As far as tablets go, it's been iPad or bust. While Apple has consistently seen growth in tablet sales over the past two years since the original iPad was introduced, non-iPad tablet manufacturers continue to wallow in weak sales for their devices. In response to poor sales, companies including Hewlett-Packard, Acer, and Motorola have cut prices to their respective tablets in an attempt to clear inventory. Price cuts range from around $50 (for Acer's Iconia Tablet) to $100 (for HP's TouchPad and Motorola's Xoom).
While Android-powered smartphones have collectively dominated the marketshare via its numerous available devices, holding 43% compared to Apple's 18%, this same multi-device availability for tablets has actually been problematic for companies trying to cut into Apple's tablet marketshare and at the same time make a profit. Whereas smartphones are extremely popular and mainstream, tablets could still be considered a niche device, with far fewer sales collectively compared to smartphones (Apple's iPad sales notwithstanding). Though a company's smartphone marketshare may be individually less than Apple's 18%, sales would still be in the multi-millions, ensuring a profit. However, with a saturated non-iPad tablet market, sales are diluted across different companies, leading to underperforming sales and financial losses.
Though smartphone manufacturers can individually compete with the iPhone and turn a profit, I envision a consolidation for non-iPad tablets, as some major manufacturers will eventually exit the tablet market and refocus their product development strictly to smartphones.
