FollowIt may be the end of an era, if the results of a recent Japanese study can be expected to continue in other countries. The iPad and iPad mini were overtaken by Google’s Nexus 7 in a market share comparison drawn from data from 2400 Japanese electronic stores.
While the Nexus 7 is a bit smaller than a full sized iPad, the price difference is staggering. iPads range from $600.00 to $900.00 while a Nexus 7 can be purchased for only $200.00. Even the iPad mini, priced at $300.00, cannot beat the bargain value of the Nexus 7. This price difference was thought to be the biggest factor in the difference or market share between the Nexus 7 and the reigning champion, Apple’s iPad.
Out of the 2400 stores surveyed, the Nexus had a market share of 44.4%, while the iPad and iPad mini combined had 41.1%. The group that executed the survey noted that Japan was experiencing a shortage of iPad minis, what would be the Nexus 7s main competitor, but that the price difference was the predominant factor in determining a consumers purchase. The customers went to the store to get the cheaper Nexus 7, and it would not have made much of a difference even if there had been a good amount of iPad minis in stock.
The Nexus 7 is considerably cheaper than Apple tablets, and it is not all that inferior. It maintains a good CPU, a quad core 1.2 GHz Krait, and has a comparable battery life to an iPad. The tech support of Apple still has a firm grip on percentages of customers satisfied, but Google is fast working on their support and hopes to match them soon.
Many analysts believe this Japanese study marks the start of a trend that will continue into America and all over the world. Some of these projections put the iPad in the lower half of the market during the remainder of 2013.
