Taking a bite out of the Apple
Executives from both Dell and HP have both had a go at Apple, from predicting the fate of its iPad to criticising the relationship the firm has with its partners, while a Microsoft exec has revealed he is not sure whether tablets are here to stay.
In a week that has seen long queues outside Apple shops all over the world for the now sold-out iPad 2, Dell's head of Marketing, Andy Lark told CIO Australia that Apple's iPad will fail in the enterprise market.
He reportedly reckons that Apple's tablet will lose out to Android and Microsoft slates in the long run due to pressure from an open enterprise market.
While Lark conceded that Apple had done well to kick off the tablet market with its iPad around a year ago, he apparently thinks it will be overtaken by more ‘open' rivals.
"I couldn't be happier that Apple has created a market and built up enthusiasm but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price and proprietary. Apple has done a really nice job, they've got a great product, but the challenge they've got is that already Android is outpacing them," he told the publication.
He reportedly added: "Apple is great if you've got a lot of money and live on an island. It's not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex." Ouch.
Lark went on to say that the cost of accessories for the iPad make it almost inaccessible, as if a customer forks out for a keyboard, mouse and case to go with their shiny new toy, it doubles the cost of the tablet, which he said is ‘not feasible'. (Although he must be choosing some pretty special additional hardware to double the cost.)
Focusing on his own company, Lark suggested that Dell's long-term tablet strategy is based on enterprise adoption and he reportedly said: "We've taken a very considered approach to tablets, given that the vast majority of our business isn't in the consumer space."
However the firm has not committed to a single OS but prefers to hedge its bets with multiple options.
"We will do Windows 7 coupled with Android Honeycomb, and we're really excited. We think that giving people that choice is very important," he reportedly added.
