What we said: This looks like being the first
Honeycomb tablet to get a positive reception from
reviewers around the world. It's got all the normal
boxes ticked having the larger 10" screen and
the price looks quite attractive, and, in
particular, there's an option to get a nicely
designed keyboard dock which contains a booster
battery. There's also a remote desktop app thrown in
allowing you to access your real or virtualised
Windows PC back at the office. The screen
resolution, near-standard for the larger Android
slates at 1280 x 800, should comfortably support
working with a virtualised Windows PC. These extras go
a long way to attract the buyer who's a little
uncertain whether they want to abandon the Windows
ecosystem straight away.
Update: Great reviews, awards and healthy sales point
to a success story for Asus here. The Transformer range has now been extended with a TF300 - a Prime model that has a beautiful screen, though some issues with wireless reception - and now with the new TF700 Infinity, which has a higher screen resolution and is one of the best tablets available today.
4) Amazon Kindle Fire
What we said: This is obviously pretty high billing
for something that no one has seen yet, so the
prediction is based largely on Amazon's track record
selling the Kindle eReader. It designed an effective
product and, above all, it promoted it well. In a
market where the buying experience has almost as much
bearing as the specifications, Amazon's loyal buyers
could well prove very influential.
Update: Initially, the Kindle Fire took off like a storm, but
2012 has proved a tougher year, with Amazon trailing
behind Samsung and barely in orbit around Apple. The updated version of the first Kindle Fire is now, at last, available in the UK, together with the new Fire HD. There's also a larger 8-inch version in the pipeline.
What we said: OK, so it's not the most exciting
choice for the number 3 spot, but remember, this is a
sales prediction, not a battle of the spec sheets.
That's just as well for the Nook really, because it
has the lowest spec of all the tablets here - it's an
eReader which grew up. Apart from having sales already
in the bag, it also has a very attractive price and,
not surprisingly, very good credentials as ... an
eReader. Really this is probably best for the
older user. The Android Froyo platform that it
runs on is pretty well hidden and the choice of apps
is limited (unless you want to get technical by
installing the Google app market), but for many buyers
this will be perfectly adequate and perhaps more
reliable.
Update: The Kindle's competitor has fared quite well,
though Amazon still wins in the popularity stakes. This year's model should be available in the UK soon.
What we said: With more than 80% of the market in
2010 and credited with having created the tablet
market in the first place, Apple's original needs
little introduction. It had made many sales before the
newer slimmer version came out in March, and it
continued to sell even after that. That's the reason
it gets the number 2 spot here. However, if you're
thinking of picking one up now, remember that
it's bulkier and slower than this year's models - and,
of course, it has no cameras.
Update: When its successor came out, the first
generation iPad still enjoyed a splurge of second-hand
sales via sites such as eBay.
What we said: It's probably very safe to predict
that the iPad will still be securely in the number 1
spot through to the end of 2011. Part of the genius
that's gone into this product is the judgement of when
it was right to deliver less. While the new iPad's
specs are not that revolutionary - especially when it
comes to the camera - it is the way that it's put
together and the way that it's sold that make the
difference. Not to mention having the best choice of
apps. If we predict that the iPad's share of the
market has dropped to between 50 and 60% by Christmas,
and remember that it wasn't available for the first
couple of months of 2011, that suggests that for the
whole year it should have a share of around 40%.
Update: Dare we say we told you so? Indeed, despite
dropping to around 40% of the market share in 2011,
the iPad 2 was still the top seller by far.
The Rest
If you think I've missed one of the best
tablets on the market, add a comment below to
boost the appreciation for your special
favourite.
