At CES, Vendors Play Catch Up With Apple
Even in its absence, Apple's presence was felt at CES as some vendors played catch-up and others launched iPad, iPod, and iPhone accessories.
After just the first day of walking the CES show floor, one thing was already clear: Even in its absence, Apple was casting a very long shadow on this show. Many of the products I saw were various implementations of something had already brought to market.
This was especially true in two categories. First: the . Pretty much every tablet vendor at CES hopes to develop a tablet that is, at the very least, competitive with Apple. Some are going for really cheap and basic as a differentiator while others are trying to bring out uniquely designed models tied to Android that are still cheaper than the iPad.
Although the recent success of has given vendors another target to go after, even this is colored by Apple's iPad and its success in the market. When talking to all of these "clone" vendors, they didn't even pretend they were doing something new or unique. Rather, many pointed out that they hope to tag along on the trend and attract new users Apple may not be getting because of its higher prices. But make no mistake; all of these are iPad wannabees.
. Intel's program seems like a blatant attempt by the Windows crowd to ride in design and give its audience something that Apple has had on the market for five years. As long as Intel doesn't violate Apple's design patents, it is free to create similar products. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it amazes me that it has taken the WinTel world so long to even catch up with Apple.
When talking to these vendors, who are hopefully bullish, I sensed something else. They know what Apple already has, but the fact that they don't know what Apple will have in the future really weighs heavy on them. In other words, they keep waiting for another shoe to drop.
These vendors are rushing first and second generation tablets to market, meanwhile they know that an and an iPad 4 loom just around the corner. And although they feel Apple's prices are too steep for most people, they all fear that it could drop prices, seriously impacting their chances of success. In fact, to many, it is a foregone conclusion that Apple could drop as much as $100 from its base entry model as soon as this year. Apple might keep the iPad 2 on the market at $399 and put the new iPad 3 at $499. Given Apple's history of maximizing its supply chain, as well as pre-purchasing components in huge quantities to get best prices on parts, this is a real possibility
Another thing I picked up is that many of the Ultrabook vendors are working on , laptops with detachable tablet screens. The first generation of these hybrids ran Windows on the laptop and Android on the tablet, and the two did not mix well. The Windows world is counting on Microsoft's , however, to be the magic bullet that lets Windows 8 with its Metro UI work both in laptop and tablet mode, providing a unified experience. In fact, some of the models I have seen are quite innovative.
The fate of hybrids depends on Windows 8, which means that none of these can get to market until at least mid-October. Some of the vendors have a dreadful feeling that Apple is also working on a hybrid and that it could beat theirs to market. Worse yet, if Apple's hybrid is as elegant and innovative as usual, some vendors I spoke with feel that they would be immediately behind, even though on paper they seem to be way ahead of Apple in hybrids.
You can even see copied elements of Apple TV in the new . In fact, all of the smart TV vendors know full well that Jobs told his biographer that he "" smart TV. Now, these vendors also know that no matter what they offer, they will have to go back to their labs and make big changes just to stay competitive in the future once Apple finally releases its TV solution.
The show did have one other element that really underscores Apple's influence on CES. I was told that there were at least 275 booths that had and related products that impact the Apple ecosystem. There were 3,100 vendors overall at the show. It was very hard to find any third party vendor soliciting accessories for any Android phones. Since there are so many versions to deal with, vendors don't even know which ones to back so that they can assure a return on their investment. Apple, though, gives them consistent designs to back so they can go gangbusters creating products that enhance iPods, and iPads.
One of Apple's is to keep at least two years ahead of the competition, and competitors have finally realized this truth. That is why, no matter how happy they are about their new offerings at CES this year, rivals are looking anxiously over their shoulders. They know with 100 percent certainty that Apple could do something significant at any time, sending them all back to the drawing board to play catch up.