Will 10-inch Android tablets be the losers of the tablet PC wars?

Spider

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Summary: 7-inch Android slates and Microsoft Windows RT and Windows 8 models will dominate the non-iPad tablet market, according to supply chain manufacturers.


By Sean Portnoy for Laptops & Desktops | November 5, 2012 -- 12:34 GMT (04:34 PST)

toshibaexciteandroidtabletpc10inch-v1.jpg

10-inch Android tablets like the Toshiba Excite 10 might become rarer as manufacturers focus on 7-inch Android models instead. As the tablet market explodes, the supply chain will follow the money and direct its capacity towards the most popular options. It appears that one of those options is not 10-inch Android tablets, which could wind up being a casualty amid other form factors and operating systems.

While Apple will command a certain percentage of tablet sales with its iPads and iPad minis, all other tablets will fight over the remaining market share. Rumormonger extraordinaire Digitimes is reporting that the supply chain has already placed its bets on 7-inch Android tablets, which it believes could account for up to 70 percent of the non-iPad market.

That remaining 30 percent will be split between tablets running the new Microsoft Windows RT and Windows 8 operating systems and 10-inch Android slates. With Microsoft's marketing muscle behind its new tablet strategy, 10-inch Android models are therefore seen as the least viable proposition. Parts makers are supposedly already shifting their output from those larger Android tablets to Windows

Given its track record, any Digitimes report should be taken with a grain of salt, and Google's entry into the 10-inch market with the Samsung-built Nexus 10 should prove popular. Amazon also has a 8.9-inch version of the Kindle Fire HD that will sell thanks to the retailer's marketing heft, and Samsung's Galaxy Note 10 is supposedly selling well.

But other manufacturers may decide they'll have difficulty competing against those models and leave the 10-inch market to those players. As the Android tablet market has matured (somewhat), the burgeoning Windows one may prove attractive to manufacturers, though Microsft's own tablets will provide an impediment as well.

Eventually a shakeout could take place across the whole tablet marketplace, but for right now, you might expect fewer 10-inch Android launches and more new 7-inch Android and Windows tablets in the near future.
 

yann2

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Jan 24, 2012
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This is quite interesting. If parts manufacturers focus on the 7" models, there will be less choices (and stock) of the 9.7"/10.1" class devices.

Have been intrigued by the low priced, high quality Android (and Playbook) 7" devices now under $200.
 

vampirefo.

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Tablets above 8 inch aren't going to sell out like 8 inch and below. No portability, they are too big and clumsy.
 

J515OP

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Interesting article. Spider is all over these today. Android can be successful in the large tablet arena but they need two things. 1) They need a media ecosystem as clean and large as Apple and Amazon (seriously Google have you tried to get things from your own app store?) and 2) they need to come up with killer productivity. The productivity can be through third party apps or through Google docs but it needs to work easily and well otherwise people are going to turn to Windows.

One feature they just nailed is multiple user accounts on one device. That seems to be a biggie that has been in the wanting for a while.
 

leeshor

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Multiple users accounts in 4.2, big big deal as far as I'm concerned. 7" tablets, maybe not so much. Though they are certainly gaining in popularity they aren't anything new. The first popular Android tablets were 7". They were too small for my old eyes to even consider, then and still are. Don't count the 10" out just yet. They may still get smaller and lighter and still do 10" (+) diag.
 

yann2

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Good points raised by everyone. :)

I also found the 7" smallish, back when I was looking to purchase my first tablet. The Playbook I saw on the store and played with briefly lost to the 9.7" screen in then Unknown Le Pan 1.

But I have noticed some more experienced users gravitating to the 7" fold, and think about the Playbook in that case as well. Maybe RIM was right in selecting the 7" size; I think they wanted something in between a smartphone, which they already sold, and a laptop (or desktop), which their corporate customers already certainly had.

For productivity, a 10" class tablet, specially with a docking station like the Asus Transformer, or at least a BT keyboard/case combo, that can better approximate a laptop in functionality, compared to a 7" device. The 7 wins in portability.

Multiple user accounts, as now shipping in Android 4.2 also help things - I had a big concern with the wide open nature of tablets, and the lack of security for personal information, unless you kept it under physical lockdown. :p
 

CrashTest

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Oct 28, 2012
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I doubt the sincerity of this article. Probably paid for by Microsoft. I recently bought a 10" Tablet because I couldn't afford a new laptop. Always hated Windows and such a bonus to be able to use Android instead plus relieved to get something usable that could realistically serve my purpose. 7" may suit some but 10" will stay popular and I think some might regret getting the smaller size when they decide they want to view a full size web page.

Btw, I just got Windows 8 upgrade from XP for £25 on Microsoft. Reckon someones running scared with their cheapest upgrade ever.
 
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yann2

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Jan 24, 2012
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Interesting your tablet cost less than a laptop. All my laptops cost less than most 10 inch tablets. What one did you get?

I have noticed the same too - we bought a 15" Acer laptop for my wife in early September, special web deal at $300 CAD, and I was amazed how much she got for that money.

And as CrashTest said :

Btw, I just got Windows 8 upgrade from XP for £25 on Microsoft. Reckon someones running scared with their cheapest upgrade ever.

Yep, I read that in a similar fashion too, indeed the cheapest version upgrade ever for a Microsoft op system. $39.99 for US and Canadian customers, less, $14.99 if you bought a PC or laptop very recently and qualify for the special upgrade price.

They are certainly making it easy for people to move into Win8.
 
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