Why Android Tablets (and possibly phones soon) are not Selling

When the iPhone was released, it was tethered to AT&T for years, which frustrated many potential buyers who were either locked into their carriers, or didn’t see the incentive to switching to a less reliable, more expensive network. Along came Android providing an iOS-like experience as a modern phone OS giving that lost, frustrated market an alternative. Maybe some thought Android was good enough until an iPhone was released on their carrier of choice. When webOS came along for Sprint, that appeased those Sprint customers until high powered Android devices, like the Evo 4G, stole the Palm Pre’s thunder.

In the tablet space, there is no carrier lock-in unless you want 3G/4G service, and even that can be found on a month to month basis. Tablets are pricey enough, and most people are quite satisfied with Wi-Fi. Customers can happily buy an iPad 2 with no strings (ahem..wireless) attached, and are getting what they always wanted to begin with: the Apple experience/apps their friends always brag about. All the Android tablets being released are going the way of the iPod competitors who thought they could trump the iPod. The only company who trumped the iPod was Apple with its own products.

Now that iPhones are more than likely appearing on every major carrier in the U.S., there’s a high probability of platform jumping and new buyers making the Apple choice again. The average consumer isn’t savvy about specs, and Apple has proven with many of its products for years, that while specs are nice, they mean nothing if the experience doesn’t deliver.

I think Google’s picked up on that somewhat. The Nexus smartphone line hasn’t been as spec heavy as other Android phones and they’ve tried to maintain a pure Google experience with it. By buying Motorola, depending on their true intent, they may be trying to reconcile their brand identity, which is currently as fragmented as their Android platform. I wouldn’t count Google out, but to defend their position as market leader on the smartphone side, they will need to focus. Seems by dropping many of their side projects, Google plans to do just that. Coming from behind is tough, but staying on top can be much tougher. Ask Microsoft, IBM, Nokia, RIM, Dell, and HP. Apple’s had that lineup on the ropes for years. 

If webOS has a future as a tablet or smartphone OS, the webOS team needs to build on its small, but growing fan base by refining the user experience with each iteration. As proven by webOS Internals, an optimized webOS can deliver a great user experience and that, long term, will sell itself. While webOS could use more apps for mass appeal, the focus needs to be on growing the feature list of things iOS can’t do or can’t do as well. Copying features won’t provide any bragging rights. If anything, don’t go after Apple. Go after some of the disgruntled Android users not having a great user experience. Many are ripe for the picking, dying for that awesome experience, and if webOS doesn’t pluck them away, iOS surely will.

Greg Madhere

Founder/Editor/Writer/webOS Evangelist