Massive iPad sales vault Apple to top of mobile computer market, underscore why HP bought Palm 60
Thu, 17 Feb 2011 7:50 pm EST
It happened a lot faster than anybody, even Apple, predicted. Their iPad tablet has taken off so fast and sold so many units that in the fourth quarter of 2010, that if you take the iPad into account Apple’s marketshare numbers for the mobile computer market were the highest in the world, even overtaking mighty PC builder HP.
In the last quarter, Apple managed to ship 10.2 million mobile computers (iPads and MacBooks), while HP pushed 9.3 million units (mostly laptops, a bunch of netbooks, and a microscopic number of Windows Slates). At those numbers, Apple garnered 17.2% of the mobile computing sales market, with HP coming in at 15.6%.
Now before you go arguing “The iPad doesn’t count,” stop. It does. Netbooks are counted in this “mobile computer” category, and even Microsoft has admitted that the iPad is cutting into their netbook numbers big time. So if you’d buy device A in lieu of device B, then the sales of B should definitely be weighed against the sales of A.
Numbers like this are precisely why HP bought Palm, specifically why HP bought webOS. They, like Apple, RIM, and everybody who announced more Android tablets at CES and Mobile World Congress, see the tablet market as one primed for explosion, and they don’t want to miss the wave. All HP has to hope is that the “summer” launch timeframe isn’t too late for the HP TouchPad.
Source: DisplaySearch; Via: Phone Arena; Thanks to kld2009 for the tip!
60 Comments
Yeah it's to late. But we can still play in the sand box too. We just won't ever be the biggest kid.
assuming they don't shove you out and steal your pail and shovel
iPads don't count Derek. Just because product A cuts into the sales of product B doesn't mean they can be counted into the same category. If that were true, smartphones would also be in that category. iPads don't replace labtops in functionality so they can't be counted. Derek, I think you should work for Apple seeing on how you are such an advocate of it.
Just another iZombie...
Well said!!
Summer is too late! Same mistake Palm made with the Pre. They really were supposed to have the product in hand by the time they announced it. That's what makes Apple so successful.
For nerds. No one else cares. People will buy what's out when it's out. Only a tiny percentage of tech geeks like us are screaming about the delay between announcement and to market.
It's a ridiculous argument, really. Most people don't even know it was announced and they won't know about it until it's out in the market and HP knows how to sell products like no one.
Relax.
really cannot comprehend what value the ipad presents...want to see dudes carrying an ipod, iphone, ipad and the macbook all at the same time
I leave my Macbook at the office/home. iPad is with me for reading and entertainment. iPhone is used for phone, messaging and various other applications.
That really made me laugh.
I know I wont buy one. I have no reason to, HP is already showing their lack of support for Sprint, and those of us with a minus. They have given me no reason to trust them, NO reason to spend money on something other then a Pre 3 IF it even comes to Sprint. They are all talk and have done little else to show me anything but hot air.
Explain "lack of support for Sprint" are you privy to some backroom dealings that we're not? Did sprint ask for the Pre2 and get refused?
I think we've yet to see who's at fault regarding hardware on Sprint. We don't know if it's HP no providing support or if it's Sprint wanting to limit their product line and choosing Android as their top and mid tier products.
I've got time. Not in a hurry. Everything changes. So we'll see what happens in the coming weeks and months.
No news from either Palm, HP, OR Sprint to me is lack of support. NO update (at least as of now) is a lack of support.
It's a double edged sword though. If HP announces that Sprint won't carry the new hardware, then Pre owners on Sprint ditch for other hardware almost immediately. If Sprint announces that they are not carrying HP hardware then Pre owners ditch to other hardware (fine) but worse could be to other carriers to get an iPhone (not fine). If they're negotiating incentives and such and one of them announces that the hardware will be carried then they could be at a disadvantage in ongoing negotiations. The best course of action may be to do nothing until something changes. If HP stays quiet it might put pressure on Sprint and vice versa.
Palm has explicitly said in the past that new devices on a carrier is in the hand of the... carrier.
As for legacy support, I don't think it will be long for homebrew to come through with a nice dose of overclock. Things change and sadly but understandably they couldn't justify/make older device updates work.
Palm is not updating the Sprint devices. That's a pretty serious lack of support. The last time Palm updated Sprint gear was February 2010.
Your cup runneth over?
So I guess that means AT&T and Verizon won't get any more devices from HP as well?
I'm assuming you're talking about the 1.4.5 update, correct?
