Asus Worldwide Tablet shipments - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

I've owned an original TF and a Prime ( returned last week due to ongoing issues with the device). Was wondering about total sales of the unit. Do think that the TF101 was a home run for ASUS, and think that the Prime will do well once they resolve the issues. I do recall statements back in the summer of 2011 of 400K per month being shipped, and recent news that ASUS may hit 6M units for 2012. I also remember quite well how the TF101 was the top item within the Amazon market for weeks on end for it's category.
Today i looked at the 3Q 2011 Investor Conference (pdf) available on Asus website.
Couple of things that stood out;
Page 13 Actual shipments for EPAD 2Q 2011 & 3Q 2011 total 1.2M and estimated for 4Q were 0.6M
Page 30 EeePad Business Result total volume shipped 1.6(e) and 85% of that being the TF101
As an aside it looks like Amazon sold at least 3M of the Kindle Fire in 2011. The Zoom and Playbook were a flop not hitting 1M units, I couldn't find data for Samsung
Ipad sales for 2011 40M

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40M iPads sold! WOW! They have the tablet market on lock with what to me is essentially a toy. Incredible!

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in one month from what I can tell they produced 150k-250k transformer primes and docks in some distribution! so they are doing great! it was probaly more like 2-3 weeks because of the hardware change
also you cant count the kindle fire as it was only sold for a maybe a quater
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk

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>Actual shipments for EPAD 2Q 2011 & 3Q 2011 total 1.2M and estimated for 4Q were 0.6M
Am wondering how this is a "home run." Est Q4 unit sales is half that of Q3. Revenue is probably worse, since most Android tabs were hitting the bargain bins in Oct.
BTW, Apple announced iPad Q4 unit sales were 15.43M.

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e.mote said:
>Actual shipments for EPAD 2Q 2011 & 3Q 2011 total 1.2M and estimated for 4Q were 0.6M
Am wondering how this is a "home run." Est Q4 unit sales is half that of Q3. Revenue is probably worse, since most Android tabs were hitting the bargain bins in Oct.
BTW, Apple announced iPad Q4 unit sales were 15.43M.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4Q sales would have impacted the tf101 because people would have been waiting for the prime. I'd say it was a home run because it was one of the only droid tablets that didn't have to offer steep discounts (ie the thrive, Sony, touchpad, play book, zoom and even the galaxy tab) it also seemed to win numerous awards for best product.
The 1.2m units was 2Q and 3Q combined the tf101 was only released in2Q 2011

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OK, went and checked out the Asus Q3 investor glossy: Q2 = 400K, Q3 = 800K, Q4 = 600K est. No surprises, other than that the Americas got lumped into the "other" category, which comprised only 14% of Asus global sales. EU slurped 40%.
>4Q sales would have impacted the tf101 because people would have been waiting for the prime
Doubt it. Q4 (CY, not FY) would be Oct-Nov-Dec, and Prime was only a glimmer in hardcore techies' eyes at that point. Heck, Prime is not even in wide availability yet.
>I'd say it was a home run because it was one of the only droid tablets that didn't have to offer steep discounts
TF101 was on BF sale for $250, and periodically available in Nov/Dec for around $300. Discount wasn't as steep as other Teg2s since its starting price was lower ($400). But all Teg2s were in bargain bin.
>The 1.2m units was 2Q and 3Q combined the tf101 was only released in2Q 2011
Yep, caught that. But drop from 800 to 600 MoM is still pretty crap, especially going into Q4, which should be the best Q of the year. Then again, other Asus product categories also show flat or slight decrease, so I suppose it depends on how rev is reported.
Relative to other Android tabs, I'd have to give Samsung the crown for 2011, then Asus, then, uh, Moto I guess (they cleared 1M for the year). Acer took a bath. Tosh & Lenovo were johnny-come-latelies and didn't matter much. Oh yeah, Amazon KFire and Nook LCDs took a chunk (40% of total Android tab sales).

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News of the prime started to hit YouTube when Nov? Or was it earlier. It seemed that every other day back then something was getting leaked via fb or YouTube or a press conference, I'll still say that would have impacted sales of tablets, addin the fact that people were shopping deals and yeah sales were lowing then the previous quarter. And yes we saw that bf sale of 249, but bf like boxing day sales here in Canada are not reflective of price pressure on a product IMHO
Samsung may very well have done quite well, having a 3G unit in wide release sure would have helped. But they did get shut out of some parts of th eu and Australia for some time. Add in what they must have spent on advertising and litigation and I'll stand by my statement that the tf101 performed marginally better
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/oct/28/motorola-xoom-tablet-sales
Edit first news of a new tf prime was mid oct 2011

