Have you ever wondered just what it is that puts the iPad so far ahead of its competition? iSupply decided to investigate and analyze 10 of the top tablets on the market to find out. The results? According to iSuppli analyst Wayne Lam, it’s Apple’s control over both the hardware and software that are responsible, granting Apple remarkable “design efficiencies” that the competition simply cannot match.
The report goes on to suggest that Apple is able to maintain significant price advantages with components like memory and batteries, and also maintains clear advantages in both space savings and performance compared to their competitors.
Further, Apple is fairly unique among their competitors in that they exhibit a much tighter control over the design, components, and manufacturers of their products, whereas their competitors often outsource their blueprints and design to third parties.
Further, Apple’s massive wad of reserve cash enables them to take a higher priority in both price savings and component supply by paying cash when most of their competitors are forced to pay with credit.
The other half of the iPad’s immense success is, unsurprisingly, iOS. Whereas other manufacturers typically use Google’s Android platform, which has to adapt to and support hundreds or even thousands of devices, Apple retails the ability to customize, optimize, and tailor their software specifically to each device they build, resulting in much more efficient code and, ultimately, increased battery life.
In essence, it’s Apple’s control over the entire process (hardware, software, design, and sales/marketing) that gives the iPad such a significant advantage – by controlling the software, the hardware, the sales channel, and the marketing of end-user software, Apple is able to produce cheaper and more efficient products than their competitors while keeping a higher cash margin for themselves.