Why Android Needs a Mass-Market Tablet

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Android consumers are cheap. Or at least that appears to be the implication of a new report out by analytics company Distimo. According to Distimo (via jkOnTheRun), 57% of the Android apps consumers install are downloaded for free. That compares to only 25% of apps installed across other smartphone platforms.

I don’t know what causes the disparity, but I do know that introducing a mass-market tablet device powered by Android is sure to change the platform’s app fortunes. I have both an Android phone and an iPad at home, and the tablet gets the largest chunk of my spare cash by far. I’m willing to spend on games and content with the iPad at a level I wouldn’t consider on a smartphone. And it’s not just a matter of free versus 99 cents or $1.99, it’s free versus $4.99, or $6.99, or $9.99.

Meanwhile, even the iPad has only just begun to unlock the possibilities for tablet app revenue. Developers have barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with tablet-sized games. Quality over-the-top video options are expanding, bringing with them the joy of predictable subscription revenue. And, despite Dave’s lack of enthusiasm, we appear to be on the cusp of video chat as a mass consumer phenomenon.

All told, the increasingly frequent headlines about upcoming Android tablets are good for any and all developers in the space. Just think of the cash upside.

11 thoughts on “Why Android Needs a Mass-Market Tablet”

  1. “…57% of the Android apps consumers install are downloaded for free. That compares to only 25% of apps installed across other smartphone platforms. I don’t know what causes the disparity…”

    We Android users realize how utterly outmoded locally installed apps are, that sentiment is an inheritance from Google Docs, Gmail, etc.

    Apple’s two-faced policy is proof – when it makes them money, they are the champions of locally installed apps, but when the Adobe license for Flash is too expensive, they cheer the virtues of HTML5 video.

    Jobs won’t admit it locally installed apps are pointless…although the rumored “iTunes in the cloud” may force him to.

  2. We need an Android tablet just go give some competition to the Evil Empire that is Apple. That being said, I have yet to pay for an Android app and I’ve been with Android since the initial release of the G1. I think that the reason has more to do with how I use my phone (phone/calendar/net browser/mp3 player) than my reluctance to pay for apps. I think that I would end up paying for a lot more apps if I ever get a tablet, but I really have no use for one right now and I don’t see one in my future.

    PS> Thanks for the info on the new Motorola modem. I picked one up and it works great!

  3. Isn’t the chrome OS, or Chromeum, already ‘slated’ (pun intended) for Tablets. As I understand it there are already many under development and several prototypes are floating around. Techcrunch did a post about this a couple months ago – if I remember correctly the post was on the same day the iPad was launched. Why it sticks in my memory is because there was no mention of the Crunchpad/JooJoo in that roundup of Chromeum-based tablet prototypes.

  4. Dale, I think Chrome OS project could end up scrapped or re-imagined given Androids growing footprint, especially in terms of app development. Android is fragmented enough, why launch another OS? I’d merge Chrome OS as a super-charged browser for Android tablet devices.

  5. I agree with you Dave. I’ve thought that way from the moment Google announced the duel Android/Chrome OS strategy. It never made sense. It certainly is working for Apple. But I haven’t heard anything from Google yet indicating they are deviating from that strategy.

    Here are Chromium tablet mockups from the official Chromium website:

    http://dev.chromium.org/chromium-os/user-experience/form-factors/tablet

    I found the Techcrunch article I was thinking about. My mistake, it does not include Chromeum-based tablets in beta:

    http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/03/12/seven-alternatives-to-the-apple-ipad/

    Another good iPad alternatives (in beta) Techcrunch article is here:

    http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/02/seven-more-ipad-alternatives/

    …Dale

  6. “Dale, I think Chrome OS project could end up scrapped or re-imagined given Androids growing footprint, especially in terms of app development. Android is fragmented enough, why launch another OS”

    It’s Google.

    Their whole brand is about fragmentation.

    Everything they do (besides their money maker in advertising) is intentionally about fragmentation. They don’t care about market share or profits, just about keeping anyone from establishing a dominant position in any area that could end up jeopardizing their money maker.

    I could be wrong, but I don’t think Google sees Android as anything different.

    “I’d merge Chrome OS as a super-charged browser for Android tablet devices.”

    That’d indeed be the thing to do if there were an independent Android/Chrome company. But if I am correct in my above take on Google’s self-perception, then continuing parallel efforts makes the best sense from that POV.

  8. If Apple or Microsoft or Braun introduced a digital razor with a visual display or auditory system that could convey advertising during the shave, Google would immediately slap together a free razor OS without abandoning any of its existing projects.

    The Google razor OS wouldn’t shave quite as well as the market initiator, but it’d be free for Gillette to use.

    As long as Google keeps its current DNA, there will be a free Google alternative in every tech market where advertising could possible occur.

    (And considering the likely long-lastingness of the olde-fashioned laptop/nettop browser as a an effective ad delivery mechanism, Chrome OS must rank very high on Google’s priorities. Touch OS’s won’t be monolithic in the mid-term future, and even the long-term is still highly cloudy on that issue.)

  9. I’ve got a 7″ $105 Android MID06 tablet next to my elbow. The CPU is a bit light (450MHz), it’s only got 2G of internal flash, 128M DRAM … but it looks powerful enough to do useful things, and it’s certainly comparable in power to a smartphone.

    It’s for my next development project.

    It’s from one of the generic Chinese vendors who are in the process of ramping up production, I ordered mine from a Chinese entrepreneur. They’ll be in the US mass market by Xmas season. There are some on eBay now.

    If you want one NOW…
    Just google on:
    MID06 tablet
    Note that there are higher spec and priced units available,.

  10. Agreed on the need for an Android tablet. Still haven’t seen anything suggesting Google is abandoning the requirements for a phone device in order to get access to the Android Marketplace. Which is seriously hampering the market for Android slates.

    A major vendor needs to release an Android tablet. With Marketplace access. In models with both 3G and without. With similar pricing, battery life, performance, weight etc to the iPad. A little smaller and lighter might be nice though.

    And no a Chrome-based tablet won’t cut it. Might have if the iPad hadn’t existed, but not now. I want to play music. I want to watch videos. I want to play games. And I want to be able to do all of that on an airplane, or in a hotel room with crappy wifi.

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