How will the tablet battle be fought?

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad, analysts widely dismissed it as a strange device for a few geeks. Today, two years after the launch of the first generation, we can put those “few geeks” into context.

In terms of numbers, 15 million iPads were sold by January 2011, i.e., within a year of going on sale. That’s a number that blew everyone away. Initial estimates at launch were 3-5 million units sold, with the most optimistic predictions reaching seven million. It was supposed to be an anomaly, the first misguided customers, whose numbers would dwindle after a year. In 2011, Apple sold over 40 million iPads and holds a two-thirds majority in the market it created.

iPads have become synonymous with tablets, and only experts are familiar with the term “tablet.” Even less knowledgeable journalists commonly refer to “iPads”—those flat devices without keyboards. Secondly, tablets (i.e., iPads, as we know) have become the “new computers.”

In 2011, Honeycomb brought hope that the tablet market would not be dominated by a single player, and it ensured that Microsoft would not be that dominant player. However, Apple’s dominance in this market is absolute. It is also worth noting that in early 2012, Apple sold more iOS devices than it had manufactured in the 28 years of its personal computer existence. This also suggests that we are moving from the era of personal computers to the era of mobile devices.

However, none of these sales results mean that Apple’s market dominance will last forever. It wouldn’t be the first time Apple has missed an opportunity. When IBM launched its platform in 1981, it was Apple that published a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal with the greeting “Welcome IBM. Seriously.” which was in the spirit [of]{dir=”rtl”} “where were you when we at Apple invented the personal computer.”

Moreover, the tablet battle today has a largely legal background. This is due to patent disputes, and we will conclude the chapter on tablets with these.

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