Both Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) are hoping to drive Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) below 50% in their share of the tablet market by 2013. Apple is dominating the market which it inspired with the launch of its iPad in 2010. The company is projected to hold 61% of the market this year and analysts had been expecting that share to stay pretty solid the year after.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) do not see that as an option however. Neither company has been able to break into the tablet market which has been divided mainly between Apple’s iPad and tablets running Google’s Android software. In fact the only real competitors for Apple’s crown have been lower cost tablets without full features, such as the Kindle Fire launched late last year. Apple uses its own operating system on its iPads, and other devices run Google’s Android OS leaving no room for Microsoft in the market.
But later this year Microsoft will debut its first tablet enabled OS since the disastrous turn of the century attempt at popularizing the platform. Windows 8 will be enabled on tablets, notebooks and desktops and promises to deliver a premium quality tablet experience with Windows crafting behind it. Whether or not the platform will take off on mobile devices, and whether Microsoft will be able to attract talented manufacturers, is up for debate but the company is certainly trying something new.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has had difficulty entering the market at all as Android devices use ARM chipsets the design of the software means it would have to be changed in order to allow it to run on an Intel chip. The next version of Windows will have a version specifically for Intel chips and and for ARM chips. For the first time Intel will be able to compete directly with ARM for dominance in a single platform something both companies will relish.
ARM chips run with less heat and more power efficiency than Intel’s older processors and are used in most mobile devices including Apple’s iPad. Intel will be competing directly this time with processors of a similar design and efficiency level. The battle continues but as for pushing Apple under 50% in tablet by 2012 there doesn’t seem to be a high probability. Unless manufacturers flood China with low end Windows tablets Apple will continue to dominate the market.
