Don't wait for that big iPad, order a NEXUS 9 instead, industry little bird says Google is planning to steal some of the thunder from Apple's October 16 event by quietly unveiling a new tablet running the next generation of its Android OS the day before, a report claims. Cupertino is widely expected to take wraps off its latest iPad on Thursday – which may or may not be a 12.9-inch "maxi" model that may or …
"Google is planning to steal some of the thunder from Apple's October 16 event by quietly unveiling a new tablet running the next generation of its Android OS the day before"
Emphasis added; unveiling the day before Apple is not going to be quiet, no matter how modest.
but you still need to shift units
Only as many as you build, which is why Apple makes the profits it does. It may trip up at some point (I think the IPhone 5c's may have gone for some early recycling) but its control of the supply chain is an example for others.
"Margin's all well and good, but you still need to shift units!"
Which Apple do in huge volumes. Unprecedented on a model by model basis. However it's also worth noting that, no, you don't simply seek to shift units regardless of the margin. As margin goes down, risk increases and innovation reduces as you take less product risks. The usual dynamic which has pretty much this effect is profit remains static, volume goes up as a device category takes hold, but margin must then be decreasing, and business risk increasing. The net result is you end up with a worse business than two years ago when you had half the volume. This is in fact happening to Samsung at the moment (whilst also they are shifting fewer units). They have other business interests to help offset their problems but the mobile handset market has been such a massive chunk of their revenues, it can't be entirely offset. Apple have always recognised the trap this represents and the result is they focus on the high end, maintain margin, and remain the most valuable company in the world. But this is also why they need to ensure their recent glitches with software updates are not repeated. They have had some real glitches over and above the usual level of anti-Apple nonsense and that will be very damaging for them if they allow it to continue (indeed it will have been already). A high-end brand has to offer high-end quality.
For the converse, just look at what happened to manufacturers in the netbook market.
I remember a game we played in business studies:
We divided into teams. Every team made widgets, costing £x to build. We could sell for anywhere up to £y, and could build up to a maximum number.
The teacher had a set number she had to buy, and would buy the cheapest first. The way the numbers worked, she would have to buy at least one from every team. The objective was to make the most profit.
When we started, we all tried lots of different tactics, trying to judge what everyone else was doing to get the price and quantity right. It turned out the best thing to do was to charge the maximum and make very few. The customer would normally have to buy them all, and would always buy at least one, which was enough to cover production costs.
The idea of the game was to teach about profit. It doesn't matter how many you sell, what your top line was, profit was what you needed.
No one cares about what Apple dreams of. Unless you're an employee or shareholder. As a consumer, I care about the things that the AC above listed.
And it was the OP who claimed Google would fail. Google *do* care about market share - unlike Apple who by your own admission only care about profit margins, Google care about getting as many people accessing the Internet as possible (since they make money through ads), with the side-benefit of having more people using Google services. They are not failing.
the screen is not far superior to the nexus 7 - it is not as bright, the viewing angles and colour saturation are not as good. the hudl2 is also slightly sluggish. games that are slow on the nexus 7 2013, are practically unplayable on the hudl2. however the sound is a LOT better on the hudl2, and the screen size is great (for those of us that have failing eyesight, and large fingers)
Anyone that was going to buy and iPad will buy the new iPad anyway and anyone that was going to buy the Nexus will buy a Nexus.
The only thing that will be affected will be all the release dates on articles praising/trashing each tablet, and even then, those have already been written.
I want a large tablet. I've been buying both Apple and Android devices since they first came to market a good few years ago now.
I will purchase one large tablet a couple of months after they are on general sale but right now I have no clue which one it will be.
I'll buy the device which offers the best value for money based on power/performance/price and ease of use for moving files around.
I don't care which brand or OS it runs. I currently have an ipad air which is ok, so long as I can run Kindle, Pressdisplay and a couple of other apps which are widely available on both systems I'm good.
I agree - Satan's balls will have dropped off due to frostbite before Google allows a micro sd slot in one of their nexus devices.
On a side note I really like el reg but your Android app that I'm trying to post this from is one of the most buggy pieces of crap I've ever had the misfortune to use. And I used the early versions of itunes on Windows.
Sounds like an Intel CPU, if it really is dual core. The 64 bit ARM SoCs that I'm aware of being worked by Qualcomm and friends are 1) not quite ready yet and 2) quad core.
If it is a dual core ARM, I look forward to the backpedaling by those who have spent the last few years claiming Apple is behind having only two cores.
I think someone has been misled by the English term 'Sweets' meaning lollies (as we Aussies say).
When I was a kid we had 'Ice Cream Sandwich' lollies where the Ice Cream between the wafers was replaced with marshmallow, so that too can be a lolly.
So I guess 'Liquorice' or 'Lolly'. If it has to be a dessert, I guess 'Lemon Meringue', because that's my favourite :-)
Desserts are anything that you eat after you've eaten your main meal, at the same table. If you eat liquorice after a meal, it's a dessert. "Dessert" is derived from the french meaning "clear the table" (or the opposite of "serve the table").
I'm hoping for Android Lardy Cake
I don't work for Asus, but anyone looking for a good budget tablet should look at Asus' stuff: quad-core Intel processors, A gig of RAM, and a SD card slot rendering onboard storage mostly irrelevant. The cheaper 7" ones can be had for as little as $99 with KitKat 4.4, if you can forego cellular connectivity and GPS. They seem very well built too and have decent battery life. The only caveat is the speakers aren't that great. I don't know why anyone would spend $$$ for an iPad and have to suffer iTunes, no card slot, no file system access, etc.
Competing with Apple on publicity or trying to steal their launch thunder never works very well, in fact it usually only hurts more because most media eyes aren't waiting for the next big thing from Google or Samsung, so they may release it and they may get a mention, even a fairly big mention, but as soon as Apple do their launch the Google and Samsung stuff is quickly forgotten, even their tablets are usually called iPads by the less technically minded. I often get asked by my wife if she can borrow my iPad, no matter how many times I tell her it's not an iPad.
Okay, so now the Nexus 9 has been launched. The specs do *not* include 3 GB of RAM (it's only 2) nor the rumored MicroSD slot.
I guess the latter is no surprise, given that this is Google, but seriously now—it's basically 2015 and Google is pushing a $400 tablet that has only 16 GB of storage and the RAM allocation of 2012's Nexus 10. WTF?
Checking my Nexus 5 right now, I see I'm currently actively using 1.3 GB RAM out of the 2 GB. I want a Nexus tablet that is more capable than my phone, as I expect it to require more RAM for more on-screen assets. Unfortunately, Samsung's wares are right out as they have an evil policy about voiding the hardware warranty if the bootloader is ever unlocked.
I guess I will just have to keep on lagging, stuttering, and jerking my way around apps on my Nexus 7 until a viable 64-bit Android tablet is shipped.
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