Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette asserts that the Motorola Xoom is not being bought and is a dud.
Most of us tech geeks predicted this and here's why. Competition in the tablet space is a multi-pronged battle which is primarily fought on hardware, operating system, software, awareness / marketing, and price. Let's assume that the Xoom is superior in terms of hardware and operating system, that still leaves software, awareness / marketing, and price. Apple's iPad had approximately 65,000 more applications than the Xoom when the Xoom launched, so Apple had it handily beat there. In other words, there were 65,000 more things that could be done with the iPad than the Xoom. As far as customer awareness and marketing, Apple's iPad had a year's start as one of the hottest selling technical gadgets ever so the Xoom would have needed an astronomically broad marketing push to get even close to the public awareness of the iPad, which frankly likely could not have been bought so the Xoom was beat there.
For me, and millions of others, the hardware and operating system are not enough to make the Xoom a more attractive alternative than the iPad at the same price when there are so fewer things that can be done with the Xoom because of the lack of applications. When inside of an application, which is mostly what is done with a tablet, all that matters is the screen and the interaction with the application. The operating system is irrelevant and to a large degree, so is the hardware (number buttons, location of buttons, expansion ports, etc.). So that leaves price as the only realistic variable that the Xoom had at its disposal and Motorola priced the Xoom fairly similar to the iPad. As far as I can tell, Motorola wanted to present itself as the Ferrari of tablets in doing so, and tried to take the luxury brand from Apple. The problem is, there is nothing its owners can do with it when compared with the 65,000+ applications that the iPad had available. In the old Mac vs Windows days, people considered the Mac, but many, many, MANY times their purchasing decision came down to that one, two, or host of programs that just couldn't be run on a Mac and they pretty much had to choose a Windows machine. The iPad is now the Windows machine in this scenario and although potential buyers of the Xoom really like the hardware and Google's Android Honeycomb OS, they have to face the fact that it is a relative one trick pony to the iPad, and there is no guarantee that the applications will come for the Xoom/Android Gingerbread - at least not before their hardware is obsolete.
Non-Apple tablets are in the unenviable position of having to dig themselves out of a hole to complete with the iPad. I liken it to Japanese automakers coming to America for the first time. They competed on price and function and were laughable by some for a while. Over time they built up their brands and now Toyota is the largest automaker in the world and Honda is known for its ultra-reliable cars.
I think that Motorola and the other tablet makers believe(d) that Android's phone momentum would carry Android tablets into the stratosphere. But I think they have failed to recognize that much of Android's success is due to Apple's (greed) deciding to be available on only one carrier in the United States for the iPhone which opened the door to competition on the other carriers. The iPad has not had these restrictions, leaving Android tablets without a foothold, except on price. Compounding this limitation to Android is that Apple's iPad and iPhone are now available on Verizon's network, the largest network in the United States.
I am pulling for you Android, but you have to recognize what you are up against and battle it accordingly.
