While the Apple iPad continues to sell well – it can’t even make enough to keep up with demand – Dell said it believes that Android tablets will outpace it in sales in the not-too-distant future. Naturally, Dell believes it will help contribute to that success with its Android-powered products.
When asked about the threat Android tablets pose to the Apple iPad, Dell CEO Michael Dell told the Wall Street Journal:
Not tomorrow. Not the next day. But again, if you look at 18 months ago, Android phones were like, “What is that?” And now there are more Android phones than iPhones. I don’t see any reason why the same won’t occur with Android tablets.
On the surface, this makes a lot of sense because the sheer number of Android-powered tablets may make it inevitable that this platform outsells the Apple iPad. Samsung, LG and a host of others are using Google’s platform for tablets but I believe the 18 month time frame may be a bit too soon.
While Android did surpass the iPhone in sales very quickly, everyone needs a phone and carriers have a massive influence on how these are distributed (at least in the United States). No one really needs a tablet right now and the carriers don’t have as much sway moving these are they do with phones.
While the Motorola XOOM and BlackBerry PlayBook sold well for new products in an unproven category, neither of these were in the same class as the iPad 2 when it comes to sales. Apple was somewhat disappointed that it only shipped 4.6 million tablets during its recent quarter but I’d be very surprised if that figured can be reached by a competitor over the course of 2011.
Please don’t label me a fanboy though, as I’m looking to replace my original iPad but nothing has quite seemed worth it. What do you think I should get?
[Via Wall Street Journal]