Dividing up the tablet market and picking sides

The major players have shown their cards so now consumers know what to expect in the tablet market for the next six months. On the one side there’s Apple with their market leading iPad with it’s high density retina screen at 10-inches. In the opposite corner, and I do me corner, are the smaller 7-inch mini-tabs, dominated by Amazon and now welcoming Google.

The quick set up: Apple dominates, even the Amazon Kindle Fire hasn’t significantly dethroned Apple, Microsoft and Google have announced their tablet offerings, Microsoft Surface is months away, and Blackberry Playbook will soon join the HP/Palm TouchPad tablet.

Until now few manufacturers have been able to make headway against Apple when competing on spec, price and especially screen size. Those that have attempted to match the iPad have failed. Instead most manufacturers have compromised and scaled down their devices with 7-inch screens. (Of course Apple should still consider entering this market too with an iPad Mini). Most have also chosen to go with Android and its’ confusing marketplace Google Play, with the exception of Amazon. Google has already begun positioning the Nexus 7 as being ‘made for Google Play’ and the pundits were always expecting Google’s poorly kept secret to be a Kindle Fire competitor.

Microsoft is going to need to act quickly if it expects to make any sort of impact in the tablet market, but it does have an advantage over the Android flavors, it will be used for productivity. The 7-inch are built for media consumption. This is no more evident than with the Kindle Fire. Amazon wants to sell content so they were agressive on price (and cut corners to get the device under $200), and the Fire is just big enough for ebooks, movies and just barely magazines. The Nexus 7 will attempt to do this too. And just like Microsoft did with the PC, Google has allowed Android onto other devices so if they can get their Google Play to be a serious iTunes competitor they’ll still make money. But good luck doing anything else on these devices.

7-inch tabs have their place. They are perfect for reading and just the right size if you need something portable but not a phone. I see people on the street with their iPads, checking maps and even taking pictures. Aside from being a target for muggings, they are not the easiest devices for holding while waking. Yet they’re great on the train, plane or cafe.

The 10-inch tabs takes the advantage on screen space for accomplishing tasks. You can still consume movies and ebooks, and really enjoy magazines, but you can also work on them, with a keyboard that’s not limited by screen width. Of course Microsoft thinks their customers will be very dependent on the Surface for getting work done and while this could be true they are missing the point. Steve Ballmer has been famous for writing off the iPhone and iPad, especially typing on glass. But they have caught on and even the gimmicks in some Android phones, vibrating with each touch, have not become commonplace. Microsoft doesn’t want to take the gamble going keyboardless.

According to PC World, the Nexus 7 is the best tablet for under $200, yet despite its’ tight integration with Google Play, the Nexus 7 can’t match the content for Kindle Fire. At least the Nexus will be more widely available when it launches; the Kindle Fire is stuck stateside.

When it comes down to it, the Fire and Nexus are about selling media. Google and Amazon don’t have a reason to sell a 10+ inch tablet when they won’t be able to compete against Apple. Microsoft can compete by throwing a lot of money on a burning pile of Zunes, however without the media content their productivity apps might not be enough, except possibly in business. I shudder to think of all the PowerPoint viruses spread by the Surface. Only Apple has reason to bring a 7-inch tablet to market.