Can Amazon save Android?

Android success on smartphones has been phenomenal. The same success couldn’t be replicated to the tablet platform. As per off the hand estimates, there could be anywhere between 1 million to 5 million Android tablets out there. That is a paltry number when compared to iPad numbers and the number becomes insignificant if we count the number of Android tablet manufacturers and the tablet models we have seen so far.

The word on the street is Samsung Galaxy Tab 10 is the first real Android tablet which has the guts of an iPad. Asus Transformer is one of my favorite tablet products which got potential. Other than that there isn’t much of Android tablets to look out for. That’s where Amazon’s rumored tablet comes in. It is already being looked out as a dark knight which can save Android’s image in the tablet world.

A recent survey of 1000 individuals in June 2011 by an independent panel done by Retrevo reveals what is at the top of the consumers mind when it comes to tablets and Amazon.

48% have price as the top criteria for buying a tablet. 28% have inclined to high resolution and 20% wants better input features like keyboard and speech recognition. If you ask me, no surprises here. This is what I would want in a tablet, with an addition of better battery life.

Unsurprisingly,  50% still want an iPad. Only 21% want to choose an Android tablet. If Apple releases a cheaper iPad, that would put everything else out of business.

79% willing to buy an Android tablet which costs $250 and should have all the features of an iPad. Now that is encouraging but only thing is, it isn’t practical. Not yet. Android tablets were released prematurely without the availability of a suitable operating system. Now Android has a real tablet operating system. Yet the ecosystem around it still have to develop. Because hardware isn’t the problem for Android tablets. It’s the software.

If we leave Apple aside and pit the major tablet manufacturers against each other, Amazon will win them hands down. 55% want a tablet from Amazon, 31% want a tablet from Motorola and HP. Samsung is the second most desirable tablet brand after Amazon. Interesting thing about this graphic is, Amazon doesn’t yet have a tablet out whereas everyone else (except Dell) have a tablet out on the shelves.  With such a strong brand recall, which I am sure, is spilling from Amazon’s Kindle success, Amazon can actually put some sting back into Android tablet sales. In fact, it could be Android’s best hope as well.

Via Retrevo