1. Palm choked and died. Palm is in the ground, and isn't doing anything for anybody.
2. HP cannot provide an upgrade for your Pre minus unless Sprint first cooperates by testing and approving a Sprint-specific version. The homebrew crew might be able to get away with putting 2.0 onto a Pre without prior approval from the carrier, but HP can't do it. No way, no how. If any officer at HP tried to do that, the Board would yank the rug out from under them, probably permanently.
its not too late and really can't understand why some think that
Lets see, maybe because they said when they make their big announcement they were within weeks of product being available.
They where. The Veer comes out in spring, so when you look at it they didn't lie. They just didn't tell the whole truth. If I remember right Sprint tried to get us WebOS 2.0 but there was issues with speed and stability.
The Veer can be bought in 1-2 months and the Veer is going to fail. nobody except die-hard webOS fans wants to use a smartphone with a useless screensize.
it's just not attractive at all.
the route HP has planned is extremely late, too slow and not agressive enough at all. of course, to their defense: you only can be agressive if you have something else to offer than perspectives and visions. the regular customer doesnt care about what it could do, but what it actually can do
Not everyone wants a jumbo phone . . .
Actually, most people DON'T want a jumbo phone
Well most don't want a tiny phone either. Do you know what a distribution curve is? If we were to take the population and see what size of phone/screen they wanted this about how it would look percentage wise. The first number representing the screen size in inches, the second number that immediately follows is the percentage of market share of smartphones:
2.4, 1%
2.5, 13%
2.6, 2%
2.7-3.0,2%
3.1, 8%
3.2-3.3, 2%
3.4, 4%
3.5, 25%
3.6, 3%
3.7, 13%
3.8-3.9 2%
4.0, 10%
4.1-4.2, 1%
4.3, 12%
4.4
In the years since I bought my first Treo, four different companies have had control of the smartphone OS market ... none of them Palm or Microsoft. Symbian had a huge market share, and now it’s about to disappear. RIM captured enterprise sales and rose to the top, but eventually became stale and faltered. Then the iPhone combined business and pleasure, becoming the device that consumers wanted and manufacturers copied, and Apple ruled for a few years. But today, Android is the trend setter, selling more units than iPhone.
So, if you're suggesting that it is too late for HP to accomplish its stated goals with webOS … I don’t think so. HP is taking tentative steps as they figure things out. I don’t really care if anybody other than me buys HP phones. But I’m pretty sure they will.
Now, maybe I’ve misunderstood. Maybe you’re suggesting that it’s too late to satisfy people who simply love to complain over and over and over. For example ... "Mommy, Mommy! Mikey next door said it would be sunny today, and now it's raining. And when something you say will happen doesn't happen, that's a lie, isn't it Mommy? So make Johnny give me his new puppy, ok Mommy? And his bike, too. Make him give me his puppy and his bike, because he lied about the weather." If you’re saying it’s too late to satisfy those people, then yes, you’re probably correct. HP is not going to be able to satisfy those people because webOS phones clearly are not good enough for them. I recommend they immediately join a different forum that supports phones from a different vendor. Something more suitable for their personality and needs. I’m thinking two tin cans, some string, and a cowbell.
lol...well said chap...now if only they would actually do what you suggest...
I honestly think summer is late. I would have felt much batter about a spring launch. Not just from a timing perspective but in a symbolic sense that the spring is a new beginning.
And I think it's a safe bet that HPalm would have loved that too.
People here have weird and unrealistic vies about how the world works.
Bringing a new device to market is *not* like this:
Day 1: Idea get's proposed and accepted.
Day 2: Designer
Day 3: Prototypes ready for testing
Day 4: Testing finished
Day 5: Quick agreements with carriers over a couple of phone calls
Day 6: Instant agreements with asian manufacturers via a few emails
Day 7: QA finds no problems with test devices from early production runs
Day 8: Certification takes only a few hours and has 0 problems with the specific rules for a dozen markets/countries
Day 9: Carriers have no special requests and OK the device and software after a quick look over lunch
Each of these steps has to be done for every product and sometimes you have to go back a step or 2 to fix a problem (heat, weight, battery life, safety, component availability, cost, regulatory compliance, etc...) so each of these steps takes weeks or months even in our accelerated age (it used to take months and years in past decades).
HPalm had time roughly since last august to work on all that.
I have a couple problems with some of their decisions (like no gesture area on TouchPad - IMHO a wasted opportunity) - but the time it took them is reasonable.
Apple has a year between models and they only offer 1 phone model per cycle, didn't change the case until the IPhone 4 (had a couple serious problem even so) and usually only upgrade the specs a bit.
Android phones seem to come out quickly - but that is an illusion created by the sheer number of devices by so many manufacturers (most of which are me-too devices).
nobody seems to care that Apple only offers ONE form factor either...jeez...
