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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Competition in Tablet Space Intensifying

The wonderful thing about the economy, especially when there are more than a few competitors pursuing their share of the market, is watching how it follows general marketing principles.  Specifically in the tablet market, you have your market leaders pushing their differentiation strategy while others use a low pricing strategy to gain market share.

"New stats from market research firm IHS iSuppli show Apple’s iPad surging ahead of other media tablets to gain a 70 percent market share in the second quarter of 2012."  But not resting on their laurels, expectations are that a mini iPad will be announced  shortly to add to their product line.  New entrants like the Microsoft Surface may cause a buzz while Samsung is banking on growing its share of the Galaxy and Google with the Nexus7.  And of course there is the Kindle from Amazon and the Nook from Barnes & Noble.  In the case of the Nook, they hope to grow business with a timely cut in their price just as school is about to begin.

The joys of a crowded marketplace, inciting constant innovation and pushing the others to keep their eye on the prize.  It should make for a fun Holiday Season as each of these companies sell their benefits to the consumer.


What's A CD, Teens Prefer Online

My son and I were walking through our local mall and he spotted a new store across from his favorite, GameStop.  It was simply called The CD Store and my son wondered why.  With access to songs through iTunes and YouTube, a physical CD isn't something he even thinks about. And according to the Nielsen research, he is not alone.

And for 17 and under, You Tube heads the list of preferences.  "In addition to treating YouTube as a de facto free music service, young people said they are less inclined than those 18 years old and up to listen to CDs or the radio."  The chart in the Wall Street Journal does offer some other interesting observations.

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For all age groups, CDs ranked higher for usage than other media platforms, both new and old; higher than Sirius, higher than Facebook, higher than TV (Take than MTV), and even higher than Pandora.  Still it is important to note that this is a moment in time and not a trend analysis to indicate the direction of usage that teens are taking.  As we all know, they are a fickle bunch and can change quickly for many reasons.

That the article suggests that CDs are done, they are less used than even radio for teens. For adults, CDs are still a tried and true formula and perhaps that is why a CD store has popped into our mall.  Adults rank CDs second behind radio in the survey.  Ahh the older generation loves their old fashioned technology.