iPad 2 forcing other tablets to drop prices

[iDan]

Another study telling us the obvious has popped up from the technology research firm YouGov. The iPad 2 is doing far better when it comes to consumer awareness, consideration and expectation levels. Plus we shouldn't forget that it is coming with a lower price than its competition. No wonder it's still leading in sales.

The study shows how much consumers are favoring the Apple offering right now, out of the 3306 people who have participated, an overwhelming 77% are considering getting an iPad 2. This can be compared to the only 11% who have shown interest in the Samsung Galaxy tab, the iPad's main competition.

Companies like HTC, Motorola and LG, even though they have enjoyed quite the success story on the smartphone market seem to be unable to price their tablet offering in a competitive way. This is making customers pay too much for device like the Xoom or the Flyer, devices which ironically are offering you less for the buck then the Apple's offering.

To make any impact on the market they have to bring their offering quite a bit under the price of the iPad2 or at least offer the consumers some real reason to shell out the extra cash. For now the Android 3.0 tablets are plagued by quite an acute lack of optimized apps and an overall weaker user experience then on the iOS devices, even compared to the first generation of the iPad.

An earlier study from YouGov has shown that tablets prices have to start at around $400, an ideal price for the product to be able to have any considerable success. Something that Asus with their Eee Transformer has gotten right. And the rewards have shown, this devices being the best sold of the Android tablets.

Also it is important for Google to change their approach for the tablet market. Their current success in the smartphone segment is mainly due to the availability of their Android OS in equal amount to all companies. This creates a much vaster offering, ranging from high end products to budget ones. The current Android 3.1 version is kept closed source and available to only a few.

In the coming months we should see if the other companies will do the right moves and be able to make an impact on this still emerging market.

By Radu Tyrsina