In anticipation of the arrival of the new tablets from Sony, local notebook reseller the Notebook Company believes Sony may overtake BlackBerry and HP in the local market.
Christopher Riley, MD of the Notebook Company, says his company is expected to be one of the first to get its hands on the new Sony S and P tablets. He adds that while it is unlikely the Sony offerings will come close to rivalling the iPad, he expects the new tablets to become the company's second biggest seller.
“Granted, they are late to the market and there are questions about quality - and about the pricing. I suppose the market will decide for us,” says Riley. “But we are fairly bullish, despite the somewhat negative press coming out of Tokyo.”
Steven Ambrose, MD of Strategy Worx, says the Notebook Company has little basis to make such a prediction.
“Although the new Sony tablets have been announced, no indication of local pricing and availability has been confirmed. Without these facts it is hard to predict,” says Ambrose.
“If the pricing is similar or the same as the market-leading iPad, then these products have little chance of success, as few buyers will pay the same for a product that is not the iPad. If the price is higher for whatever reason, then the Sony tablets have little or no chance of competing.”
Sony unveiled the Sony S and P tablets at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin last week, but the devices were met with overwhelmingly bad reviews from analysts and gadget reviewers.
The two versions of Sony's main tablet cost $499 and $599, which is the same as the two lower-end Apple iPad models currently available.
Too late
At the launch, Sony CEO Howard Stringer attempted to counter criticism about the late arrival of the company's first tablet, saying: "We want to prove it's not who makes it first that counts but who makes it better.”
While Riley is optimistic about Sony's chances against the HP and BlackBerry, he acknowledges it faces an uphill battle against the Galaxy Tab from Samsung. Riley says once the Sony tablets land, he will offer clients “aggressive pricing”.
IDC analyst Hannes Fourie says price and functionality are the most important factors for tablet buyers, apart from brand.
“One has to remember that media tablets are consumption devices, thus buyers are geared towards platforms that offer them a great variety of applications.
“Thus it comes as no surprise that Android and Apple tablets are the best performers in the local market,” notes Fourie.
While reviewers have praised the unique curvy design for the S tablet, the quality of the hardware has been questioned. Sony has also tried to introduce other features in order to differentiate its Android tablets - such as a universal remote function that can be used to control stereos, cable television boxes and TV sets. Sony's tablets also tap into its entertainment library by offering music and movie services.
Curiosity vs appeal
Ambrose says Sony has great brand awareness, but not in the computer and tablet market where it is often perceived as a high quality but niche player with little mass appeal.
“A perfect example of this is the Sony e-reader competitor to the Kindle, which has not really taken off anywhere in the world. The tablet itself is interesting and unusual - both are attributes which often relegate such products to curiosity status rather than mass appeal.”
Ambrose says the tablet market is a one horse race, with Apple products dominating at all levels.
“The Android tablets are still immature from a software perspective and although the Samsung hardware is polished and competitive, it is the ecosystem that makes the iPad so compelling. Samsung and all other manufacturers, even Sony with all its media and music catalogues, simply cannot currently compete.”
Hype will fade
According to Ambrose, Apple products will continue to dominate for at least the next two years, while Android will mature quickly and its app ecosystem will catch up in due course. “I expect Android tablets to come into their own from 2013.
“The current tablet craze will settle down and mature in 2012, lesser products than the market-leading iPad will leave the market, and strong products such as the BlackBerry Playbook and mainstream Android products, will differentiate themselves, and find a niche.
“Tablets will become part of everybody's computing ecosystem, and will complement and coexist with other form factor computers going forward.
“The current hype is driven by manufacturers who feel they are missing a market opportunity, and not clear strategic thinking,” concludes Ambrose.
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