iPad 2 vs. Motorola Xoom vs. HP TouchPad vs. BlackBerry PlayBook: the tale of the tape
You might recall we ran this comparison about a month back when HP's TouchPad was announced, but now we're back with a full set of 2011 devices as Apple's brand new iPad 2 has joined the fray.
Context & Ripple Effects
The tablet wars opened in February 2011 when Motorola shipped the Xoom as the first credible challenger to Apple, and HP's TouchPad announcement roughly a month later prompted Engadget's first three-way tape. The iPad 2 launch on March 2 completes the field, turning what had been speculative matchups into an actual four-way hardware comparison across Apple, Motorola, HP and RIM.
The syndicated reaction splits along two axes: Between the Lines frames the iPad 2 as 'an incremental upgrade enough to kill the competition,' while Robert Scoble argues 'no apps, no sale' — pointing at the rival platforms' thin app catalogs as the real gap the spec sheet can't close. Apple paired the launch with iOS 4.3 (FaceTime, AirPlay, the Nitro JavaScript engine), deepening exactly that software advantage.
First-order effects
- Motorola's Xoom loses its weeks-long head start as the incumbent of record; its Honeycomb-only positioning now competes against a refreshed iPad shipping alongside iOS 4.3 on day one.
- HP's TouchPad and RIM's PlayBook enter a market where the benchmark device was just repriced and re-specced beneath them before either has sold a unit.
Second-order effects
- With hardware parity narrowing, the battleground shifts to app catalogs — forcing webOS and BlackBerry Tablet OS to prove developer traction fast or concede the third-party ecosystem argument Scoble is already making.
- Apple's same-day App Store policy changes, which some developers read as a 'strategy tax,' give Android and webOS advocates a counter-narrative about openness even as they concede ground on polish.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, tablet competition settles into an ecosystem contest where spec-sheet wins matter less than catalog size and OS update cadence — pressuring HP and RIM to decide quickly whether to keep funding proprietary platforms or retreat.
- A four-horse race this early also invites carrier and retail channel dynamics to consolidate shelf space around whichever two or three devices clear volume thresholds, squeezing the rest into niche pricing.
The trend: Tablet competition is pivoting from hardware specifications toward platform ecosystems, with Apple's launch cadence setting the pace rivals must answer within weeks rather than years.