Xoom--Not selling very well

[Klaus7367]

Perhaps however the tablet market is not like the cell phone market. The analogy is more likely to be akin to the iPod versus the old MP3 market. Even that is a reach b/c the old MP3 market was more evolved than the pre iPad tablet market.

IMO there was no tablet market worth mentioning pre iPad. Apple created the market with the iPad and now has a 75-85% share depending on whose numbers you use.

Tablets are not (today) $99-199 purchases so the adoption and or flip model will be very different. Android phones are easier (read cheaper) to acquire and the market for phones was and is much larger. Given the dearth of interesting options outside of the iPhone (and BB for biz users) the market was ready for a new face. Google saw that hole and stepped in. MSFT stood there and let it happen as well.

For non iPad tablet manufacturers the road will be different and more challenging versus the road they have followed for phones.

Wall Street is picking up on this and is forecasting excessive inventories of tablets in 2011 due to over supply. They are pointing to Android, RIM and to a lessor degree HP as the source of over-supply versus the iPad2.

Ecosystems and table native apps will drive tablet sales - AKA the overall experience versus internal specs will drive sales.

Additionally and unlike the phone market competitors to the iPad will need to undercut their prices by about $75-100 to make major dents in Apple's momentum or market share - at least over the next 12-18mos.

Remember the iPad is not only selling to technies who have everything but also to first time computer users (ex: older folks). These new users may find the more embryonic OS/UI of android and lack of native apps a turn off.

They most certainly will find the price points off putting.

So while I expect Android to become the #2 tablet player the trajectory will be unlike the phone equivalent and notion that they will over take Apple is a stretch today.

That means little b/c being the 1 & 2 players in the tablet space is nothing to sneeze at.

RIM and HP will be bringing up the rear - way back in the rear in fact.

A yeah and a half ago so called analysts said Android had no shot of over taking Apple or RIM. Well, a yeah and a half later Android owns the phone market and there is no end in site. With that being said the love affair with Apple and their good but not great products will always continue. But the facts will be the facts and Google will one day dominate this market as well.

We all know Apple was the one who started it all, but now they are playing catch up. They may dominate the tablet market but they are already playing catch up with the technology. There time as the leader on the phone side has passed and in a year or two you will see the same with tablets.

So, I say I love my Xoom and who cares if sales are off to a good start or not. This is a marathon and not a sprint.

 

[robert_in_la]

Actually I would look at this way. If the Xoom was selling well then why has MMI stock dropped 33% since it's release?

Fact is its not so much the product as it is piss poor marketing, being tied to one carrier and no wi-fi option. That in and of itself was too much for people and now MMI will have to play catch up which will never happen. Hopefully Samsung learned from their missteps with the G-Tab and from MMI when they release the 10.1.

 

[Tekka]

Honestly until Verizon or Motorola say something is not selling well then I will take all other comments with a grain of salt. Also, what is the comparison for "flying off the shelf"? Is it compared to what is seen for the original iPad 16GB wifi only, the 32GB 3G version, a kindle or a Nook? I have been seeing lots of negative press out there from supposed reviewers or analysts where a majority of the info is fabricated (ie the Forbes article for one).

Now from my personal experience I live down the street from a Best Buy and walk by a Verizon kiosk at work every day and in the 2 weeks its been out I have seen one being sold every day at the kiosk during the 30 seconds I see it when walking by in the morning or when I go to lunch. The Best Buy employees I talked to on Wednesday also told me that they had been sold out on them since the middle of the last week and had just got another shipment in. They also had multiple people come in each day asking about them during the time they were sold out. When I bought mine on release day they had about 20 to start with.

So while these may not be the same level of sales as the fanatic Apple base brings, I would say things look fairly decent. Especially considering that the BBY where I live is not located in the most financially well off area in the city.

Unfortunately, the area where you live does not set the standard of what selling. Every BB ive been in is stocked full (there are at least for BB in my general area). Moto was stupid for pricing the Xoom at such an absorbent price. Knowing full well that Apple holds the tablet market in the palm of their hands. They over thought their product and overpriced it at the same time...

 

[admorris#AC]

It didn't sell well because its junk. Honeycomb has potential but the xoom is junk at $800 it should be $500 at the most with what it offered right now for it.

Strong words...don't really agree that it's junk, it's just more of a beta product at this point. Motorola royally screwed up by not releasing wifi version first. People see price first, specs second. They see an Apple product that they know is mature and will not give them headaches for hundreds less. Bad bad timing for xoom.

 

[wg#AC]

It didn't sell well because its junk. Honeycomb has potential but the xoom is junk at $800 it should be $500 at the most with what it offered right now for it.

I know I am feeding the trolls. But motorola must have gotten it right if the trolls are still here pushing this hard trying to make there piece of garbage ipad worth what they are paying for it....

