The lacklustre sales of Android tablet PCs are due to retail and marketing problems, according to chief executive officer of Nvidia, Jen-Hsun Huang. Nvidia supplies processors for Android Honeycomb tablet.
Huang said in an interview that the next round of Android tablets “are expected to be better because the concerns are being addressed”. The new tablets will be more advanced, thinner and lighter, added Huang.
Honeycomb tablets have struggled against iPad since their launch. The chief executive officer of Motorola Mobility, Sanjay Jha, had said that users are not buying Android tablets as there are not enough applications for it in the market.
Apple, on the other hand, is doing everything right. It has dedicated retail stores and partners. It also has billboards plastered everywhere so that users are constantly bombarded with messages about the things they could do if they had an iPad handy.
Poor sales of the first crop of Android tablets across the world have raised serious questions about the device. Prices of Android tablets have also dropped significantly since its launch.
Retailers are now afraid that this may set a dangerous precedent that may lead users to wait some time before they buy in the hope that prices will drop further still.
The specific problem was perhaps the price at which the entry level tablets are being sold. Apple sells the Wifi iPad at about $500 (Rs 22,400); whereas even low end Android tablets are 3G enabled, which makes them more expensive.