Opinions - Xoom or bust?

[HEXUS]

There are signs the flagship honeycomb tablet is not selling as planned.

Read more.

[spoon_]

Looks like Motorola is a bit late for the iPad 2 party?

[crossy]

Forbes noted a research note from Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette stating that his channel checks have revealed disappointing sales of both the Xoom and the Atrix Tegra 2 smartphone. On that basis he's cutting his revenue forecast for Motorola Mobility.

Umm, weren't these just announced at CES in January - in which case they've not been on sale for that long?

Plus, from the feedback I've seen, there's a lot of folks staying away from the Xoom because of Moto's daft pricing (more than the iPad2, when even Google aren't saying that Honeycomb is "finished" yet).

[Noxvayl]

I'd lean more on manufacturer fault than "competition" with Apple as being the cause for the lacklustre results.

Besides that we have yet to have any of the really encouraging tablet prospects released. If all Android tablets stumble out of the blocks then you have something tangible to draw the "competition" card from.

[Gordy]

You'd have to either get a very good deal or be determined to not go the iPad route to choose the xoom at present.

When the tablet version of Android is a little bit more mature and more options are out there the developers may start to create good things for the Android tablets. At the present I don't think there is many apps out there for them?

I can really see Amazon making an android tablet/kindle and subsidising the costs to get app and book sales through there store. I think that would be a really compelling alternative to the Xoom/Playbook etc. The kindle seems to be a roaring success for them, so they have some experience in the area.

[crossy]

When the tablet version of Android is a little bit more mature and more options are out there the developers may start to create good things for the Android tablets. At the present I don't think there is many apps out there for them?

Is that a similar situation to the iPad? That is, that there's a lot of apps that'll run on it, but not many that are designed for it/them? I don't know for sure - that's why I'm asking.

I can really see Amazon making an android tablet/kindle and subsidising the costs to get app and book sales through there store. I think that would be a really compelling alternative to the Xoom/Playbook etc. The kindle seems to be a roaring success for them, so they have some experience in the area.

Oooh, I like that piece of thinking - a "Kindle+" for about £250-300 (or less?) would be quite appealing. Don't forget that most tablets can also play music - so bundle Amazon Kindle, App Store and MP3 Store apps and I think you'd be onto a winner.

[saltyzip]

Motorola isn't a cool company in my opinion, it needs someone like Amazon or HTC to release an all singing and dancing Android Tablet.

Assuming they get good reviews they will sell and I will definitely be purchasing one come Christmas.

[Rob_B]

It's all down to pricing, who in their right mind would pay that sort of money for a Xoom, arguably an unfinished, untested piece of kit?

Are manufacturers pricing their tablets at or above iPad levels because they think that's what people will pay or because they can't make them cheaper? If the former then more fool them, if the latter then for once Apple are not overcharging for their hardware & it'll be interesting to see how the likes of HTC counter this.

[nichomach]

Motorola's support for their Android devices is pretty shocking, and assuming I were in the market for a tablet in that price range, there's no way in hell I'd choose theirs. The Xoom appears to be being taken as some sort of litmus test for Android tablets and for the life of me, I can't see why. Advent Vegas are flying off the shelves, hell, even Viewsonic Viewpad V10S's keep going out of stock at places like Dabs, yet the Xoom is being taken as representative? I'd be more interested in how the new Samsungs shift when they hit stores; they really could be serious competition.

[Scott B]

It's all down to pricing, who in their right mind would pay that sort of money for a Xoom, arguably an unfinished, untested piece of kit?

Are manufacturers pricing their tablets at or above iPad levels because they think that's what people will pay or because they can't make them cheaper? If the former then more fool them, if the latter then for once Apple are not overcharging for their hardware & it'll be interesting to see how the likes of HTC counter this.

I think that's the chilling thing for iPad competitors; Apple has made the strategic decision to charge less than it could have for the iPad to make it difficult for anyone else to get traction in the market. To the best of my knowledge this is one of the first times Apple has chosen not to position a product as 'premium', and marks a profound strategic shift by Apple.

Is it going to go after the lower ends of the market elsewhere?

[Rob_B]

I think that's the chilling thing for iPad competitors; Apple has made the strategic decision to charge less than it could have for the iPad to make it difficult for anyone else to get traction in the market. To the best of my knowledge this is one of the first times Apple has chosen not to position a product as 'premium', and marks a profound strategic shift by Apple.

Is it going to go after the lower ends of the market elsewhere?

Well, "it depends"

There are the rumours of the iPhone 'mini' but I think Apple sees this as covered by reducing costs on the previous generations of phones when the new one comes out. As for laptops/desktops I think they'll stick to a premium product.

Funnily enough the PC Pro podcast covered something similar on the recent episode, mentioning Acer (or Asus?) - Who would buy a 'premium' £1500 laptop from them when 99% of people would have a £300 cheap as chips one, the brand wouldn't be premium enough to support such a high end product.

For phones Apple has this covered as everyone knows what the latest iPhone is but desktops/laptops are 'desktops & laptops' no-one knows the latest models.

I don't know of many manufacturers who can get away with premium products, apart from Apple (regardless of your opinion of them) I can't really think of anyone else, Motorola are certainly not one that I'd say can pull this off.

[Phage]

Having used the Xoom for an hour on the train, ? I can say I liked lot a lot more than the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Faster, clearer, better UI, better 'feel'. But it's not worth that much.

[Scott B]

Motorola's support for their Android devices is pretty shocking, and assuming I were in the market for a tablet in that price range, there's no way in hell I'd choose theirs. The Xoom appears to be being taken as some sort of litmus test for Android tablets and for the life of me, I can't see why. Advent Vegas are flying off the shelves, hell, even Viewsonic Viewpad V10S's keep going out of stock at places like Dabs, yet the Xoom is being taken as representative? I'd be more interested in how the new Samsungs shift when they hit stores; they really could be serious competition.

It's a litmus test for Honeycomb tablets, which in theory offer a much better user experience than those running earlier versions of Android.

[nichomach]

It's a litmus test for Honeycomb tablets, which in theory offer a much better user experience than those running earlier versions of Android.

True enough, but the hardware's pretty much the same as the Tegras already shipping with 2.1 or 2.2. The new Galaxys should ship with Honeycomb; I'd see those as more indicative.

[Gordy]

Is that a similar situation to the iPad? That is, that there's a lot of apps that'll run on it, but not many that are designed for it/them? I don't know for sure - that's why I'm asking.

Oooh, I like that piece of thinking - a "Kindle+" for about £250-300 (or less?) would be quite appealing. Don't forget that most tablets can also play music - so bundle Amazon Kindle, App Store and MP3 Store apps and I think you'd be onto a winner.

All the iPhone apps will run on the iPad, but I wouldn't recommend it. There a ton of ipad ones out. Not sure of the exact number but I believe over 100,000 apps built for the ipad. As well as some universal ones that run on either iPhone or ipad in full size.

I didn't think about the mp3 side! It makes even more sense now, they really need to do it. Possibly they are the only ones who could do the whole iTunes/Music/Apps side. I can't see the music industry wanting google as an alternative to Apple. Amazon would make more sense to them I feel.