper and smaller smartphone as a result. The company also thinks mobile operators will start shifting their attention from mini-notebooks to media tablets as the best device for selling mobile broadband subscriptions.

With the tablet consumption increasing and it becoming commoditized, they are fast becoming a personal asset as well. The research firm Gartner had predicted: “The touch user interface, the applications available on the different operating systems and the simpler set up compared to a full-fledged computer make media tablets ideal for a range of consumers-from power users to technophobes. As costs decrease, media tablets will be added to the list of the devices lying around the house that are shared by the family.”

Media tablets are here to stay. Given the pace, they are all set for a firm footing in the market. With a bundled range of solutions, media tablets are fast changing the dynamics of the industry.

Archana Singh

archanasi@cybermedia.co.in