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Tablet Demand High, but Sales Channels Shaky

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 02-10-11 | Comments

Touch-screen tablets are projected to be the fastest-growing segment of mobile computing devices, but neither carriers nor traditional computer retailers are as good at service and support as Apple's chain of stores. This is prompting analysts to ask whether rival tablet sales will be hampered by poor sales outlets.

Unit sales of touch-screen tablets will skyrocket by a factor of 12 by 2015, according to IHS' iSuppli, but Apple is the only vendor with sure-fire service and support outlets. As these other players enter the market to challenge Apple's lead, service and support may become a major differentiator.

Global shipments of touch-screen tablets exceeded 19 million in 2010, according to IHS iSuppli, and will rise dramatically to more than 242 million by 2015. Of those sales, 202 million will be iPads and the legions of Android-based look-alikes being prepared by every consumer electronics maker under the sun. The remaining 40 million will mostly consist of full PCs in a tablet form factor, a segment that accounted for only 2.3 million units in 2010.

IHS iSuppli's forecast of global touch-screen tablet sales, comparing Apple's iPad with PC-based tablets and "others" consisting mostly of Android-based units.

Despite differentiated feature sets�such as 4G support and Google-based Android-only content�Apple's iPad is expected to maintain its dominant position until 2013. According to IHS iSuppli, in 2011, the "second wave" of touch-screen tablets will hit the global market, most of which will be Android-based units. Then in 2012, the "third wave" of tablets running PC operating systems will hit the market. However, Apple is expected to maintain its head-start in sales at least until 2013, when vendors should finally establish service and support outlets as strong as Apple's are today.

Today, only Apple has time-tested service and support outlets�its own 323 worldwide stores with 236 in the United States. Android-based touch-screen tablets are offering a compelling alternative to Apple's iPad hardware, according to DisplaySearch (Santa Clara, Calif.), but sales will not reach their full potential until outlets can be found that offer service and support similar to Apple's Store. The two alternatives today�carrier outlets selling smartphones and big-box outlets selling PCs�have yet to demonstrate that they can match the service and support of Apple's own outlets.

In the past, carriers have not had a good record at supporting computing devices such as netbooks, with users often complaining about getting the runaround when it comes to service and support. Carriers, already overloaded with tech support for smartphones, have not been as helpful to users as Apple's Store, which features an in-house "Genius Bar" that can often resolve problems on the spot.

Also, many touch-screen tablets are sold in WiFi-only versions, cutting out the carriers altogether. Here users mostly resort to big-box retailers for sales, but again do not get Apple-grade personalized service and support after the sale. Problems that cannot be dealt with by telephone often must be referred back to the manufacturer of the device.

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