Light the Candle
On Tuesday, Apple kicks off the already-stacked holiday technology selling season with the unveiling of its iPad Mini. The smaller, consumption-heavy, tablet will see the company scrapping with the Kindle Fire, Nexus and other tablets, with Apple having to fight for sales rather than kicking off a market (as it did with the first iPhone and iPad). Apple may also be showing off a revised model iPad 3 along with new Mac hardware to give it some seasonal oomph!
Next Monday, both Google and Microsoft have major events. Microsoft marks the biggest launch in its history with a battery of Windows 8 hardware, way beyond the bland desktops and notebooks of the past, plus a Marketplace for apps and the new OS itself for upgraders. The Surface tablet is the poster-boy for Microsoft's efforts, but it is likely to be the Ultrabook range that sees Microsoft making most headway.
Google will respond on the same day with a new budget Chromebook, updated Nexus 7 tablets, plus a new Google Nexus phone, likely based on a LG model and the first one to feature Android 4.2. Between them, all of these devices must represent a fair portion of Asia's hardware output and will be flooding western stores and warehouses in the weeks and months to come.
Which Will Fly?
With all these products lighting up the market, and many businesses and end users still treading cautiously as we navigate flagging economies, consumer choice will never have been greater or more important.
It is pretty much a given that we no longer live in a Windows world, outside of the stodgy progress of enterprise. With cloud offerings, Mac OS X and Chrome's environment pushing users in different directions and increasing choice. Similarly, no longer is the PC the driving force in all our technology choices, now users are more likely to pick something that will work well with their phone or tablet, or even their TV.
For new buyers wading into this confusing market, association with a brand (so the brand-makers like to tell us) is more important than a technology. That could also have an impact, as we have seen with the decline of Sony, BlackBerry among others, and the rise of Amazon, Samsung and Huawei. Which brand could be next to dive out of favor?
Who Could Stumble?
While this season's sales results, no matter how the companies spin the numbers, some folks are going to be disappointed.
Apple has already seen sales of iPhone 5 stall due to production issues and potential sales of iPad 3 are on hold as buyers wait to see the new iPad. Will it make up for these dings in Apple's sales juggernaut? Anything less than stellar results will cause short-term nerves, but Apple's meteoric ride is far from over.
Microsoft will see little interest from big-walleted enterprise buyers, apart from executives expensing their shiny Surface tablet, no matter how hard it pushes the new (admittedly loss-leading) hardware and OS as an upgrade. Business is already very nervous over the Windows 8 transition, and if a company is happy with Windows 7 will be many years from upgrading, perhaps even to the new Office too.
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Source : cmswire[dot]com
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