So HP waited until Apple threw their back against the wall before buying Palm, which has needed an infusion of cash for a long time. How visionary.
Actually they didn't "wait".
The had a cooperation strategy planned with MS - but were probably disappointed by W7 lack of a good Tablet-ready Touch-UI.
When the opportunity arose to aquire Palm they took it and re-oriented their strategy.
Nobody denies that Apple is a leader in vision and marketing even though they often include some annoying restrictions.
What's your point? Everybody else close shop?
hope webos gets some apps. soon!
dang .... It seems hp is like that dude that was always late after the bell. Who's in charge over there?
I can't wait till the touchpad comes out. What I really want to know is Price, when it comes out, and who is going to support the 3g/4g version.
so you guys think HP should launch the touchpad all buggy just because you guys think summer would be too late....HP has a reputation that they have to look after. Summer is fine as long as everything is ironed out.
i dont care about the competition or a late summer launch. once i bought myself the pad and pre3, all their functionality would keep me happy.
well palm hp and sprint have fucked me .. I was up for a new phone in aug... And now sprint will make me wait tilll next aug.... Hp said we would ship soon cuzz if we say we have it we do... Palm said we would give 2.x ... Now I'm stick with an old phone or android if I want a new one or an old phone that palm wants to give me months after its out ... Sucks cuzz I want that slate right now but need a comp!!!! So have to buy a comp and won't need the slate latter damn ... I know they will b on track soon and all will b well but for now fucked thx sprint hope you get a new new soon!!!! This is my rant nothing to do with this article haha
Derek,
Ipad doesn't count. It doesn't matter if some people choose to buy an iPad instead of a notebook. It's like saying the bicycle sales should count when talking about cars because some people buy a bicycle instead of a car.
An iPad is NOT a computer any more than an iPhone or an iPod is a computer. Size does not make a computer (and by computer I mean personal computer). If size made a computer then notebooks would not be computers because they are smaller than a desktop. It's not the size, it's the operating system and what it can do. At the very minimum a computer has the ability to access a harddrive. The P in the PC stands for personal. That means it's my personal machine for me to configure as I like...and still be under warrantee.
I bought an iPad. 30 days later I returned it..why? Because it was not a computer. I don't need a glorified ipod.
So unless, smart phones are added to the computer market, game consoles (yes, they use a computer chip), then we shouldn't include the iPad in computer mobile sales.
"glorified ipod"
well said
Apple is, really, the only one who has a tablet out there.
Just because they sold a few million does not mean it's game over, and i'm sure most of those sales were xmas gifts, who knows if people even wanted them.
It's not too late.
I really don't see why people think there has to be, and will be, only one player. This is not the 80's where technology was not even there. This is not pc vs mac.
Markets like this will be like cars. Several players.
In fact, all you're doing is buying into what jobs wants. I mean, really, who gives a rats @$$ who has what device. If it suits your own needs, that's all that matters.
The iPhone, iPad is nothing special, and frankly, nothing spectacular and it won't be. Just the sheep being, sheep
I wish I got things as expensive as an iPad for Christmas. The cheapest one is more expensive than the Christmas funds for both me and my brother.
The "glorified ipod" was a nice touch wasn't it?
I agree.
What is the difference between these devices.
iphone
itouch
ipad
All same software 1 can call, 1 cannot, 1 is bigger.
Sorry but I must agree that an iTouch is not a computer, it is a....iPhone/smartphone that can't make calls.
So if an iTouch is not a computer, an iPhone isnt and an iPad can't be either.
I suppose if people are going to argue this, then I will consider my desktop computer with unlimited possibilities in programs/software/3D abilities and Harddrives! a smartphone. Because I can make calls to from it :)
Just sayin... The comparison is not even on par. If it was we wouldn't have seen Microsft create WP7. Just my thoughts.
Thanks Omatus! Sounds like most people wants HP to sell their company to Apple simply because they sold a lot of iPads. Game Over HP Game Over HP. Also Microsoft should throw in the towel as well. While i'm at it Dell should stop making computers too. I still don't get why Google is even trying, they should simply give up, Apple has owned everything and everyone.
I tried calling Texas instruments to get them to stop making calculators but the receptionist was actually an employee from Apple. Uh oh :-)
It's all semantics. The point IS (which you and many others have not seen) that the iPad has a ridiculous effect on the sales of other mobile devices.
