Strategy Comparison Paper: Apple's Ipad

Strategy Comparison Paper: Apple’s iPad

On April 3, 2010, Apple, Inc.’s sleek, light, silver-and-black tablet computer called an iPad went on sale across the United States. Some industry analysts say the touch-screen device has the potential to change portable computing profoundly and may even challenge the laptop as the device of choice for many computer users. (Mossberg, 2010).

Apple did not invent the category of a tablet computer, just as it did not invent the MP3 player market or the smart-phone market. However, as it has done with the iPod and the iPhone, Apple refined the concept to create a device that seems to have captured the attention (and wallets) of the mass market. Back in 2007, the original iPhone took 73 days to cross the million mark. The iPad managed the same feat in just 28 days, about 2½ times as fast as the first iPhone did. As of May 31, 2010, the iPad has sold more than 2 million units.

Apple itself has described the iPad as “magical” and “revolutionary”. However, some observers have labeled those claims as marketing fluff and strategic hyperbole and say the device is nothing more than a bigger version of its iPod Touch. Other analysts have roundly criticized the iPad for its failure to support Adobe’s Flash technology for viewing video on the web and the inability to multitask on the device. (Topolsky, 2010)

The product itself is positioned somewhere in between Apple’s iPhone and its successful MacBook line of laptop computers. Meanwhile, other companies are working to make headway into the market segment with tablets of their own. However, many of devices that would directly compete with the iPad have yet to be released. Rather than compete against a specific market segment, Apple seems to have refined and placed the iPad into a unique market segment. Carving out a market niche for the iPad that largely did not exist before its introduction. This positioning is key to the marketing success of the iPad as...