With all of the debate about whether or not Apple will prevail with its new subscription pricing for media apps on the iPad and iPhone, it is helpful to keep one thing in mind: nobody else yet comes close to selling as many tablet computers as Apple. In fact, if you count the iPad as a mobile computer, in the fourth quarter Apple passed HP as the biggest manufacturer of mobile computers measured by products shipped. According to NPD’s DisplaySearch, Apple shipped 10.2 million laptops and iPads in the quarter, giving it a 17.2 percent share of the mobile computing market compared to HP’s 15.6 percent share. (Acer, Dell, and Toshiba filled in the remaining spots in the top five).
Now remember that Apple shipped 7.3 million iPads last quarter, up from 3 million the quarter before. So it’s new position atop the mobile computing heap comes directly from the popularity of the iPad. (You could argue it doesn’t belong in the same category as laptops, but it is mobile and it is a computer).
Given this sheer dominance, it shouldn’t be too surprising that Apple feels emboldened to dictate pricing terms which it may not have gotten away with at the iPad’s launch. Publishers and other subscription media services who are balking at handing over 30 percent of their subscription fees to Apple in perpetuity might want to consider the alternative—missing out on one of the fastest-growing computing devices of all time.
For a refresher, let’s revisit Mary Meeker’s excellent slide comparing the first three months of the iPad to the iPhone and iPod
Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook Air) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod, the...
The Apple iPad, formerly referred to as the Apple Tablet, is a touch-pad tablet computer announced in January 2010, and released in April 2010. It has internet capabilities running on either WiFi or 3G, and offers an optional dock with a full size mechanical keyboard. The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. Its size and...
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