Tablet makers who want to compete with Apple have to cut the prices of their products, Richard Windsor, global technology specialist at Nomura Securities, said during a presentation at the Open Mobile Summit in London on Thursday.
The problem for vendors like Samsung, Motorola and HTC is that their products simply aren’t as good as what Apple can offer with the iPad and the ecosystem around it, according to Windsor.
If prices don’t come down, vendors will continue to have trouble selling larger quantities of their products, because consumers will buy an iPad instead. Prices have to come down to somewhere in the region of US$300 before vendors will “start seeing some meaningful volumes,” Windsor said.
An important element is the cost of screens, and Samsung, which makes screens for other manufacturers as well as its own Android-based Galaxy tablets, is about to increase its production capabilities. That will result in screens getting cheaper, which will help vendors cut the costs of their products significantly, according to Windsor.
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