14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is pulling out of the race to win over the enterprise segment with a larger tablet computer, according to researchers in Taiwan who have ties to Apple’s supply chain. Samsung, on the other hand, continues to promote its Galaxy Note Pro despite a lack of apps or interest from consumers.
The information coming out of DigiTimes Research cannot be verified. While the publication has a hit-and-miss track record, there’s no reason not to trust its analysts new report on Apple’s plans for the future of the iPad in enterprise environments.
According to the Taiwanese site (emphasis ours), “…most of the large-size tablet projects face difficulties because of lack of support from related platform developers and ecosystems. Apple has also been said to [have] shelved its large-size tablet project.”
Dubbed iPad Pro (or even iPad Maxi by some publications), Apple’s rumored big-size tablet was said to have a display that measured 12-to-13 inches on the diagonal, three inches more than the current iPad Air, whose screen measures 9.7-inches on the diagonal.
Apple was said to be developing this device solely for enterprise and education environments, but it seems there isn’t enough demand to make the product feasible for the Cupertino giant. Which is certainly not surprising, even with the usability of iOS and the trademark Apple design.
Samsung, on the other hand, thinks different. However, when Samsung thinks different, it doesn’t always turn into gold. According to the same report, the Korean electronics maker is cluelessly pushing forward with its Galaxy Note Pro tablet in a desperate attempt to move a few units.
“Samsung flooded the market with several tablets of different sizes and specifications in January and is pushing its 12.2-inch tablet with a new user interface and multi-tasking ability, features that are designed for the enterprise market.”
“But [the] Samsung tablet has a weaker price/performance ratio compared to notebooks of the similar price range. Worse still, most of Android's enterprise applications are inferior to those on the PC platform. The Samsung tablet's new user interface also deviates much from the usual Andriod experience, to the dismay of Google.”
Digitimes Research therefore concludes that Samsung will hardly sell a million of these things in 2014, which may sound like a lot, but it’s actually a pretty low figure when you factor in all the R&D, and the costs that went into manufacturing and marketing the tablet.