Media Tablets To Sell 11 Million In 2010

Apple iPad to account for a significant portion, said ABI Research in nearly tripling its original projection.

By Esther Shein
InformationWeek
July 21, 2010 12:50 PM

http://www.informationweek.com/news/smb/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226100077

We've rounded up a variety of iPad applications.
(Click for larger image and for full iPad app gallery.)
Some 11 million media tablets are expected to ship by year end, according to ABI Research -- a figure almost triple its original estimate, made only six months ago.

The firm is revising its earlier forecast of four million shipments "based both on the broader availability of the iPad and on the delayed introduction of competing products," said Jeff Orr, ABI Research principal analyst for mobile devices, in a statement. "Assuming that competing tablets from other vendors do arrive in the second half of the year as expected, we believe that the iPad will account for a significant portion -- but not all -- of the projected 11 million units. To capitalize on the usual fourth-quarter sales boom, other tablets need to reach retailers' shelves by early September."

The other tablet vendors are yet to be determined, Orr said in an e-mail. "There are several device OEMs planning to launch tablets, but no significant brand challenges were launched during the first half of the year,'' he said. If they are released by September, he said, "there could be anywhere from three to five vendors that gain some traction by year-end."

The media tablet segment still does not constitute a "mass market," Orr noted, and probably would not before 2013. Given that Apple's distribution reach is still "quite limited," any market changes would be influenced by broader availability as well as activity from iPad competitors, he said

Several factors have contributed to the delay in the launch of several competing tablets, according to ABI Research's newly released study, "Netbooks, MIDs, Media Tablets, and Mobile CE Market Data," including the global recession, questions over which operating system to deploy, and how to compete with the success of the iPad user experience.

The attention tablets are receiving will also impact other parts of the consumer electronics market, said Orr. "In particular, the surge in interest in media tablets is impacting the MID (mobile internet device) category,'' he said. "Most of the volume that we've projected for the MID category since 2007 is now being taken over by other device form factors: media tablets, but also smartphones, which are assuming more and more of the functionality that was envisioned for these 'non-voice handsets'."



The iPad is Great But Remember—It’s Apple’s Way or the Highway
Early efforts are promising but Apple leaves publishers with no leverage.

 By Matt Kinsman
07/22/2010 -11:42 AM

http://www.foliomag.com/2010/ipad-great-remember-it-s-apple-s-way-or-highway

Magazine publishers are scrambling to be on the iPad and why not?  Wired saw 73,000 downloads in the first nine days after its iPad edition launched and editor-in-chief Chris Anderson anticipated iPad downloads beating newsstand sales (which average mid-80,000) in June without cannibalizing print sales. IDG's PCWorld and Macworld went from 600 monthly downloads COMBINED with their digital editions to 8,000 downloads with their iPad version. With the iPad (and the slew of tablets expected to hit the market), publishers have finally found a format online.
 
But getting an app approved can be a frustrating ordeal, especially when publishers find out at the 11th hour that their proposal has been rejected (in what increasingly seems to be arbitrary fashion). Condé Nast famously had to rework its iPad apps when Apple announced that it wouldn't accept Flash.

More recently, a source told FOLIO: that Sports Illustrated was forced to withdraw its subscription model for an iPad app, even though the magazine felt like it was following similar models of the Wall Street Journal and Wired by allowing print subscribers to access the iPad version free this year, with new readers buying the content a month at a time. Apple is said to have forced SI to change the offer to single copy purchase. SI declined to comment about whether it had to change its subscription model but a spokesperson did say, “We’re working with several partners to develop our subscription platform which we hope to introduce later this year.”
 
Most digital magazine vendors are offering an iPad app these days and serve as an intermediary between the publisher and Apple. But working with Apple can be frustrating for them as well. “It’s tough because they really want you to play by their rules,” Marcus Grimm, marketing director at NXTbook Media, tells me.  “In the process of submitting our app to the Apple Store, we wanted to include Omniture tracking because our publishers have come to expect a lot of data. Apple has been very upfront about saying, ‘Hey, we're going to watch how much data you can give people.’ The Apple process says, ‘If you do anything special with tracking, please let us know ahead of time so we can guide you’ and we wrote a long e-mail about what we wanted to track and why, and their response was, ‘We won't comment until you submit the app.’ We’re developing according to how we think they'll react but that’s not really a business partnership. You just read the spec guide and say a prayer.”
 
