How did Apple succeed in Tablets (ie: iPad) when everyone else failed miserably?

[JEDI]

Before the iPad, every company's tablet line failed. noone wanted to buy it.

then comes the iPad and it's killing the laptop market, especially netbooks. Acer's market share dropped 15%.

How did Apple succeed when everyone else failed?!

 

[Ns1]

didn't listen to the geeks and made a device for the masses

 

[lxskllr]

Put an Apple logo on it. If you put an apple on a legal pad it would dominate Office Depot's legal pad sales :^S

 

[lokiju]

The OS/interface. No stylus. They didn't try to make a regular full blow OS on a tablet that was horrible to navigate.

I've used windows tablets and have an ipad2. The accessibility and ease of use isn't even comparable.

The brand reconogation is also a huge factor and the OS/interface existed long enough on the iPhone/touch that people instantly knew how to put the tablet form to use.

 

[WackyDan]

Because before the iPad, tablets were simply convertible laptops. Slates, which is exactly what the iPad is, were more specialized... Think Medical, UPS, etc.

What made it the right time for a consumer slate? A number of things, but topping the list is the wide acceptance of smart phones and smart phones with touch. Apple can take credit due to the success of the iPhone, but also all the consumer whores who will sell their first born for the next new Apple product.

Slates are nothing new, they are just new to consumers.

 

[essasin]

It's an apple product, visually and structurally appealing, it does what it does well, and it excellent marketing which goes back to it being an apple product. I think it's overpriced but I am wrong here because it's selling like hotcakes.

 

[Bignate603]

The time was right for the technology and the applications were out there to make use of it. Also, they didn't try and make it something that could do everything a full computer could, they focused on what it was good at.

 

[Ns1]

It's an apple product, visually and structurally appealing, it does what it does well, and it excellent marketing which goes back to it being an apple product. I think it's overpriced but I am wrong here because it's selling like hotcakes.

You're also wrong because it's competitors cost just as much

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

All the people I personally know that bought one did so because they liked their iPhone/iPod and "had" to have the iPad. They also admit that they never really use it.

 

[zokudu]

They put a mobile OS on it rather than attempting to make a full blow computer in Slate form.

 

[darkswordsman17]

They hit a combination that people wanted. Most people didn't need a full featured PC, and they wanted something more portable than netbooks/laptops. It also has a better display than most computers close to its price (netbook displays are crap). Netbooks were just too cramped and too compromised for most people.

Plus, it had the wave of iPhone success, which established iOS as usable for many people. And yes, there's the Apple factor as well.

PC makers just didn't seem to understand. They practically lucked into netbooks and then didn't evolve them much, definitely not enough to actually make that market sustainable. The cheap laptops are pretty much crap (bad battery life, poor displays, too big and heavy, etc). Their tablets were just converted laptops and so had not very good displays, ergonomic issues, most needed stylus, not great battery life, and also were often quite expensive. Then there was the UMPC fiasco, where it was like they tried stuffing PCs into Game Gears.

 

[Ns1]

All the people I personally know that bought one did so because they liked their iPhone/iPod and "had" to have the iPad. They also admit that they never really use it.

I bought my GF an iPad and she uses it 95% of the time instead of a laptop

It becomes more compelling for iOS users since there is absolutely no learning curve.

 

[God Mode]

Its easy to use and it works without certain quirks that make it a deal breaker.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I bought my GF an iPad and she uses it 95% of the time instead of a laptop

It becomes more compelling for iOS users since there is absolutely no learning curve.

Yea, wasn't trying to say no one uses it. Just the people I know that bought one.

 

[DrPizza]

I'll over-simplify, but unlike all the competition, they own the hardware AND the software. Everyone else got a big middle finger from Microsoft and didn't have good software (particularly the OS) to match the hardware. At the same time, Apple seems to have taken the approach of keep it simple - instead of doing 100 things mediocre, have it do a simpler set of functions great.

 

[gorcorps]

The markets were different. Old tablets tried to replicate everything a computer can do but smaller... and because of that you didn't have room for powerful equipment so it was clunky. The ipad aimed to do almost everything the iphone/ipod could do but bigger. It had its sights squarely at entertainment where as other tablets were just smaller PCs... so more productivity focused.

 

[darkswordsman17]

All the people I personally know that bought one did so because they liked their iPhone/iPod and "had" to have the iPad. They also admit that they never really use it.

That's a good point and I think there's plenty that did that. I see a ton of iPads being offered for sale on Craigslist. Netbooks were kinda the same way, only the iPad also had the Apple factor, and I think its more of a gadget than a netbook is as well. I always laugh when I hear people try to act like they're nerdy because they own a smart phone or iPad ("I'm such a nerd, I always have to buy the newest gadget"...).

 

[Gibsons]

Not really sure about this, but did they learn a few things from the Newton? As someone mentioned above, one reason for the ipads success might be the ditching of a stylus.

 

[KeypoX]

large ipod touch

 

[punjabiplaya]

because it was the only one? because apple fans are cult-like and will buy anything with fruit on it? because the competition sucked until recently?

 

[Snapster]

I think one other key thing overlooked here is the fact that Apple had something others did not: An already successful and accessible distribution point (Apple Stores). This allowed them to keep the price of the iPad low. Other manufactures initially couldn't get anywhere near the price point once suppliers added on their margin.

 

[HeXen]

IF you bother to use one, you'll know the answer. Its all about the user experience

 

[goog40]

I think one other key thing overlooked here is the fact that Apple had something others did not: An already successful and accessible distribution point (Apple Stores). This allowed them to keep the price of the iPad low. Other manufactures initially couldn't get anywhere near the price point once suppliers added on their margin.

The discount retailers receive on iPads has been reported to be only 3%, which is unusually low. It's similar to new consoles, where the retailer will not really have any meaningful profit from the sales of the main hardware. They are eager to get them still because the profit margin on accessories are huge and the product sells out instantly (currently any iPads received in the morning will probably be sold out by that afternoon).

 

[dwell]

Apple products are superior because Apple is superior.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

They effectively gauged the market and predicted the time when the hardware would be capable of running the software necessary to be both a powerful device, yet one which is intuitive and easy to use even for people with no computer experience, then they created that software. It helped that they had a head start in intuitive UIs with their iPod touch/iPhone products, and a massive base of followers ready for such devices to do more. In the end though, it is their software which sets them apart.