Motorola Xoom will ship without Flash support on February 24th, expects it in ‘Spring 2011’?
Verizon's webpage dedicated to the Xoom has just gone up and one of our eagle-eyed readers has already spotted a disquieting bit of small print: “Adobe Flash expected Spring 2011.”
Context & Ripple Effects
The Xoom was announced on January 5 as Motorola's flagship answer to the iPad, with a launch that has already wobbled — a planned February 17th Best Buy debut gave way to an $800 Thursday availability via in-store pre-order, against an early estimate of 700,000–800,000 first-quarter shipments (DigiTimes, January 10). Flash was central to the pitch: it was supposed to be what separated the Android tablet from Apple's 'the web without the plugins' positioning.
Now Verizon's own product page concedes in small print that the device ships February 24th without Flash, with support only 'expected Spring 2011' — a rumored timeline Motorola and Adobe have not confirmed. It lands the same day Adobe reiterated that Flash for Android tablets is coming 'within a few weeks' (TechCrunch), leaving buyers choosing between trusting the software promise or waiting.
First-order effects
- Early Xoom buyers paying $800 this week get a tablet missing its marquee differentiator, forcing Motorola to sell hardware on specs alone while the feature that justified its premium sits behind an unconfirmed Spring promise.
- Verizon's small-print disclosure puts the gap on record at the carrier level, making it harder for retail staff to market the Xoom as the 'full web' alternative to the iPad.
Second-order effects
- Motorola's Q1 shipment target of 700,000–800,000 units now depends on Adobe delivering within weeks; if the update slips past Spring, demand could stall while early adopters wait rather than buy.
- Rival tablet makers face pressure to clarify their own Flash timelines — any competitor that ships with Flash working can turn Motorola's delay into a direct comparison point at retail.
Third-order effects
- If Android tablets keep launching ahead of their key software features, the platform's challenge to the iPad shifts from capability to execution — carriers and OEMs will be judged on whether promised updates actually land on schedule.
- A pattern of shipping-then-patching erodes buyer trust in launch-day hardware, pushing tablet purchases toward waiting for reviews of post-update devices and weakening the first-mover advantage Motorola is spending heavily to claim.
The trend: Android tablet makers are racing hardware to market ahead of the software ecosystem that defines their differentiation against the iPad, with carrier listings increasingly exposing the gap.