The iPad is a tablet and the tablet is a computer (Apple didn't invent this device, it's existed since Microsoft came out with XP Tablet edition). Unfortunately, Apple's greed (30% revenue rake from apps, and now subscriptions) turned what could have been a promising computing device into a Eunuch by putting iOS on there instead of OS X. Unfortunately, every manufacturer has realized the potential money to be made here and except for a handful of Windows tablets, most will be Android/iOS and soon WebOS. At least HP's actually treating this as a supplementary device with something compelling that might attract me to it (Touch to Share's a pretty good start). Of course if they put those same features on WebOS for Laptops, well....
well said omatus, I've been saying that about the ipad since apple first said it was coming. An oversized ipod. What's the point. I think hp's new pad will be about the same thing though. I hope them success & I might end up with one but we'll see. None of the new slates should be counted as pc sales unless it has an OS like win7 or linux.
the ipad doesn't count BUT i do agree it should go into the figures.
If HP knows what webOS is, eventually will has the entire cake of the market, is a matter of time, is not too late, but Palm should be doing sales right now- tons of devices(phones & tablets) but unfortunatelly It doesn't exist, now HP has to start the marketing, how??, explaning People what WebOS is!!
Apple devices are just marketing no more than that.
Palm didn't ship The Pres Phones to the rest of America, except for México, believe it or not!! with a very poor marketing I can say, too sad.
I have made cups, mouse pad, and stickers with the logo of the Palm brand will live forever in my heart. Long Life for WebOS
I don't think that any of these tablets are any different than what the iPad is. They're just a bigger version of a smartphone. I don't think I'll ever end up buying a tablet.
Those that don't believe or have doubt should of been left this site. Obvious something must be keeping you here. So all that's are against Hp's ecosystem and can't wait,should of have bounce already. Nothing is really stopping you. You all cry like little bitches and get scared. LOOK AT YOU!!! Apple for the first time beats Hp in one lousy quarter and you all think that's enough. I would like to see them maintain that!!!!
Apple's consistently beaten HP for the last couple of years. What kool-aid are you drinking?
Because I don't feel like Googling the information, can you explain how Apple has beaten HP the last few years? Products sold, market price, overall company value, I'm just curious. Also too are they beating Microsoft as well, and Google? This whole article made it seem simply quarterly related, or is this article simply rehashing old news.
Thanks.
BOOM! ACTION TIME!
Everyone else was too busy getting the knicker's in a twist about content to comment about the graphic, but I just want to say Bravo! Made me snort tea out of my nose, but hilarious all the same.
Some people just don’t get it... They think HP should’ve outaked Apple the moment they bought Palm
They don’t understand HP’s plans are long term plans, and that HP can’t afford now to care about old Palm’s costumers and people on Sprint... These people represent so little regarding market share and yet they think HP will never make it withou them
Guys, change carriers if you need to, or switch to Apple or Android if you feel betrayed by HP... Just don’t come here crying like babys and get on with your lifes (provided you have one)... Your crying and whining was kind of funny at first, but they’re not anymore
"Now before you go arguing 'The iPad doesn’t count,' stop. It does."
No. It doesn't. No sideloading of apps means you have a console, not a computer. Sorry, but the iPad *doesn't* count.
It doesn't matter what you call an Ipad. the fact of the matter is that people that used to buy notebooks or netbooks are now buying Ipads or tablets. The laptop market is segmenting. People that want to surf the web, read some content and get on Facebook are now looking at the tablet as a way to do that. These tablets will continue to get more powerful, allowing people to do more complex computing. HP knows this, hence their acquisition of Palm. This is good for webOS users. Markets change and mature. the game is not over it's just beginning.
It's not too late. Itls definitely not. Just gotta get the idiots at Verizon to realize the power they can sell. Besides the Touchpad is just better. Period.
I have to say... I am in love with the doctor. If it wasn't for it's awesome know-how in fixing phoneness.. My phone would have stayed.. umm. "borked"..
Seriously. I thought all was lost. Until I figured out how to place the phone in novacom bootie and doctor that sum beach up.
Mmmm. Doctor. If I was a robot, and you were femalebot.. I'd totally make love to your motherboard and fry your circuits with my microchip and..
Yeah.. Something like that.
The original Pre is old and over with. Before everyone was begging for a new phone to buy. Suddenly, people say they want support and updates for those same devices they were so eager to get rid of? Personally, I don't care if the Pre doesn't get an update I can barely play games on it.
Lets get going with new devices. HP does need to put out a decent phone before they can try to take on other projects. Maybe they should have put all their resources in making the Pre3 better than making 3 ok devices. Ya gotta do more than just one-up Apple to beat em.
The reason we still want updates is because *we can't get new phones*. Most of us are on Sprint and there is nothing new to upgrade to.