 

[dekcufi]

I can sum up my problems with the xoom in 2 words "verizion & motorola"

motorola products have let me down too much in recent years. I had been a loyal motorola customer ever since the brick and the bag phone. And verizion well they just dont work to well for me...

my 2 cents

 

[19jrs70]

Exactly, Its the pricing which is the main factor of its bad sails!! I think people would have been ok with waiting for the updates to 4g, sd card and flash but when it comes down to it...in this economy people cant afford a $800 Price tag. Simple really.

$800 price tag hasn't slowed Ipad2 sales in this economy, can't even keep them on the shelves.

I'm willing to pay $800 for the Zoom because of the freedoms (personalization) it has to offer, it has everything I want in a product and is worth every cent to me.

I don't understand were the Zoom failed as a product, anybody that did their homework before purchasing this product got exactly what they wanted.

 

[Ronindan]

I am not surprised that the sales of the Xoom is "lower" than expected but does not mean it is a failed product. I always saw the xoom as a first generation honeycomb tablet. So it will have some quirks that needed to be worked out and it will be sold at a higher price point.

That is why if I am going to get a tablet, I likely wait for the xoom 2.

 

[FedexMike]

Yep, I got a 32gb wifi only iPad. Tax and all 641.99. Xoom 800.00 plus tax, and it's not ready, hmm... No thanks. Maybe android tablets will be ready next year. By the way the xoom was pushed up for early release to contend with the iPad 2. It wasn't ready. Come on MOTO, really? That only hurts the final product, and sales. By the way I'm still waiting on my htc thunderbolt!!!!

 

[wedge40]

Yep, I got a 32gb wifi only iPad. Tax and all 641.99. Xoom 800.00 plus tax, and it's not ready, hmm... No thanks. Maybe android tablets will be ready next year. By the way the xoom was pushed up for early release to contend with the iPad 2. It wasn't ready. Come on MOTO, really? That only hurts the final product, and sales. By the way I'm still waiting on my htc thunderbolt!!!!

Wfii only xoom will be release end of March. $600.00. 32Gb with flash, when is Apple going to support flash? Not in the foreseeable future

 

[dyastrab]

Isn't this guy just an analyst and not a Motorola employee/insider? How do we know how accurate his sales information is?

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

The Verizon store that I bought mine from told me they were selling more than their managers had anticipated.

 

[DGenerate]

Moto/Verizon... whoever need to enable EVERYthing on the XOOM as soon as possible for those sitting on the fence as to whether or not they will grab an iPad 2 or XOOM. At least take $100 off the sticker price or Verizon should offer an introduction throughput promo of say 2.5GB for the first 3 months... take a hit, make a sacrifice to get these devices into consumers hands to experience Honeycomb! Do something substantial for cryin out loud instead of the typical corporate nickel and diming.

Apple pays attention to trends including the world's current economic destabilization and income tax returns. They account for these kinds of things and WOW consumers and frugal consumers react in their favor when they are caught off guard by what exceeds their expectations. It makes the difference between "I dunno if I should buy a tablet or not, they're expensive" and "Holy crap, what a great price, I was expecting it to be a lot more, sign me up!"

I also think developers in the Android market need to bust their a$$es to release some HIGHLY polished apps YESTERDAY that look and feel up to the standards of the App Store's offerings but just as important take full advantage of the hardware built into the XOOM. Set strict standards on what's allowed or not because many consumers don't know any better and associate a poorly developed apps with the overall product in making their judgment and let's face it, there are some HORRIBLE apps and developers (if you wanna call them that) who've got the audacity to offer them as paid apps. It can still be an open market, but I'm talking about quality control.

Seems to me the Android based community of hardware partners and software developers seem to think competing with Apple on an equal playing field insofar as pricing/software etc. is an OK thing... not realizing the only way to beat them is to outright undercut them while maintaining equal quality across the board until a strong lead is realized. You've got to beat them at their own game. Plunge their heads under the water.

Admittedly, I worked for Apple many years... when it comes to this kind of situation they don't mess around... AT ALL. They are shrewd and incredibly tactful in their approach to product release. They paid a hefty price letting M$ get the best of them and that's a big attribute behind their ideology of leading and daring to risk as opposed to following behind safely. You've got to look at their overall production line up. They've managed to tie an entire lineup into one collective product between all of their hardware, software and services. You wanna beat Apple? You've got to exceed and WOW Apple!

Oh and bargaining for exclusivity of services and/or apps is also a HUGE deal. No one remembers 2nd place. Get Flash and Netflix on this gaddamn thing ASAP!

Sorry for the rant but I'm not happy with the launch efforts of the XOOM at ALL. Horrible... horrible campaign that's just all over the map. Seems to me that everyone who had a hand in this launch cared more about getting their fair share FIRST, than releasing a serious competitor to the market.

 

[muzhik]

bring down the price to 400 or so maybe even less, then we'll see...

