蘋(píng)果公司應(yīng)該還能享受一段統(tǒng)治平板電腦的快樂(lè)時(shí)光。但2011年假日銷(xiāo)售季節(jié)各類(lèi)廠商將推出大量平板電腦，其中許多產(chǎn)品的價(jià)格將大大低于iPad。 蘋(píng)果面臨的壓力日益增大，而且未來(lái)幾個(gè)月肯定會(huì)更大。蘋(píng)果尋求通過(guò)德國(guó)和澳洲的法院來(lái)保護(hù)自己的地盤(pán)。 有些人說(shuō)，價(jià)格并不是針對(duì)iPad的有效競(jìng)爭(zhēng)工具。但最近惠普TouchPad的例子說(shuō)明，許多買(mǎi)主樂(lè)意搶購(gòu)非常便宜的產(chǎn)品，而不愿意為顯然引領(lǐng)市場(chǎng)潮流的蘋(píng)果產(chǎn)品支付500多美元。惠普TouchPad在大幅降價(jià)之后，幾天內(nèi)就被搶購(gòu)一空。 除了通常的PC和智能手機(jī)廠商(華碩，戴爾，HTC，聯(lián)想，摩托羅拉，RIM，三星和東芝)，最近幾周我還在電子零售商的貨架上看到了以前與電腦市場(chǎng)沒(méi)什么關(guān)系的企業(yè)推出的各種平板電腦。進(jìn)入該市場(chǎng)或者暗示將進(jìn)入該市場(chǎng)的廠商包括華為、LG、諾基亞、索尼愛(ài)立信和中興通訊。而且這個(gè)名單在不斷拉長(zhǎng)。 例如，Vizio擁有非常有吸引力的平板電腦，與其平板電視一同在美國(guó)出售。Vizio 8英寸平板電腦正在作為娛樂(lè)設(shè)備銷(xiāo)售，將“讓你在指尖享受娛樂(lè)自由”。 這款Vizio平板電腦完全具備其它多數(shù)平板電腦的特點(diǎn)：可以瀏覽網(wǎng)頁(yè)、觀看電視、電影、音樂(lè)和應(yīng)用，而且經(jīng)過(guò)了優(yōu)化可以充當(dāng)萬(wàn)能遙控器，可以滿(mǎn)足一切娛樂(lè)需求。它采用谷歌安卓操作系統(tǒng)，零售價(jià)約為329美元，而較低端的蘋(píng)果iPad還要賣(mài)到499美元。確實(shí)，它不是iPad，無(wú)疑，蘋(píng)果迷們會(huì)這樣告訴你。但到12月，Vizio平板電腦零售價(jià)可能降到300美元以下，屆時(shí)可能吸引家長(zhǎng)、配偶甚至企業(yè)前來(lái)購(gòu)買(mǎi)。我可能給我上高中的孩子買(mǎi)一個(gè)這樣的產(chǎn)品。 還有熱炒的亞馬遜平板電腦，預(yù)計(jì)將在本季度上市，價(jià)格同樣較低。帶著亞馬遜的品牌，它可能與該公司其它產(chǎn)品與服務(wù)有更緊密的聯(lián)系，據(jù)稱(chēng)亞馬遜準(zhǔn)備在該平板上面承受一些虧損，通過(guò)書(shū)籍、音樂(lè)和錄像等產(chǎn)品的銷(xiāo)售加以彌補(bǔ)。 除了iPad，消費(fèi)者擁有大量誘人的其它選擇。在上述產(chǎn)品上市之后，消費(fèi)者可能就不會(huì)擔(dān)憂可能買(mǎi)不起iPad了。 我對(duì)消費(fèi)者不太擔(dān)憂，他們處于有利地位。我比較擔(dān)心生產(chǎn)平板電腦的OEM廠商和生產(chǎn)平板電腦部件的供應(yīng)商。如果爆發(fā)價(jià)格戰(zhàn)，所有人都會(huì)受傷。目前平板市場(chǎng)所期待的利潤(rùn)率，最終會(huì)震動(dòng)市場(chǎng)，但在一些供應(yīng)商和OEM廠商虧損慘重之前，市場(chǎng)不會(huì)受到振動(dòng)。 我認(rèn)為，廠商很快就會(huì)研究另一種做法。這是一種捆 綁策略，智能手機(jī)廠商和電信服務(wù)提供商用得不錯(cuò)，即產(chǎn)品大幅折價(jià)或者免費(fèi)派送，只要消費(fèi)者愿意簽署多年期的訂閱協(xié)議。如果平板產(chǎn)業(yè)采用這種做法，我們不僅會(huì)看到更加便宜的平板電腦，而且許多產(chǎn)品可能會(huì)免費(fèi)送給電信訂戶(hù)。 如果該產(chǎn)業(yè)走上這條道路，有些廠商將被迫退出平板電腦市場(chǎng)，因?yàn)榇_定哪些廠商可以生存的權(quán)力將從OEM廠商轉(zhuǎn)移到電信服務(wù)提供商手上。當(dāng)然，有些廠商仍將在邊緣生存，但實(shí)力較強(qiáng)的廠商將必須與服務(wù)提供商結(jié)盟。蘋(píng)果在智能手機(jī)領(lǐng)域很好地采用了這種策略，但電信公司是否同樣承擔(dān)折價(jià)后的平板電腦的成本？ 編譯: Luffy Liu 本文授權(quán)編譯自EBN Online，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 參考英文原文: The Other Tablets, by Bolaji Ojo

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{pagination} The Other Tablets Bolaji Ojo TweetinShare0Apple Inc. should enjoy its domination of the tablet PC market while it lasts. A flood of tablets from all kinds of manufacturers will hit the market during the 2011 holiday sales season, and many of them will be priced at a hefty discount to the iPad. The pressure that has been building on Apple, which has resorted to defending its tablet turf in German and Australian courts, is bound to intensify in the coming months. Some people say pricing will not be an effective competitive weapon against the iPad. But the recent case of the TouchPad from Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) -- it sold out completely within days after a severe price cut -- indicates many buyers would gladly snap up a much cheaper device than pay $500 for the clearly market-leading product from Apple. In addition to the usual PC and smartphone