Why the Apple Store is the iPad's Secret Weapon

Posted Apr 4, 2011 at 7:28AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: iPad News Tags: apple, Apple Store, ios, news, tablet

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Competing brands are discovering to their chagrin that you have to do more than put out a decent tablet to go against Apple’s iPad, and an analyst has some ideas about what they’re doing wrong. Displaysearch senior analyst Richard Shim recently detailed the differences in approach between Apple and the other companies attempting to crash the tablet market. According to Shim, one big problem is that the Apple rivals still haven’t figured out how to categorize the tablet market. He gives the example of Samsung, where the mobile PC groups are unable to decide which one gets to claim the tablet as its turf. This uncertainty probably helped cost Acer’s former President and CEO Gianfranco Lanci his job, since he decided to retreat into the company’s PC roots just as the board was ready to move into tablet territory. This was likely why the board asked him to step down. Another problem for non-Apple products is that they are sold by retail chains that owe no loyalty to any one line and whose salespeople have no real knowledge of the differences among the devices. A clerk who is asked why the Motorola Xoom or other tablet costs more than the iPad, or why they should choose one tablet over another may not have a ready answer on their lips.

That brings us to Shim’s idea of Apple’s real secret weapon—the Apple retail store. Prospective customers who walk into an Apple Store know immediately what they’ll find—a focus on all Apple products and a well-trained staff that stands ready to explain everything you want to know about ay of them. None of the brands trying to launch a competing tablet have this advantage. Good luck fighting it out at Best Buy and Walmart, guys.    

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