Snapshot of the computer market
“2011 was supposed to be the year of the Android tablet.For one thing an addendum to the report lists for the first time the names of Apple’s major subcontractors — 156 companies, many in the Far East, representing 97% of the company’s supply chain. The list is available here for anyone to read.The argument for counting iPads as PCs is because many people are buying an iPad now INSTEAD OF a computer.One year later, Android tablets have failed to meet expectations and for the most part have been unsuccessful.
The same cannot be said for smart phones at this time. (I think down the road this may change as well, with improved user interfaces.) For another, the report enumerates the violations discovered — and Apple’s responses — in the company’s 2011 audit of those suppliers. Although most electronics manufacturers rely on the same labor force to make their products, Apple tends to get singled for criticism when abuses come to light.
This year, tablets had a much smaller presence as vendors appear to be placing greater emphasis on Windows 8. We expect Windows 8 ARM tablets to ramps slowly as most Apps require rewriting for ARM-based tablet hardware.Although most of Apple’s suppliers were discovered to be in violation of one rule or another — nearly 70%, for example, failed to pay proper overtime — Apple severed relations with only one of them: an unnamed “repeat offender.”
It seems to me that if you allow iPads to be counted as PCs, then naturally you need to allow all touch interface tablets to be counted as PCs, including 7″ and 5″ tablets, and then…the 4.65″ smartphones,The audit is unlikely to satisfy critics like monologist Mike Daisey — who reports that suppliers are routinely forewarned of Apple’s inspections in time to hide their underage workers — but the fact remains that the company is the only American electronics manufacturer we know of that bothers to conduct these yearly checks.
As if to underscore his point, Whitmore’s note to clients Friday included the above chart, showing what IDC’s picture of the global computer market would look like if the tracking firm counted tablets as computers. We remain skeptical that Win 8 tablets will gain much traction this year (App rewrites take time / developer ecosystem support). As a result, we expect the move away from Android tablet investment and a slow ramp of Win 8 tablets to create a favorable competitive backdrop for Apple’s forthcoming iPad 3.”
