Sony and Samsung tablets miss the mark thanks to idiotic contracts and pricing | Hacker News Reader

Sony and Samsung tablets miss the mark thanks to idiotic contracts and pricing

thetechblock.com

31 pointsTechBlock116 comments

I don't understand: is this article slamming Sony and Samsung for their price and then saying that Apple is basically priced the same? Am I missing something here or is this just a biased editorial with no substance?

The Apple tablets are priced the same, but don't come with a mandatory 2-year cellular service commitment.

When you buy an iPad with a cellular modem built in, you can establish service whenever you want and cancel it whenever you like.

When you buy an Android tablet from a carrier, you have to establish service when you buy it, and keep it for 2 years running, under penalty of a $350 ETF.

He said getting them without a contract brought them up to ~$699, whereas the iPad without a contract is $629. That's not a big difference.

You can buy one for $499 without contract.

The problem is it's a difference at all and for a lesser valued brand with a smaller screen that's a losing proposition. It's like a 32" inch Vizio tv costing more then a 35" Panasonic, the whole idea is a nonstarter for most customers.

The questions is: what proportion of all iPads sold have been 3G versions? My unscientific observation is that the vast majority of iPads are WiFi-only.

This suggests that most consumers don't actually want a cell-network-enabled tablet, and would rather keep the money.

So really it's $500 vs. $699 + features the customer likely doesn't even want.

That's a tough sell.

There are a few ways to look at it.

The cheapest iPad you can get without a contract is $499, compared to $699 for the other tablets.

Then there is your way.

I found it confusing at first but I believe it's trying to say that you don't have to sign a contract to get the basic wifi iPad, unlike with the 7.7 galaxy tab which starts out at $499 with a 2 year contract. If you buy without the 2 year contract it would cost an enormous $699 which is less than the carrier iPad at $629.

That's not quite what he's saying as none of the iPad models are available with a 2-year contract including the 3g models. You are always paying full price for the hardware and with the 3g models have the ability to cancel the data plan at any time with no additional fees.

No. First of all the price increases without a having a carrier supported model; the iPad 2 3G cost more than the Wifi only model. It's also saying that Samsung and Sony's offerings do not offer value for money when compared to iPad. This of course is the authors opinion; one that he is entitled too in the same way that you are entitled to your own. It's only biased because you disagree. You are wrong, by the way...

When your competitors' similar product is ahead of you, you have 3 options: 1. Create a better product. 2. Price your product cheaper. 3. Fold and re-emerge as a new brand/company/product.

Which one is Sony/Samsung doing?

Well, one of the tablets certainly folds...

There's another option: realize you aren't going to win overall and focus on exploiting a niche market.

Lacking the scale and ecosystem halos of Apple and Amazon the default move for Samsung et al is to put out small runs of of high spec, low margin machines that sell to enthusiasts and uninformed consumers. Keep a decently reviewed product line alive and in the black for the future when hopefully corporate or government sales explode and you have a shot at a bigger market.

Carriers cannot treat tablets like phones, because heavy subsidies cannot be recouped with only a data plan.

So they try to find a middle ground, offering a $200-ish subsidy in exchange for a 2-year data plan. Unfortunately, their customers don't find the proposition worth it when they can split the difference and own an iPad outright.

Apple is at the high end of the tablet price spectrum, and the market has decided their products are worth that price. Being "basically priced the same" as Apple means Sony/Samsung are setting these tablets up as premium offerings. How are they going to convince consumers to pay more for these than they'd pay for an ASUS or Lenovo tablet? What features are they going to market that will make people say "yeah, this is a premium tablet worth top dollar"?

They're roughly the same price (a little more sans contract, but not too much), but also a much smaller screen (7.7 instead of 9.7). So you pay a bit more, and get less.

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