If the Xoom did this poorly sales wise, what chance do following Honeycomb tabs have?

[Bossxii]

Sure I'd agree to that. But it needs to be not just any honeycomb tablet but tegra2 hardware as well.

There are a couple coming out that will run on qualcomm processors, are they going to be able to run tegra games, and vice versa? Dunno...

Good point and one I didn't mention above. If Tegra 2 doesn't catch on, it's not going to be a good thing for the tablets that launch with it. Any mobile OS is not going to be bloated down with drivers for all the various hardware. We need uniformity in at least the CPU/GPU so as the apps run on all the devices, even if some are on version 3.0 while others are on 3.1 or 3.2 etc..

 

[potatoho]

I remain skeptical of the tablet market. I have a low end 7" tablet and even it is too inconvenient to grab and use rather than the smartphone. There isn't enough versatility to compel me to use it.

And while using it I find there are drawbacks. The screen isn't as crisp as my netbook or smartphone, and it takes whole hand movements along the screen rather than using just a thumb.

So I would like the tablet to add something more. Honestly I think I would prefer a dockable high resolution screen I lieu of a tablet. Place my phone into a charging dock and then have a lightweight wireless tablet screen to interact.

 

[ottscay]

Good point and one I didn't mention above. If Tegra 2 doesn't catch on, it's not going to be a good thing for the tablets that launch with it. Any mobile OS is not going to be bloated down with drivers for all the various hardware. We need uniformity in at least the CPU/GPU so as the apps run on all the devices, even if some are on version 3.0 while others are on 3.1 or 3.2 etc..

Why? PCs don't have consistent CPU/GPU experiences and they seem to make do just fine. Don't get me wrong, I think overall we'll need to see a tighter rein on hardware specs to launch the tablet market, but we don't need to go THAT far. Qualcomm, etc. are writing their own drivers, so it's not like you have to integrate them into the OS.

If you're looking for a single integrated solution go buy an iPad. Otherwise just accept that there are going to be choices, and those choices will have upsides and downsides.

 

[bbalz]

Poorly in what way? 70 million in revenue thus far... one month of sales in a market that is roughly one year old? That's bad for a new product? Hmm...

 

[FFR]

Poorly in what way? 70 million in revenue thus far... one month of sales in a market that is roughly one year old? That's bad for a new product? Hmm...

Selling 100,000 when you have 700,000-800,000 xooms is bad.

 

[ottscay]

Selling 100,000 when you have 700,000-800,000 xooms is bad.

If they planned to go through 800k inventory in a month at $800 a pop they were deluding themselves. Sales are very respectable, and will get even better after IO.

 

[original00]

I think the loser here is motorola. I find it interesting that the xoom and honeycomb were rushed to compete with the iPad/ipad2 but there is actually no competition. I'm sure moto had their reasons for releasing the expensive 3G version alone but they must be regretting that decision. What exactly did they gain by being the first hc tablet......absolutely nothing. There will be similar specd android tablets at lower price points as well as other Os tablets so they will have much more than apple to worry about this summer

 

[ottscay]

I think as part of the overall Android tablet strategy it worked fairly well. Some of those 100k buyers may have bought an iPad2...and even just having choices on the market leads to some buyers waiting so they can see how the market evolves.

As for Motorola, they should have gained a decent amount of brand recognition for being first, although why they lead with the cellular one then is beyond me. Had they come in with a $499 32gb wifi version they would have sold a lot more and made greater market penetration.

/shrug

 

[original00]

I think as part of the overall Android tablet strategy it worked fairly well. Some of those 100k buyers may have bought an iPad2...and even just having choices on the market leads to some buyers waiting so they can see how the market evolves.

As for Motorola, they should have gained a decent amount of brand recognition for being first, although why they lead with the cellular one then is beyond me. Had they come in with a $499 32gb wifi version they would have sold a lot more and made greater market penetration.

/shrug

What's funny is they probably released the 32gb version because they found out there was an issue with the sd card and did not want to release a 16gb version with a non working sd card. I agree that the 32gb wifi at 499 would have been very compelling (hc bugs and all) and even I would have gotten one. Like most people, I'm waiting till i see samsung and hopefully htc's 10" tabs this summer before I decide.

 

[l44l44]

After talking to a sales rep in the mobile dept. at the Ford City Costco today, I'm beginning to really believe that the Xoom has flopped big time.

At this Costco, the sales display for the Xoom takes up a good amount of space on the floor, in addition to the prime center spot at the kiosk. The sales display holds cardboard panels to buy the Xoom. I noticed that there wasn't a single empty slot in the display, so I asked the sales rep why that was. Turns out they make sure the slots are filled for aesthetic purposes.

Unfortunately, theyve only had to fill the slots up two times. Once on the first day they had it in stock. The next one was sold a couple of weeks after that. They haven't sold another since, in the last few weeks. In fact, someone returned one last week (bought from a different Costco), so they've sold a net of one.

The rep said he has a feeling the higher ups aren't happy about the low sales, given the high visibility given to the Xoom. He said they went for visibility because Costco and Apple had a falling out, so they're not selling the iPad. The Xoom was the obvious replacement.

Here's the worst part. The rep said that people are definitely interested in buying tablets. Just not the Xoom. The most common question asked as people eye the display Xoom: Where's your iPad display? I guess a lot of people also ask for iPods in addition to that, since people were used to seeing iPods in the electronics section.

The last bit was pure speculation on the part of the Costco rep. He thinks they will clearance the Xoom in a couple of months to make room for the Samsung 8.9 Tab and/ or the Playbook. He said I'll know it when the price tag ends in .97. He also speculated that the higherups are probably pissed at Motorola for their crappy marketing.

To end this on a happy note, this Costco sells boatloads of Android phones, mainly Verizon ones.

 

[stray]

Unfortunately, theyve only had to fill the slots up two times. Once on the first day they had it in stock. The next one was sold a couple of weeks after that. They haven't sold another since, in the last few weeks. In fact, someone returned one last week (bought from a different Costco), so they've sold a net of one.

Interesting... the Costco (in NJ) I bought my Xoom only had 2 left after I bought mine on release day. I can't comment as to the return rate, but it seems like in pockets it sold well.

Here's the worst part. The rep said that people are definitely interested in buying tablets. Just not the Xoom.

Bottom line... people who want iPads aren't going to be happy settling for a Xoom, a Playbook, a Samsung 8.9" Android tablet, or whatever else comes out. Android may be making a strong showing in phones, but Honeycomb really needs a lot of work... and ideally some killer apps. For that matter more tablet optimized apps. Something that will lend itself to good word of mouth if not rave reviews.