Today’s Top Tablet News
January 25, 2013
Content Sales Help Kindle Fire
paidContent
How much in content sales does it take for Amazon to earn a 20 percent profit margin on its Kindle Fire hardware? About $10 per month, which generates $3 once Amazon takes its 30 percent cut. Senior analyst at ABI Research, Aapo Markkanen, estimated by doing the math last week, saying this incremental $3 revenue would be required over the life of the hardware to maintain such a profit margin.
Maybe 1 Million Surface Tablets Were Sold in Q4
Venture Beat
Analyst estimates of Surface sales for the holiday quarter have been in the 600,000 to 1,000,000 range … or about 3 percent of Apple’s sales of iPads in its recent record-breaking quarter. In other words, Microsoft desperately needs more models and better price points: A Surface Pro can cost more than a MacBook Pro, or double what many Windows 8 laptops run.
$125 Tablet Hits the Market
SlashGear
The tablet market is positively oozing with competition in the low-end segment. One of the hottest segments of the tablet market continues to be the seven-inch screen size and the segment has new products from Pardo Group this week. The new tablet series is called the Canvas Tablet.
Today’s Top Tablet News
January 24, 2013
PCs That Kinda, Sorta Resemble Tablets
AllThingsD
WSJ’s Walt Mossberg looks at three PCs that resemble tablets: the HP Envy x2, the Asus Taichi 21, and Toshiba’s Satellite U925t.
145 Million Tablets Will Ship in 2013
Slashgear
ABI Research is predicting a big year for global tablet shipments in 2013. ABI Research predicts that in 2013 145 million tablets will ship. ABI isn’t the only company predicting huge tablet shipments in 2013. Previously research firm Gartner predicted that global PC shipments would decline in 2013 as tablet shipments increased.
Apple Sells 22.9 Million iPads in Q4 2012
Apple (press release)
Apple sold a record 22.9 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 15.4 million in the year-ago quarter.
Microsoft Blundered Getting Into Tablet Business
Yahoo! Finance
Josh Brown, vice president of Fusion Analytics and author of the widely read “The Reformed Broker” blog, says Microsoft has no business being in the hardware business.“The public is not clamoring for a Microsoft product,” he said. “I don’t know if the Surface launch accomplished anything other than ‘hey we’re in this business now.’”
Today’s Top Tablet News
January 21, 2013
Rugged, Cheap Tablets for Kids Will Be the Next Big Thing
Wired
Forget phablets. Touchscreen Android devices designed expressly for kids with bright colors, durable cases and rubberized surfaces are making a big splash in the tablet space. A market for kid-friendly tablets has emerged, lead by options like Polaroid’s aptly named Kids Tablet, the Toys ‘R Us Tabeo and the OLPC XO Learning Tablet. The offerings are diverse, yet strangely similar.
Sony Introduces Ulta-Light Tablet Z in Japan (For Now)
PC World
Sony has expanded its portfolio of Android-based products with the Tablet Z, which is thinner and lighter than competing products from Apple and Google. The product stands out because of its thickness and weight. It is 6.9 millimeters thick, which compares to Apple’s latest iPad at 9.4 millimeters and Google’s and Samsung Electronics’ Nexus 10, which is 8.9 millimeters thick. At 495 grams, the Tablet Z is also lighter than the other two tablets, which weigh from 652 grams and 603 grams, respectively.
Sharp Slices Production of 9.7-Inch iPad LCD Panels
The Inquirer
Sharp, which produces displays for a number of Apple products including the iPhone and iPad, has reportedly cut production levels of 9.7in iPad screens. The firm has cut production by such an amount that it is barely producing any 10-inch panels, according to reports.