Quite a few people have been talking about all the upcoming tablets taking on the iPad. Whether it’s the Motorola Xoom and its Android Honeycomb OS, the HP TouchPad, or RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook, the sharks are circling, and they all want a bite of Apple.
For the most part, the latest, greatest tablets are luring customers with dual-core processors, HDMI output, Adobe Flash support, memory expansion, video chat, HD camcorders, and 4G wireless connections. The specs are impressive, and some of them (such as Flash support) won’t likely find their way onto the second generation of the iPad.
But as competing manufacturers trip over themselves to out-spec each other, I have to wonder if they’re missing the point. In fact, it feels a little like deja-vu after spending the past four years watching companies wage a failed battle of specs against the iPod.
If Apple really wanted to screw with the competition (and tech analysts), it should just slap a “No. 2″ sticker on all the iPad boxes out there and see what happens. I suspect the iPad in its current configuration would still outsell all other tablets this year.
I’m no fanboy. In fact, my job here at CNET relies on a steady stream of iPad competitors, and I couldn’t be more excited to see this space grow. Still, there are some things Apple does better than anyone else, and a true competitor to the iPad can only do so much with a dazzling spec sheet before confronting the following Apple strongholds head-on.