 

[Newton1221]

bring down the price to 400 or so maybe even less, then we'll see...

why on earth would you expect the 32GB 3G/4G XOOM to cost $100 less than the 16GB WiFi iPad?

It has been proven that the XOOM costs more to build than the iPad (not sure about iPad 2). The price-point is right, the 32GB WiFi iPad 2 and the 32GB WiFi XOOM will both be $600. Paying a little more for 4G compatibility seems reasonable.

And some people might say Apple is overpriced so its' competitors should cost less, but that overpriced rule only holds true for their computers. Apple's mobile products have always been reasonably priced, iPods, iPhones, etc. have always been similarly priced when compared to the rest of the market.

 

[ali.fazal]

why on earth would you expect the 32GB 3G/4G XOOM to cost $100 less than the 16GB WiFi iPad?

It has been proven that the XOOM costs more to build than the iPad (not sure about iPad 2). The price-point is right, the 32GB WiFi iPad 2 and the 32GB WiFi XOOM will both be $600. Paying a little more for 4G compatibility seems reasonable.

And some people might say Apple is overpriced so its' competitors should cost less, but that overpriced rule only holds true for their computers. Apple's mobile products have always been reasonably priced, iPods, iPhones, etc. have always been similarly priced when compared to the rest of the market.

That's exactly the misguided thinking that sets everyone behind Apple. Anyone with half a brain knows that Apple never makes the BEST product on the market. Their products (iPods, iPads, iPhones) are usually second or third best in terms of features, specs, etc.

However, what only Apple seems to understand is that for an average consumer, it's all about mass adoption. This will bring word-of-mouth, peer pressure, and most importantly, app developers. Nobody can argue with the fact that iOS is ALWAYS first to get an app from any major company, be it Netflix or Hulu or any other coveted app. That's because of mass adoption.

If some boneheads at Motorola were willing to cut their margins in half, they could probably sell twice the number of products.

Think of the average consumer-- they don't really need tons of storage. They probably don't need 3G/4G since they have a smartphone and 90% of the places they go have Wi-Fi. So a cheap 16GB wifi only option is the most appealing to most people.

And even if Moto price matches Apple ($499 for the base model), WHY would anyone in their right mind buy their product unless they just hate Apple? Average consumers don't care about technicalities in specs. They care about generality. Generally, Apple has the most quality apps, and everytime a new 'cool' app comes out, it's always on iOS. This might change soon but it's the status quo now.

Imagine if Moto priced their base model at $399. This would give people a LEGITIMATE reason to choose this product, and they'd probably sell twice as much.

 

[anon(167668)]

Considering the bill of materials for the current Xoom was something around $350, they would certainly be selling a $400 Wifi only version at a loss. And since the only money Moto gets from the Xoom is the hardware itself, that would make for a really, really awful business decision. The only way they could possibly get the MSRP that low is if Google subsidizes it, but I don't see that happening.

 

[ceriem]

Remember that we can't put a price yet on the 4G radios, so that hasn't been included in any BOMs that I've seen. This could be another reason why Moto insists on a higher price. It's also the reason why I am waiting for Wifi only, I don't want to pay for a 4G radio I won't be using.

 

[Tre Lawrence]

That's exactly the misguided thinking that sets everyone behind Apple. Anyone with half a brain knows that Apple never makes the BEST product on the market. Their products (iPods, iPads, iPhones) are usually second or third best in terms of features, specs, etc.

However, what only Apple seems to understand is that for an average consumer, it's all about mass adoption. This will bring word-of-mouth, peer pressure, and most importantly, app developers. Nobody can argue with the fact that iOS is ALWAYS first to get an app from any major company, be it Netflix or Hulu or any other coveted app. That's because of mass adoption.

If some boneheads at Motorola were willing to cut their margins in half, they could probably sell twice the number of products.

Think of the average consumer-- they don't really need tons of storage. They probably don't need 3G/4G since they have a smartphone and 90% of the places they go have Wi-Fi. So a cheap 16GB wifi only option is the most appealing to most people.

And even if Moto price matches Apple ($499 for the base model), WHY would anyone in their right mind buy their product unless they just hate Apple? Average consumers don't care about technicalities in specs. They care about generality. Generally, Apple has the most quality apps, and everytime a new 'cool' app comes out, it's always on iOS. This might change soon but it's the status quo now.

Imagine if Moto priced their base model at $399. This would give people a LEGITIMATE reason to choose this product, and they'd probably sell twice as much.

Sorry... I mostly agree.

Mass adoption is the name of the game. Well said.

 

[anon(167668)]

Remember that we can't put a price yet on the 4G radios, so that hasn't been included in any BOMs that I've seen. This could be another reason why Moto insists on a higher price. It's also the reason why I am waiting for Wifi only, I don't want to pay for a 4G radio I won't be using.

Also the cost of shipping the Zooms back in for the LTE upgrade probably also drove the price up. I bet that after they start shipping new units with the LTE chips there will be a price drop.