Tablets for Business

We’ve experienced an amazing year in the market with tablets. At the CES show at the start of 2011, there were over 80 different tablets shown, announced or introduced with a lot of fanfare. Some sizzled incredibly fast (HP’s PalmPad) while others didn’t quite take the market by storm- particularly RIM’s Playbook, the Motorola Xoom and Dell 5” and 7” Streak versions. This year, consumers have been the principal purchasers but what we have learned is that businesses are seriously looking at tablets to help them do business better. Well over half of Corporate America has some type of feasibility study or trial on the go.

There is no killer app for business except perhaps the form factor itself as highly portable and easy to use. Apple claim over 500k apps with 100k for tablets, but most are really for the consumer space. There are no Microsoft apps available which would be wonderful for business. So far, tablets are not replacing desktops but they are supplementing them:

- For accessing Internet and emails
- For presentations as light-weight alternatives
- For note taking (tedious for long sessions with the touch keyboard)
- To view documents and attachments easily
- To sign documents, look up invoices and download relevant product and sales info
- As a training tool, blending on-line learning with formal training
- Health and financial services industries have custom apps running and operational
- Real Estate professionals see tablets as a selling tool in showing MLS info on the go

If you like long-shots, there’s a dark horse to bet on here. Microsoft, for all their problems in not reading the market correctly- have pegged a key issue. They say that business users want a combination tablet/ pc. With Windows 8, for travellers with a tablet but also with a need to run a Windows app, Microsoft will oblige- plug in a keyboard and mouse and your touchscreen tablet becomes a mini-Windows. You can carry a tablet with you for reading a book on the bus in the morning, then plug it in to a stand at the office and it becomes your PC. If they get the ergonomic designs right, Microsoft may be a contender here.

There are two main tablet sizes- the mini 7 inch and bigger 10 inch screens. Both sizes are very portable so it’s more a personal preference and the amount of content needed on a single page. RIM has had a dismal uptake on the Playbook with their 7” tablet and I think the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be the main winners in business for the next while. Next will be Asus and Cisco’s Cius. At the beginning of this year, Gartner Research predicted tablets would displace around 10 percent of PC units by 2014. With PCs shipments estimated at 400 million in 2011, Gartner is now forecasting 70 million tablets will be shipped by yearend. There’s clearly a market and business wants in.