Contrary to earlier reports, Asus isn't ditching its Android line of tablets, a spokesperson confirmed to CNET last night.
Digitimes had previously claimed the Taiwanese company was pulling out of Android tabs, along with Acer and Dell. So what of the other two?
"As usual, the rumors and reports from Digitimes are incorrect," Asus' Gary Key told CNET. "Asus is not exiting the Android tablet business."
So, pretty conclusive. Acer and Dell are yet to comment.
Digitimes said in its piece "sources from upstream supply chain believe these players will gradually phase out from the market," saying instead tablets would be dominated by Apple, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Considering Apple is the only one of those three that currently sells in the UK, we're hoping Digitimes is wrong.
It also says due to lower-priced competition from Amazon and the Nook Simple Touch, those making hardware only will be unlikely to turn a profit. It goes one further and says tablets will eventually be given away free, with companies making money from the content they offer instead. So not entirely dissimilar to the mobile phone business model.
The report also says sales of the iPad 2 are lower than the original, pointing out that demand for tablets is already waning. This may be true, but the iPad is still head and shoulders clear of the competition, despite Google claiming over 200 million Android devices have been sold. The Motorola Xoom and RIM BlackBerry PlayBook are two disappointments that come to mind.
Amazon's Kindle Fire went on sale in the US this week, running a modified version of Android. Priced at $199 (£126), it undercuts most of the big-name competition by some way, so it should prove interesting to see how it fares.
Should Asus, Acer and Dell jump ship from Android to Windows 8 when it's out? Or stick with Android? Or just leave tablets altogether? Let us know on our Facebook page.
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Comments 3
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ace9988 19 November, 2011 17:47
asus have hit the nail on the head.....two times in a row, the first transformer was a hit from the company that bought us the innovative EEE PC, and now the prime seems to be leading the pack again with its design and power
anonymous 20 November, 2011 04:02
I'm not seeing a 'hit' from Asus in the mobile space. I see lots of iPads and Kindles and Nooks. I don't see other stuff. And sales numbers confirm the anecdotal. Stock Android doesn't sell in the mainstream.
Apple, Amazon, and B&N have figured out that these are primarily content consumption devices. Companies like Asus who think there will be an exodus from laptops to tablets are speculating and ignoring two years plus of sales history to the contrary.
If you're going to play in this space, you'd better bring content. The best bet to compete legitimately with iPad is Sony. It has a gaming base, along with music, movies, and more. Microsoft's xBox may be okay but they'd be wiser to innovate laptops than try to compete in this space.
anonymous 20 November, 2011 06:11
It's amazing what nonsense people will write. The Digitimes story on Asus appears to be completely incorrect. Even the easily verifiable facts around iPad sales are wrong. Far from the iPad 2 selling at lower volumes than the original, Apple shipped 11 million iPads in the ourth quarter of its financial year this year compared with 4 million in the same quarter last year. That ones look like a waning market for Apple or tablets in general to me.