Jason Dunn
04-15-2011, 11:49 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/55401-xoom-snafu-delays-honeycomb-tablet-launches' target='_blank'>http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-fea...tablet-launches</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Potential iPad competitors are reportedly delaying the launch of Honeycomb-powered tablets as faltering Motorola Xoom sales fail to meet industry expectations. According to DigiTimes, Google has allegedly failed to resolve a number of issues affecting Android 3.0, including brand image, pricing, lack of apps and "unstable" OS performance."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/lpt/auto/1302899654.usr1.jpg" /></p><p>This is definitely not good news for HTC, Asus, and the other tablet manufacturers: Google seems to have really dropped the ball on this one. The <a href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110415PD205.html" target="_blank">Digitimes article</a> is light on specifics, but it seems the poor sales of the XOOM have other tablet makers spooked - and the lack of tablet applications and missing features of the XOOM at launch (the non-functional microSD card is apparently Google's fault) have made for an unstable ecosystem for Android tablets. I think it would be a shame for the other OEMs to delay their products though; the only way to work through these issues is to get the products out, establish a baseline pool of customers for developers to target, and build from there. When the iPad first launched it had virtually no native apps either, but within a few months there were hundreds (if not thousands). You've got to start somewhere!</p>