Android Beats iOS As the Top Tablet OS 487
sfcrazy writes "Linux is on a roll. After conquering the smartphone space, Android is now dominating the tablet space. According to a new study by Gartner, 'the tablet growth in 2013 was fueled by the low-end smaller screen tablet market, and first time buyers; this led Android to become the No. 1 tablet operating system (OS), with 62 percent of the market.'"
Also, everyone is buying tablets.(~200 million sold in 2013 vs ~115 million in 2012). Microsoft still only has 2% of the tablet market.
Re:The year of the Linux Tablet (Score:5, Informative)
Sailfish OS based on Meego will soon be installable on Android tablets and phones. Bingo.
Questionable Numbers (Score:5, Informative)
Sure, if you go with Gartner's numbers which undercut Apple's reported sales figures (you know, numbers that undergo SEC scrutiny for accuracy) by almost 4 million units while also adding in Android "white box" units that include TV dongles which track as tablets despite being not-at-all tablets while also clouding the results by reporting Apple's sales-to-end-users numbers with Android's shipped-into-channel numbers. So, yeah, if you cut Apple's numbers and artificially inflate Android's numbers, yes, Android is beating iOS in the tablet space.
And now you may mod me troll while claiming I'm just an Apple fanboy for speaking the truth.
I have such fond memories of when this site wasn't such a blatant tool of spin doctors for certain industry interests...
It is. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Sales figures (Score:4, Informative)
No idea how they make up sales numbers.
Apple's own sales numbers say they sold 74 million iPads in 2014. Not sure how gartner lost 4 million.
Also, Apple's numbers are reported as sales to users, everyone else uses sales to channel (the channel can return unsold stock to the company in the following quarter but can still claim it sold that many)
Re:Slightly biased... (Score:3, Informative)
... because it's the form factor of a kindle
I'm wondering, if you wanted a 7" tablet, why you didn't buy an iPad mini instead? Seems a bit unfair to criticise the iPad on size, when the mini is available and is pretty much the same size as a Nexus 7. Not to mention a bit cheaper than the full size iPad.
As a counter-datapoint, I took a couple of Nexus 7's home during the Christmas holidays. And the kids didn't like them at all, and instead fought over the one iPad. Now, this might just be because kids are dumb and like the bigger thing just because it's bigger, and also I'm beginning to suspect that they also quite like fighting just for the hell of it. But the Nexus' didn't charge their batteries while in use and plugged in, whereas the iPad did. Pretty annoying.
Re:I love my Android tablet (Score:5, Informative)
It's Adobe that dropped support for Flash on Android.
In the end it's a good thing. It's a massive battery drain and if both iOS and Android don't support it then there"s less use of it for needless purposes.
Re:And yet apple sells more tablets than anybody (Score:5, Informative)
* white label tablets. Presumably built and sold in China, elsewhere.
White label tablets are sold in China, but also everywhere else. Rebranded as Aldi / Staples / Wal-Mart or what have you.
We need to recognize that premium android might as well be a different OS than white label android. The apps will be different, the languages will be different, the monetization will be different, the fragmentation will be different.
What are you talking about? I have a white-box Chinese Android tablet. It came with Android 4.2, gmail, Play store, google maps, etc. All of the no-name (Aldi Branded / Walmart / etc) tablets I've seen are the same.
For all intensive purposes premium android is as removed from white label android as it is from kindle.
Totally incorrect. The cheaper manufacturers actually provide a better android experience as they're using 'pure' android rather than putting shitty touch-wiz / sense style overlays & attempting to sign you up for a million stupid Samsung / etc services.
Oh - and you say "for all intents and purposes". Think about it. Intensive purposes makes no sense in the context this phrase is typically used in.
Why do we listen to Gartner? (Score:3, Informative)
Gartner has a terrible track record. If you see any article citing Gartner statistics or predictions, you are best served by ignoring and moving along.
http://www.zdnet.com/why-does-... [zdnet.com]
http://seekingalpha.com/instab... [seekingalpha.com]
Gartner can't add (Score:5, Informative)
From http://appleinsider.com/articl... [appleinsider.com]
"The most glaring inconsistency is a disconnect between Gartner's 70.4 million iPad sales and Apple's self-reported 74 million unit sales for 2013. From the first quarter — Apple's second fiscal quarter — to the fourth, the company reported iPad sales of 19.5 million, 14.6 million, 14.1 million and 26 million, respectively. The total: 74.2 million iPads sold during 2013. "
Note these numbers are reported by Apple on SEC filings, not on press releases.
Re:The year of the Linux Tablet (Score:5, Informative)
Well, from way back this morning there is this guy:
http://features.slashdot.org/s... [slashdot.org]
-----IPADS. So many possibilities, sooooo cheap.
I would encourage a new composer on a budget to start with an iPad, and challenge them to fill it up with software using the $5,000-$50,000 they just saved. Go nuts--you'll never exhaust the budget!! I've created sounds that have suited my clients needs very well, using the following iPad apps...
One of the most insightful and interesting ask slashdots I've read.
Or right, he said -composer-, not -producer-. So your both right... ipads aren't adequate for production... but apparently quite good for composition.
Re:The year of the Linux Tablet (Score:5, Informative)
only if you're a lazy git (Score:5, Informative)
you can add Debian and its ports to Android
quit your whining, you pansy
Re:Trollbait article (Score:4, Informative)
Our iPad gets probably 30 hours use a week by all of our family. It seems to be useful to each member of the family for different purposes.
Perhaps it is missing key features, but I don't really think we notice because we each have our own way of using it.
And when we need real computing power we just jump on the desktop machine.
We haven't really regretted having an iPad for any reason.
Re:ANDROID != LINUX (Score:2, Informative)
1. install or use a terminal emulator or console app
2. at the prompt type "uname -a"
3. observe Linux kernel information
Re:Slightly biased... (Score:5, Informative)
My two year old iPod Touch is considered obsolete by Apple. I paid full retail for it and it can't run the new iOS. It was one of my biggest mistake purchases recently.
Re:ANDROID != LINUX (Score:5, Informative)
So what?
Giving Linux credit for Android is like saying that FreeBSD is a major desktop OS because of MacOS X, or a major mobile OS because of iOS. It's not. All the bits that make it a success were added by someone else and the underlying kernel is essentially invisible to the end user.
Celebrate Google's success with Android. Don't try to turn it into a success story for Linux when it's not. Linux has succeeded remarkably well in the server and embedded spaces but has not been terribly successful in the desktop or mobile spaces. And you know what? That's okay.
Re:ANDROID != LINUX (Score:5, Informative)
Yes but Linux is really just incidental. It might have been picked for cost, or stability, or openness, but it's irrelevant to Android and Android users, for all intents and purposes. Sure those of us that know how can install a posix userspace and get a Linux shell. But most people will never see beyond the apps, which are targeting a specific VM stack that could easily have been developed to run on a different kernel, either home-grown, or a commercial alternative like QNX. In fact we know this is true because there are ways of running Android apps on Blackberry and even MS Windows. So don't be too proud that Linux powers Android. Especially not until we can run Android on a stock Linux kernel. So far as I know Google still hasn't merged all their changes (some have been merged), so I consider Android's kernel a fork for now.
Re:And yet apple sells more tablets than anybody (Score:4, Informative)
Not the resolution so much as how when you tap the screen it works. I've played with a bunch of the cheapo tablets and you tap, then tap, then tap and maybe something happens. I don't like it when a tablet ignores input.