Acer Iconia Tab A100 — the first 7-inch Honeycomb tablet — goes on sale for $330
the first 7-inch Honeycomb tablet — goes on sale for $330 — It hasn't been an easy road for Acer's 7-inch Iconia Tab A100 — its US launch was delayed and it has been patiently waiting on Google's Android 3.2 to mend its software issues.
Context & Ripple Effects
The A100 closes out a long detour: Acer unveiled its 7-inch and 10.1-inch Android tablets back in November 2010 with an April 2011 shipping target, but the small model slipped as it waited on Google's Android 3.2 to mend its software problems before reaching US shelves.
Its arrival matters beyond Acer's own lineup. Per ABI Research figures circulating this week, Android tablets have taken roughly 20% of the global tablet market from Apple's iPad over the past year, and the A100 is the first device testing whether Honeycomb — an OS built for 10-inch screens — can hold up at 7 inches and $330.
First-order effects
- US buyers get the first 7-inch Honeycomb tablet at $330, undercutting the iPad's entry price and giving Acer a shipped product in a segment where it has so far only had announcements.
- Acer's delay strategy — holding the launch until Android 3.2 arrived — means the device debuts against Engadget's same-day review verdict rather than on pre-launch buzz.
Second-order effects
- Rival Android tablet makers now face pressure to field 7-inch Honeycomb hardware at or below $330, turning screen size into a pricing lever against Apple instead of competing head-on with 10-inch slates.
- Google gets a live test case for whether Honeycomb's interface scales down; if the 7-inch experiment works, its quarterly Android updates become the gating factor for more small-tablet launches.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the Android tablet market consolidates around a two-tier structure — premium 10-inch devices versus sub-$350 compact models — forcing every vendor, Acer included, to pick which tier funds its hardware roadmap.
- For Google, each form-factor-specific patch like Android 3.2 sets a precedent of tuning Android release-by-release to whatever hardware partners ship, deepening its dependence on OEM launch cadence to grow share against iOS.
The trend: Android is attacking the iPad through smaller, cheaper form factors, with Google's Honeycomb updates deciding how fast the 7-inch tier can scale.