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This article was published on March 12, 2012

Nokia’s tablet plans make it plain that Apple rules the market


Nokia’s tablet plans make it plain that Apple rules the market

By now you must have heard the news that Nokia is reportedly set to build a Windows 8 tablet. Not that this is a surprise, it isn’t, but a single fact from that recent rumor caught our eye: production numbers.

Just in case you’ve been sleeping, the device is supposed to be a 10 inch tablet, running Windows on Arm (WOA), the newest version of Windows 8 to be uncovered. WOA systems have restrictions as to what sort of applications the can run, limiting so-called ‘desktop apps’ to just a few, all built by Microsoft.

WOA machines will be focused on the new Start Screen, and run ‘Metro Style’ apps. A WOA tablet will be similar in spirit to an iPad, if you will.

Now, back to our point. Nokia, again according to this specific rumor, is ordering a batch of 200,000 tablets for its first run. That number is soft. Apple sold some 15.43 million iPads in the last quarter. Nokia is looking to build less than a quarter million of its device on its first go.

That sounds more like a trial run than the first of many batches.

Nokia appears to be admitting the same thing that Apple editor Matthew Panzarino and I discussed last week. That there is, effectively, no tablet market outside of Apple.. Apple runs the tablet market, and every other actor is a bit player that is at best a fringe operator. Therefore, oddly, Nokia and every other Windows 8 tablet OEM will be forced to build their own market. No one owns a Windows slate right now, as Windows slates have been terrible since the idea first popped into existence. There is no userbase to tap into; consumer habits will have to be changed.

Windows 8 may do just that. But Nokia’s production figures tell the story: this is fresh territory. It will be interesting to see what other firms decide to build in terms of quantity. Also, who else is stupid excited about a Nokia Windows 8 tablet? I just might have to get me one.

More as it comes.

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