Friday
Oct262012
Google Nexus 7 + £100 vs. iPad mini
Friday, October 26, 2012 at 2:59AM Now it is getting interesting. When I wrote about the iPad mini, I said that a £70 premium over the Nexus 7 seemed about right, but now that the Nexus 7 has dropped to £169.99 I can imagine that many potential purchasers will have to think a little harder. If I was in the market for a small tablet on any platform, I suspect I would be tempted to go for the Nexus now and pocket the £100 difference.
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Reader Comments (17)
only for people buying on specs. We all know the display is considerably inferior
http://www.cnet.com.au/nexus-7-display-noticeably-washed-out-displaymate-339340897.htm
Those already on iOS won't be conned by the price difference. The people who will be swayed will be those with fandroid friends who will push them that way. They will then be underwhelmed by the lack of tablet specific apps for it.
It's dropped because the 32GB Nexus 7 is coming in at the £199 price point. I don't think it's been announced yet but the rumours seem pretty solid.
The 32GB miniPad is £349; a £150 premium for a lower res screen and slower processor.
That Apple ecosystem better be worth it...
Also Apple's pricing on memory upgrades needs to change. Unless people buy them anyway, which is looking far less certain than with previous Apple launches.
David I trust these guys over someone who's after cheap publicity: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6073/the-google-nexus-7-review/3
That DisplayMate guy's been getting a lot of articles lately and I think he's mostly grabbing headlines.
Doesn't mean that the miniPad's display isn't superior in several important ways, it probably is (even though it's far lower in PPI). But the Nexus 7 display looked pretty good when I used one and certainly wouldn't convince me to spend significantly more on the Apple.
But you're probably right; those already on iOS won't be conned by the price difference, they'll be conned by the price.
The iPad Mini is expensive. But it is relying on the strength of the iPad. Interestingly in the US, it's market share has fallen to approx 60% due to android tablets, the quantity of them rather than a specific model.
I am more concerned about the rumoured 10 inch version. Samsung built this, so we all know it could be a stunner. But and it's a big but, the apps for tablets on android are dismal. I had the Nexus 7 so no first hand. However, it is possible to survive without them, simply using the web browser instead.
Going back to the iPad Mini, you are also paying for the engineering. The Eco system. The linkage between hardware and software. The gap is closing. I do think Apple were a bit heavy handed on the pricing but it will sell regardless. Stunning piece of kit.
It's tempting to see this price drop as a tactical response to the launch of the iPad Mini and I'm sure that's part of it, but I suspect this has much more to do with the success of the Kindle Fire HD.
So far, iOS purchasers have not proved to be price sensitive. If you want iOS, you get iOS. The same holds true, I'm guessing, for Android - if the iPad Mini had price parity with the Nexus 7, would Bug Blatter buy it? I doubt it - he'd want to stick with Android for a myriad of other reasons. Apple knows fine well that they don't require price parity with Android tablets and have therefore simply chosen a price point that slots right into the iOS line-up with the usual healthy profit margin. I predict that sales will be massive and that Apple will have an unprecedented quarter - the entire product range has been completely refreshed and tens of millions of iOS devices will sit under Christmas trees, this year.
But the Kindle Fire has been a huge sales success too and is the more direct threat to the Google Nexus - it might be an Android device, but it's not one which uses the Google ecosystem. In fact, it's a product which is in direct competition with Google and leverages Amazon's strengths in digital distribution. It's also priced quite aggressively.
Lowering the price of the Nexus 7 is likely to make a few Kindle Fire buyers think twice, but I doubt it will have more than a tiny impact on sales of the iPad Mini.
Agree with Peter. I don't think it matters much what the competition do with pricing, people will buy what they want regardless. I still pre-ordered an iPad mini today.
"those already on iOS won't be conned by the price difference, they'll be conned by the price."
"The people who will be swayed will be those with fandroid friends who will push them that way. They will then be underwhelmed by the lack of tablet specific apps for it."
Come on guys- we are doing this silly arguing about platforms every day now and it helps no one- some of you seem desperate to make anti-Apple comments on every story, but have you noticed that almost every time, people don't react angrily and are always 'grown up' about things. Except for this morning of course...
The iPad and iPad Mini is like a Ferrari.
Anything else is like a rusty Citroen 2CV. It will eventually get you there but I'd rather be sitting in the Ferrari.
Joking aside.
I actually think Google lowered its pricing to fend off amazon which is a monstrous threat. Huge threat. Amazon has its own Eco system and data storage.
I think that, for those without a hankering for a particular brand, will find this very attractive — although I think the most pertinent comment here so far is that Amazon, rather than Apple, is the likely competitive threat here.
Those who want an iPad Mini are not going to be put off by this, and those who want an Android tablet, or just want a tablet, are getting a great deal.
Ipad mini will actually eat into ipad4 sales more than Nexus sales. If you have an iphone you're more likely to buy the mini than Nexus or Amazon HD.
So does this mean they are selling at a loss? That can't be sustained forever.
@Shaun I think my response was reasonable given David's post. In context I did actually say positive things about the miniPad's display.
But if you don't want that kind of post then you shouldn't set the tone with "Yes, but they are Android tablets", which was "a glib comment designed to get reaction".
You're trolling your own site, which is fine but if you keep flitting back and forth between poacher and game-keeper it's going to get confusing.
Oh and I agree with those saying this is a response to the Kindle Fire HD, not to the miniPad. Amazon is a greater threat to Google simply because Google wants you to buy your apps and content from them, not Amazon.
@Tom Google's making no money from the tablets (although Asus probably is) but I very much doubt it's actually losing money.
However it's not really about the hardware. Google expects to make money from content purchases. It's like razor blades, printer cartridges and console games; they sell the handles, printers and consoles cheap because they make their money after your initial purchase. MS was reportedly making a loss on every XBox 360 they sold; they still made a ton of cash overall.
"You're trolling your own site, which is fine but if you keep flitting back and forth between poacher and game-keeper it's going to get confusing."
To be fair, I made 'one' comment which I explained at the time was to test the waters. I have had emails over the past two weeks from people asking why there are so many negative Apple comments which seem designed to provoke a reaction every day. These are from various people and 'one' comment does not constitue trolling. I love it when people discuss their preferences and the comments command lots of debate, but there has been a change over the past few weeks. Maybe I am fighting a losing battle like every other site when it comes to respectful debate...
"MS was reportedly making a loss on every XBox 360 they sold; they still made a ton of cash overall."
They have indeed, but the market is much different. Consoles have not been updated in years and it must cost them very, very little to make these things nowadays. Tablets seem to change every year, or even quicker on both iOS and Android now it seems.
"@Shaun I think my response was reasonable given David's post. "
Actually, having read the order of comments properly, yes your comment was reasonable. Obviously the comment you reacted to was not.
I have an iphone and an android device side by side at the moment.
It is scary how good android is and how Apple ios has a number of weaknesses.
Apple won't be able to hang on to the claim of app store and eco system forever.
Thanks Shaun. By the way my first post was made before seeing David's; the second was a response to it.
About the tone of comments, a difference I see on here is that the odd snarky comment doesn't turn into a flame war and responses tend to be based on genuine opinions rather than being personal attacks.
I think every couple of months you tend to post a "What's this place coming to; it never used to be like this" type of comment. Bit like how people have been criticising "the youth of today" and depairing of the future since Socrates ;o)
About the XBox 360, even if they made a loss on the hardware they made money on the games and accessories. Yes they're probably making a lot more money now, but I think even at the time the hardware was an acceptable loss-leader.