Slash LaneSources at upstream touch panel makers indicated to DigiTimes that tablet makers that build their own operating systems, including Apple, HP and Research in Motion, have the best chance of benefitting from issues with Honeycomb.
"Due to Android 3.0 currently still having several issues that are unable to be resolved immediately and which are causing unstable performance in terms of operation," the report said, "HP, which is ready to launch its TouchPad tablet PC with its own OS, webOS, in the second quarter, and RIM, which will soon launch its PlayBook with BlackBerry OS in the middle of April, as well as Apple, are expected to gain from the mischief of Android 3.0 the sources pointed out."
Apple's competitors reportedly had "strong shipments" before the end of the first quarter. But orders for the second quarter of 2011 are said to be not as strong, as vendors are taking a wait-and-see approach to the tablet market.
Meanwhile, Apple has seen a highly successful launch of its iPad 2, while overwhelming demand for the device has forced continued stock-outs at stores across the globe.
DigiTimes restated its inside information that Motorola is apparently not planning orders for its just-launched Xoom tablet past June, as suppliers believe the company is already working on a successor. The Xoom is the first commercial device running Google's Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system, but a new estimate has pegged its initial sales at just 100,000 units.
Despite the start of the Xoom and apparent instability with Android 3.0, the report indicated that manufacturers including HTC and Acer are still betting big on Honeycomb. HTC's Flyer tablet was originally planned to run on Android 2.3, but was recently switched to 3.0, while Acer plans to launch the 7-inch A100 tablet with Honeycomb in May.
Marko Zivkovic
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
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Christine McKee
106 Comments
The only downside is that it may be a short-lived advantage as Android 3.0 matures. It's up to Apple to keep evolving.
Of course, Palm could keep evolving and it wouldn't make a lick of difference in their fate. At some point, I expect HP to wake up and say, WTF are we doing? And dump webOS.
uh, why is this news? So you're saying "when a company stumbles, their competitors benefit"? Shocking.
I haven't read any reviews of WebOS, but I'm curious about how it stacks up. I imagine that any serious Honeycomb bugs will be fixed as quickly as possible. I'm not saying that I would never switch, but I'm pretty much tied to the iPad at this point and don't see any significant advantages to Android over IOS. Apple's iPad success is due to IOS, the apps, the development system, and the entire Apple ecosystem. A few companies could conceivably join forces and challenge Apple in these areas, but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon.
Unnamed sources at unnamed manufactuers cite "unstable performance" yet provide no further details. Is there a story here other than that DigiTimes wrote an article?
My friend ordered his Motorola Xoom (yes, it does go on sale in a country other than the USA this weekend) a few weeks ago. Looks like there were a lot of people before him though, as the retailer has informed him that they have had high demand and are delaying his order.
Seems like it's not just iPad that will be hard to find in the coming weeks.