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People don't follow rumors of gadget launches; only the hardcore peeps do. Prime was NOT on sale in Q4. A few early adopters got it early, but even now it's not yet widely available. Don't assume that the mainstream is as gung-ho about Android tabs, or the Prime specifically, as those here.
Let's be honest, all HC tabs flopped. One can quibble whether the TF101 flopped less, but same diff. A home run, it wasn't. As for Prime, well, let's just say that its debut was less than auspicious.
We all hope that ICS will be the silver bullet. Personally, I doubt it. But it should be good enough to stay in the mix. As has been said, it's a marathon. I'm already over ICS, and am looking forward to J-wazzit.
One thing I'll give Asus is that it is leading the Android tab charge, even if by its lonesome self. My read of Shih (CEO) dude is that he thinks of Asus as an avant-garde co, and he's trying to recreate the netbook magic, which Asus was at the forefront of. As mentioned in the glossy, Asus will also lead the Win8 charge, so it'll have its hands full. Perhaps why it dropped the ball on the Prime.

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Think about how much advertising there is for the iPad. Everyone has heard of it, everyone knows what it can do.
When i worked at (electronics store) i'd ask people if they heard about the transformer and only one person out of everyone i asked even knew what it was. Most people were very interested in its expanded capability compared to the iPad but there just was no marketing.
The prime has recieved a bit more play, few more people asking about it but lack of stock and few stores carry it in my area, compared to everywhere that carries the iPad.
There is a reason apple wins awards for their advertising, they sink a lot of time and money into it, and it works. Samsung is STARTING to have a higher profile around here but generally Asus is stuck on the sidelines. Soon as the prime is in mainstream advertising and people know how much power / potential it has over the iPad it will sell more.

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>i'd ask people if they heard about the transformer and only one person out of everyone i asked even knew what it was
Here's public awareness in a microcosm: Back in July, when I let my 6-yr old niece play with my Nook Color, she went "Oh you got an iPad!" Fast-forward a few months to Nov, when handed same NC, she went "Oh I love your Kindle!"
So yeah, we're getting there eventually...
>Think about how much advertising there is for the iPad.
It's not advertising. Apple doesn't need any. Every move it makes (or doesn't make) is frontline news in every tech blog, and even mainstream news. Them's the perks of being king of the hill.
>Soon as the prime is in mainstream advertising and people know how much power / potential it has over the iPad it will sell more.
May be it'll include a Press here for GPS lock sticker. (OK I stole this off another guy...)

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e.mote said:
>Actual shipments for EPAD 2Q 2011 & 3Q 2011 total 1.2M and estimated for 4Q were 0.6M
Am wondering how this is a "home run." Est Q4 unit sales is half that of Q3. Revenue is probably worse, since most Android tabs were hitting the bargain bins in Oct.
BTW, Apple announced iPad Q4 unit sales were 15.43M.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
e.mote said:
People don't follow rumors of gadget launches; only the hardcore peeps do. Prime was NOT on sale in Q4. A few early adopters got it early, but even now it's not yet widely available. Don't assume that the mainstream is as gung-ho about Android tabs, or the Prime specifically, as those here.
Let's be honest, all HC tabs flopped. One can quibble whether the TF101 flopped less, but same diff. A home run, it wasn't. As for Prime, well, let's just say that its debut was less than auspicious.
We all hope that ICS will be the silver bullet. Personally, I doubt it. But it should be good enough to stay in the mix. As has been said, it's a marathon. I'm already over ICS, and am looking forward to J-wazzit.
One thing I'll give Asus is that it is leading the Android tab charge, even if by its lonesome self. My read of Shih (CEO) dude is that he thinks of Asus as an avant-garde co, and he's trying to recreate the netbook magic, which Asus was at the forefront of. As mentioned in the glossy, Asus will also lead the Win8 charge, so it'll have its hands full. Perhaps why it dropped the ball on the Prime.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough on only the few following the rumors but the 4Q reported are estimates it will be a month or so before we know what sales were. As for the net book market the Zen seems to be getting some good press.
I do wonder tho why such a shortage of Primes I mean I think they've been out for what 6 weeks, and even if they were selling a 100k a week that's still only 600k. If apple can produce and have ready a million units for a launch why wouldnt ASus have at least 250k on release with a supply chain that can deliver 500k a month
There seems to be little planning on either the testing of the product, the testing of ics, or having enough inventory to meet demand. And when one considers that they sold a million units last yr, why would they be performing like this is new territory to them.
As for the new t700 I don't see how that will gain much traction in the market the price point is just too high
You're right the HC tablets were overall a flop and did not so much as bruise Apple (let alone morph into iPad killers)

