What do you do to take down a bully? You join forces with your friends, of course! And that’s exactly what the HP-Dell tag team did they bashed Apple’s popular iPad.
According to Dell spinmeister Andy Lark, the iPad will eventually fail when pitted against Dell’s Android and Windows-based tablets.
“I couldn’t be happier that Apple has created a market and built up enthusiasm but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price and proprietary,” Lark told CIO Australia.
“[Apple has] done a really nice job, they’ve got a great product, but the challenge they’ve got is that already Android is outpacing them.”
He added, “Apple is great if you’ve got a lot of money and live on an island. It’s not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex.”
Ohhhhh, snap.
Lark went as far as to say the high cost of additional accessories makes the tablet inaccessible, “An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse and a case [means] you’ll be at $1500 or $1600; that’s double of what you’re paying… That’s not [really] feasible.”
Emphasizing Dell’s approach, Lark explained that his company’s strategy remains multi-OS – all the way.
“We will do Windows 7 coupled with Android Honeycomb, and we’re really excited. We think that giving people that choice is very important.”
Meanwhile, on the HP front, Stephen DeWitt, senior vice president of HP’s Americas Solution Partners criticized Apple for allegedly not playing well with others.
“Apple’s relationship with partners is transactional, completely. Apple doesn’t have an inclusive philosophy of partner capabilities, and that’s just absurd,” DeWitt said in an interview with CRN’s Kevin McLaughlin in Las Vegas.
DeWitt asked fellow partners their opinion on Apple, to which one source from a solution provider said, “Unlike Apple, HP is very channel friendly. And if you have an issue with HP you can pick up the phone and talk to someone. That’s something that’s impossible with Apple. As an Apple partner, I can say that it really feels like they’re holding you hostage sometimes.”
Perhaps the ill-will is coming from HP’s alleged inability to compete in the tablet market with its webOS-only angle when it comes to tablets. This strategy was solidified when HP acquired Palm last year.
Questioning the strategy, another HP partner in the discussion noted: “I don’t hear much about webOS in the marketplace, and it’s going to be tough to build a mobility practice around it.
“Apple and Android are the two established marketplaces out there. On the tablet side, why wouldn’t you just get an iPad?”
Indeed…why wouldn’t you just get an iPad?
(Via Apple Insider)
