Time To Get Serious about Tablets

The Mobile World Conference set the eyes of the technology world on Barcelona this week, with companies from around the world gathered to show off their solutions for the rapidly growing mobile market. Everything from processors to software to devices was on display, and while laptops remain the bedrock of the mobile device landscape and smartphones continue their explosive growth, the real star of this year’s show was the hottest new device on the market: tablets.

Ironically, the company that launched the tablet revolution wasn’t in attendance at this week’s mobile show, although that’s hardly a shocker; Apple typically does not have a presence at conferences such as MWC or CES. Still, the company’s iPad is the founding father of the tablet movement.  Since the April 2010 launch, Apple has sold 14.8 million units, far more than any analyst predictions and surpassing its own MacBook sales. In fact, when combining tablet and laptop sales, Apple became the top mobile PC manufacturer in the fourth quarter of 2010, boosted primarily by iPad sales.

Based on that success, it’s a no-brainer that other manufacturers want a piece of this market, and with Apple absent in Barcelona, many were able to show what they have in mind. The vast majority of the devices on display were running Honeycomb, the version of Google’s Android operating system optimized for tablets. The Motorola Xoom, the Samsung  Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the LG Optimus Pad were some of the most popular tablets running Honeycomb. Android’s popularity is due to its open operating system, making it easier for developers to come up with innovative solutions. It has quickly gained marketshare in the smartphone space and appears ready to make a big splash in the tablet space as well.

It’s not necessarily a two-horse race, however. There are a raft of companies working hard to ensure strong platform competition beyond Apple and Google in the mobile market. Microsoft’s biggest news of the week was its partnership with Nokia for smartphones, but it also will have Windows7 on tablets from Dell and Toshiba. HP announced a strategy of bringing webOS to its suite of devices, including smartphones, PCs and its Touchpad tablet.

It is clear that tablets will become a significant part of the computing landscape going forward. Two separate CompTIA studies—the 2011 Outlook and the 2010 Healthcare IT study—show a high intent to purchase tablets for enterprise use. It is also clear that this is a dynamic area with many questions left to answer. CIOs will have to determine which devices and operating systems are most appropriate for the organization. The ROI for deploying tablets as opposed to refreshing laptops will have to be quantified. Enterprise software will have to be adapted to tablets. Security systems will have to account for this new device.

Software and websites rapidly can change the way we work, but rarely does a piece of hardware provide that same type of change. There is great opportunity now to understand the direction of the tablet market, how the devices integrate into businesses, and what services can be built up around the new infrastructure.