Tablet wars
While Apple undoubtedly dominates the current tablet market and over a third of people would like an iPad as their top Christmas gift, a new report claims many consumers would abandon the brand in favour of cheaper tablets from Apple's rivals.
According to an independent survey commissioned by VoucherCodes.co.uk that questioned 3,000 people last month, almost 38 percent of those polled said they plan on buying a tablet in the next year.
While many manufacturers are wading into the tablet market with their offerings, the survey found over half of respondent would choose an iPad based on brand alone. Of those opting for a rival device, over 11 percent said they would pick a Dell tablet and 10 percent RIM's Playbook.
While Apple might be the brand-du-jour, the survey also discovered people could be persuaded to shelve their loyalty to the brand if a rival was cheaper. At a price point of £100 less than an iPad almost a third of respondents would favour a branded rival over Apple and at £200 cheaper this becomes nearly 65 percent of people.
This might fly in the face of Apple CEO Steve Job's belief that cheaper 7 inch tablets will not be a threat to his iPad. The survey has also found that people will expect more from the iPad 2, with 48 percent of people hankering afrer a USB port, 44 percent wanting Flash support, 43% percent a CD/DVD drive and 29 percent a built-in camera.
Based on its results, the survey said: "While curiosity about tablet devices as a whole is still high, Apple's position is not entrenched enough to make it unassailable. With the marketing campaigns of other companies still nascent, 2011 could be the year rival brands disrupt Apple's market, rather than the other way round."
Here are some more stats courtesy of VoucherCodes.
