Motorola Xoom sales sluggish

Mobility Xoom tablet have been weak, according to analysts' channel checks, writes eWeek.

Global Equities Research says one of the its purported strengths, the newfangled Android 3.0 'Honeycomb' operating system, is actually the Xoom's Achilles' heel.

One of the firm's analysts, Trip Chowdry, says Honeycomb is the weakest link, as it is buggy, "extremely complicated and confusing", which means the tablet will be relegated to the geek tech community and not gain mass adoption.

Verizon Wireless and Best Buy began selling the 10.1-inch Xoom on 24 February for $599 with a two-year contract and $799 off contract. The slate computer has a dual-core, 1GHz processor; dual cameras; and 4G upgrade capabilities. Verizon declined to comment on Xoom sales numbers.

According to Gadget Review, sales of the Xoom are much less than anticipated, as noted in 80 different retail locations, and the tablet is removed at the most twice a day from its respective shelf.

V3.co.uk says the market sees around 50 million shipments of touch-screens and DisplaySearch found that Apple accounts for around 40 million of these.

DisplaySearch predicts that by 2012 shipments will increase to around 90 million per year. By then, Apple is predicted to take just over 50 million.

DisplaySearch VP of emerging display technologies Jennifer Colegrove says tablet PCs are the fastest growing application for touch-screens.