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>Zen seems to be getting some good press.
The Zenbook is lost in the Ultrabook deluge, if CES is any indication. Jury is still out whether the public will pay the (vastly) increased premiums over existing laptops, just to get the Macbook Air clone look. My SWAG: In Intel's wet dreams.
>and even if they [Prime] were selling a 100k a week that's still only 600k
Thousands. May be low tens of.
>If apple can produce and have ready a million units for a launch why wouldnt ASus
It takes time to ramp up production. From rumor mill, iPad 3 component production has already started months ago. Remember, aluminum unibody is new for Asus. The RF thing is part of the teething process. Early adopters = beta testers.
>little planning on either the testing of the product, the testing of ics
To be fair, ICS schedule is out of Asus' hands. Goog is not being vendor friendly. The late ICS release caused vendors to miss out on Xmas season. Ditto with HC last year.
I think in a couple of months, teething issues should be resolved, and Prime should be in prime shape. Be proud to be a member of the Asus Beta Testing Team!
>As for the new t700 I don't see how that will gain much traction in the market the price point is just too high
It depends how iPad 3 w/ QXGA will be priced. TF700 (sans dock) will be same or less.

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The TF101 was one of the few Tegra 2 tablets that sold very well. In fact it is one of the top rated tablets of 2011.
As for shortages, take a look at the iPad 2 launch! The iPad 2 was so back ordered that Apple met demand 2 months after the initial launch.
Asus is moving in a very lucrative area for Tablets and they know it. Their 2012 estimates for Tablets and Ultrabooks are very enthusiastic.

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Maybe the bottleneck is the Tegra 3 chip itself? Does anyone know nVidia's production numbers on it?

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The best part of ICS is less fragmentation. Software is as key as hardware.
iOS gets more development because of numbers of units but also they only have 2 devices to support not 980+
The interesting thing is for us old timers, Android is the apple of the 80's and apple is IBM.

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e.mote said:
>Zen seems to be getting some good press.
The Zenbook is lost in the Ultrabook deluge, if CES is any indication. Jury is still out whether the public will pay the (vastly) increased premiums over existing laptops, just to get the Macbook Air clone look. My SWAG: In Intel's wet dreams.
>and even if they [Prime] were selling a 100k a week that's still only 600k
Thousands. May be low tens of.
more reason that we shouldn't see such shortages
>If apple can produce and have ready a million units for a launch why wouldnt ASus
It takes time to ramp up production. From rumor mill, iPad 3 component production has already started months ago. Remember, aluminum unibody is new for Asus. The RF thing is part of the teething process. Early adopters = beta testers.
What? no one in the R&D dept heard of the same issues the iPhone had?
>little planning on either the testing of the product, the testing of ics
To be fair, ICS schedule is out of Asus' hands. Goog is not being vendor friendly. The late ICS release caused vendors to miss out on Xmas season. Ditto with HC last year.
Then ASUS should have held off and ignored the cries for ICS until it was ready for wide release, hell why not simply offer it for those gung hoe geeks that had to have ICS but also have a way to go back to HC. HC has been relatively stable on the TF101
I think in a couple of months, teething issues should be resolved, and Prime should be in prime shape. Be proud to be a member of the Asus Beta Testing Team!
No Thanks.....Sure i may Beta test an OS on an old box to see what's coming down the pipe, but when it comes to a tablet, phone, netbook etc I'm not doing the work for either a lazy nor cheap company.
>As for the new t700 I don't see how that will gain much traction in the market the price point is just too high
It depends how iPad 3 w/ QXGA will be priced. TF700 (sans dock) will be same or less.
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There has to be a compelling reason to not go with Apple, and I don't think that simply not liking them is a large enough market. Android, RIM, Windows8 etc have to meet or exceed Apple on price, features, integration, stability to have a chance of being more then niche products.
There is some potential that Windows8 devices will have a significant impact , part of me is doubtful they (Microsoft) seem to be more reactive then innovative, but (big BUT) if they can bring a device to market that has the features, battery life, integration with the DT and corporate IT infrastructures we'll see some progress in a Utopian platform

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Here is a snapshot of the current Android tablet market.
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Source: www.talkandroid.com/86276-the-kindl...idForums+(Android+News,+Rumours,+and+Updates)
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk

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Saw that graphic last night. In the article i read the data was collected based on app usage for at least 10 seconds. It's not known AFAIK what apps Flurry is able to collect data from and some have suggested that it may be weighted to Apps available via the Amazon Store more so. Factor in the fact that when people get a new device they will be trying all kinds of apps to see the potential of the device. After time that settles down I'd expect when people have their favorites. It's not a true representation of device distribution

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Things are changing for Asus
Check it out, Today I am on Targets web site looking for a vacuum, and just for kicks I click on "Comoputers and Tablets" to see what, besides the iPad and Acer Iconia they may offer, thinking I will see a Toshiba Thrive, and maybe a Nook And Kindle, but little else.
There it was, Transformer Prime, 32 Gb. Grey, IN STOCK!
What's next, Walmart?

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bex said:
40M iPads sold! WOW! They have the tablet market on lock with what to me is essentially a toy. Incredible!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why do you see it as a toy?