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Could tablets eventually cannibalize smartphone sales? In spite of the obvious arguments against...
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Sunday, August 19, 2012, 4:34 PM ETCould tablets eventually cannibalize smartphone sales? In spite of the obvious arguments against the idea - a tablet can't fit in your pocket, and holding one against your ear is uncomfortable - it's gaining believers, thanks to the popularity of 7" tablets and Samsung's (SSNLF.PK) 5.3" Galaxy Note (just passed 10M sales), as well as video-calling and VoIP tablet apps. Samsung is reportedly prepping a 5.8" device that would further blur the line between smartphone and tablet.
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This news story has 10 comments:
Only we old timers talk on the phone; the kids all text!
The 5+" devices ("phablets") are the real threat to both smartphones and tablets. They almost merge all capabilities, eliminating much overlap and the need to carry two devices. I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus and a Samsung 7" Galaxy tablet. After playing with a Note, only because Verizon doesn't yet have the Note have I refrained from merging both worlds into a single device that still fits into most male-size pockets.
I have a Playbook and a 7" Nexus, and because I carry a Blackberry as my primary communication device my Playbook is more useful but I look forward to the time I am running a standard desktop environment on a Note sized device.
The limitations of tablets are painful and everpresent anytime I try and do any work.
And that's the primary issue for me, although I don't know if it is for most folks. At the end of the day, I want multiscreen capability: I want a pocketable device that can output to 3 monitors (through displaylink for example), run my trading platform reliably, and run commodity software.
I don't see tablets, running the BB10 or Android or iOS software, as anything more than gimmicky interim products enabled by the current power of the ARM platform. When ARM and Intel make power sipping processors capable of desktop equivalent power - because the current generation is still lacking - I suspect the current iterations of tablets and their software will disappear.
Maybe Apple will make a OSX based tablet, and maybe Google will migrate to Chrome or Ubuntu will become a popular alternative, but I suspect Windows will have the most to offer.
I look forward to a Nokia 5" phablet running Windows Desktop OS 8....
I miss using a payphone when on the road. In fact, it is tough to even find payphones anymore. Children of this remote-control generation have no idea what it was like to get off the couch to change the channel!
Grew up with three channels, no remote, and always carried a dime (later a quarter) to use the phone in case of emergency when out about town. A four channel came out of Canada a few years later.
What is so great about technology anyways?
It is a rare occasion that a Public Enemy quote can be found on Seeking Alpha. Nice touch, X-Money, well played.
bit.ly/P2i4lX
Why should anyone believe anything this company says when their own documents prove that they lie about their numbers?
My wife spends more time on her S3 than she does on her laptop which is a complete reversal from when she had her BB Pearl.
What's truly threatened is the high-end laptop.
And for you AAPLbots, I personally don't understand why AAPL just doesn't offer more choice for those of us who want a phone with a bigger screen. Why not offer both?
It's weird because it is obvious that AAPL is losing some sales that they would be getting if they offered more variants.
Recent research has shown that people use their 'smartphones' for practically everything apart from ironically making phone calls! Phone calls apparently account for less than 10% of usage.
After having my Dell Streak for almost 2 years now I could never go down to a smaller screen size again. Now Apple has decided to release an ipad mini, I think they should seriously consider releasing an iphone maxi otherwise they will never have people like me as a customer again!
Any phone larger than 3.5 inches in screensize is by definition a larger screened phone. The S2 has 4.3 inches at a minimum. HTC also has a large screened phone. My LG is larger even though it is an older model.
They have sold many millions of all of these phones.
You should keep an open-mind on the subject because it is easy to fall in love with an investment and be blind to the risks especially when things change. Remember the Crackberry?
Anyway, nothing against AAPL it is a phenomenal company but with the loss of Jobs you may be seeing the early stages of missed opportunities and weaker strategic vision.
You can google S3 to get the following without much effort:
Techradar:
"Number 3: iPhone 4S
UPDATED Top mobile phones compared: what phone is best for you?
Make no mistake: the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the best smartphone on the market. It's got every kind of feature we could ask for and more, and raises the bar once again in terms of what consumers should be expecting in terms of battery life, processor speed and media management."
Iphone 4S number 3 on the list.
http://bit.ly/RbYXJx
Newbies looking for a phone always google to help make a decision on what to get. Ignoring this fact is not wise.
I am not making predictions on the stock price as it looks like it is still cheap but the competitive risks are growing and if you have done well with the stock, congratulations! The question is would you buy it in the same amount today?
Expectations for the new Iphone are sky-high which is scary if it does not live up to expectations.
From TechCrunch on July 23rd:
http://tcrn.ch/RbYVBk
"A new survey out from 451 Research/ChangeWave on consumer smartphone sentiment found that Apple’s iPhone 5 — whatever that may turn out to be — is seeing an “unprecedented” wave of advance demand — higher than any other iPhone model has had before, with 14 percent of respondents saying they were “very likely” to buy the iPhone 5."
"A key difference here, which should be noted, is that while Apple has yet to any anything official on its next iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy S3 was launched months ago, and so people who are being canvassed would have already known more about what the device had (or didn’t have) when responding — even if the phone had yet to hit the market. In the case of the iPhone 5, ChangeWave says that it presented respondents with a description of “probable” features for the device.
Those included a larger screen, better camera, new OS and 4G capability."
That last line ( "larger screen") is what users want in the new Iphone 5 according to their research.
Good luck.