SINGAPORE — Apple has again met expectations and upped the ante with the added features in place for the new iPad. The new device is the first Apple product to include 4G LTE Technology. Together with the HD retina display that is four times the number of pixels in the iPad 2 screen, Apple is trying hard to ensure that it remains the dominant market player in the tablet space.
Jayesh Easwaramony, Vice President, ICT Practice, Asia Pacific said “The new iPad is a global product that caters to an evolved market of mobile internet users with strong purchasing power; it will attract consumers in the more developed markets of the Asia Pacific region like South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia."
"iPad currently rules the tablet category by a wide margin with a close to 70% market share. The new iPad further protects its interests by building in more attractive features such as the HD display and more processing power to continue its dominance as the 'defacto' tablet of choice."
The Tablet PC market is still a relatively nascent one, which is good for Apple. The overall market is still growing at a rapid rate so the size of the revenue pie will increase strongly in a market which Apple is clearly dominating. In contrast, the smartphone market which continues to grow is now starting to mature, so replacement handsets now make up a lot of purchases whereas first time buyers still occupy a large slice of the Tablet PC market.
Phil Harpur, Senior Research Manager, ICT Practice, Australia & New Zealand, said,"Apple no doubt is very dominant and has a strongly entrenched market position in both the smartphone and tablet markets, especially in Australia. The smartphone market is becoming more and more of a challenge for them as the market matures and competition grows, mainly from smartphones running the android platform. In Australia, the android smartphone has only just overtaken Apple in terms of smartphone subscribers; in markets such as the US, android has dominated for a while."
Phil also noted that competitors are still behind Apple in terms of features and functionality though he commented that Samsung and Asus have some interesting releases. Yet no brand has really produced anything that truly challenges Apple in the Tablet PC market that would significantly eat into Apple's market share. This may change over the next year or two as it did in the smartphone market, but it will be a gradual process.
Phil added," Competition is constantly heating up and market expectations are no doubt much higher. While Apple will be able to, to a significant degree, ride the strong wave of momentum it has built in the market with this new iPad release, with each release the market will be expecting more and more. Apple is already facing challenges in the smartphone market from competitors with functionality which is getter closer and closer to theirs. Such challenges will continue over the next two to five years. However one trump card that Apple does have in its favor is its domination of the application market with its App Store for its iPhone, iPad and iPod."