vendors (Asus, Dell, HTC, Lenovo, Motorola Mobility, Research in Motion, Samsung, and Toshiba), I have seen tablets from companies not traditionally associated with the computer market on electronics retailer shelves over the last several weeks. Companies that have entered or signaled they will enter the market include Huawei, LG, Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, and ZTE. The list is stretching out. For instance, Vizio Inc. has a pretty attractive tablet stocked alongside its flat-screen television offerings at BJs in the United States. The simply dubbed "Vizio 8-inch tablet" is being marketed by the company as an entertainment device that will "keep entertainment freedom at your fingertips." The Vizio tablet offers exactly what most other tablets do -- access to the Web, TV shows, movies, music, and apps -- and is optimized to serve as a universal remote control for the ultimate couch-potato experience. It runs the Google Android operating system and retails for approximately $329, versus the $499 for the lower-end Apple iPad. Sure, it's not an iPad, as, no doubt, Apple enthusiasts will tell you. But by December, the Vizio tablet may be retailing below $300, making it an appealing purchase for parents, spouses, and even corporate entities. I might buy a product like that for my high schoolers. Then there is the much touted Amazon tablet, which is forecast to make its debut this quarter at a similarly low price point. With the Amazon name behind it, there's the promise of a tighter link with other offerings by that company, which is reportedly willing to take a loss on the device and make up the difference in other sales: books, music, video, etc. Consumers have a lot of tantalizing options to the iPad. And with the kind of offerings I expect to hit the market, consumers may not care they can't afford the iPad. My concern is not so much for consumers -- they're in good hands -- but for the OEMs making the tablets and the component suppliers supporting them. A price war hurts everyone. The kind of margins now expected on the tablet could end up shaking up the market, but not before some suppliers and OEMs suffer considerable losses. There's another solution I believe companies will start exploring soon. This is the bundled strategy that has been well tested by smartphone manufacturers and telecommunication service providers, which heavily discount products or give them away, as long as consumers were willing to sign multiyear subscription agreements. If the industry follows this pattern, not only will we see even cheaper tablets, but many of them likely will be offered free to telecom subscribers. If the industry goes in this direction, some manufacturers will be forced to exit the tablet market, because the power to determine viable players will shift from the OEMs themselves to telecom service partners. Some, of course, will still exist in the margin, but the stronger players would have to ally themselves with service providers. Apple has done reasonably well with this strategy in the smartphone segment, but will telcoms be as willing to suck up the cost of discounted tablets?