That leaves publishers (who have invested significant time and money in developing apps) at the mercy of a process they largely have to guess at. Long-term, an even bigger concern is how Apple can dictate both the financial model and customer interaction with emerging iPad editions.

We’ve often heard that “the newsstand model is broken.” Let’s hope that the promise of the iPad and other tablets isn’t broken before it’s even out of the gate.


'Kindle Shame' Spurs Publishers to Action
Some devices are already going out of style.

 By Richard Stephenson
07/22/2010 -12:29 PM

http://www.foliomag.com/2010/kindle-shame-spurs-publishers-action

I recently heard of a fellow in Boston, a friend of a colleague, who was an early adopter of Amazon's Kindle e-reader [pictured]. When he first bought his Kindle, he was eager to show it off, frequently bringing it to coffee houses to bask in the glow of adulation from curious onlookers.

Then came the iPad.

This gentleman now does his Kindle reading in the privacy of his home, embarrassed to bring his relic out in public. He has what I call "Kindle Shame."

The iPad, like many Apple product introductions, has made lunatics out of many of us. It has also created an extraordinary opportunity for publishers, because the iPad widens the definition of eReader exponentially. People who couldn't justify the cost of a traditional eReader will pay more for an iPad because it's multi-purpose - it's not just an eReader, but for many users it also functions as a wi-fi-enabled laptop.

It also sets a new bar for publishers. In some ways it's a higher bar, because of its touchscreen interface. And in some ways, many would say, it's a lower bar because of Apple's unwillingness to support Flash-based publications.

Either way, the iPad has created a quandary for publishers, many of whom are desperate to get their content onto the iPad, and fast. Unless they are satisfied to present their content in a simple, non-Flash web based publication (only accessible where wi-fi is available), the iPad requires publishers to create a new iPad-specific digital format. And it also requires them to create an App.

At a high level, there are two options: create your own App (or outsource creation of one), or pursue a newsstand model. Creating your own App may require a higher up-front cost, but enables you to maintain control of your brand and leverage the popularity of the App Store and reach billions of potential global readers. This model is the most intuitive for readers who are looking for your content (they just search for Folio, for instance, at the App Store). Pursuing a newsstand model, where your publication is posted at an online newsstand and readers use that newsstand's App to access it, may lower your up-front costs, but in the long term you sacrifice control of your brand and potentially revenue due to exclusion of your title from the App store

Of course there are other variables to consider - too many to cover here. But please, whichever strategy you choose, make sure the process is repeatable. Many of the very first magazines available on the iPad were introduced with great fanfare and bells and whistles - but they were custom, one-time Apps. Except for the most cash-rich publishers (is that an oxymoron?), this is not a sustainable model. You don't want to have to start from scratch developing iPad Apps for every new edition of your publication. You wouldn't re-design every print edition from scratch, would you?

One other consideration as you evaluate your options: Ideally, the approach you select would be extendible to other eReader platforms as well, so you don't have to deal with multiple vendors. You might even consider creating a version for the Kindle, although much of that reading might take place in private these days.
A New Tool for Building Your Own Newspaper App

By: E&P Staff   Published: July 22, 2010
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Departments/Online/a-new-tool-for-building-your-own-newspaper-app-62076-.aspx

NEW YORK

Publishers looking to create a mobile app for their newspapers have another option to consider in building it.

YAPPER (Your APP MakER ), a tool developed by Silicon Valley-based company SachManya, is an online self-service mobile application maker that allows anyone to build their own native iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry mobile application at a starting price of $299. There are developer skills required, and the designer doesn’t have to enter a single line of code.

Palo Alto Online, the community site that includes the online version of the Palo Alto Weekly, and the West Seattle (Wash.) Herald have both developed their mobile applications using YAPPER, and are available for the iPhone and Android. Their YAPPER-built mobile apps include a review of news, photos and videos, among other interactive features.

“Building the app with YAPPER was very affordable, and we are planning to create more mobile apps for our other news properties,” Embarcadero Media President/CEO William S. Johnson said in a statement.
 
Check out the Palo Alto Online app for the iPhone here. To download the West Seattle Herald iPhone app, go here.