Laptop Thoughts: Is Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) a Failure?

"You can blame the high price. Or that it's heavier and thicker than the iPad 2. Or the lack of 4G at launch. Whatever the reason, according to Deutsche Bank, Motorola has sold only 100,000 Xooms since it and Verizon Wireless debuted the first Android 3.0 (a.k.a. Honeycomb) tablet in late February. Meanwhile, a DigiTimes report claims that Apple sold 2.6 million iPad 2 tablets in the month of March. Yes, all of the above factors come into play, but it's also very possible that consumers just aren't excited about Honeycomb."

An estimated 2.6 million iPad 2 devices were sold in March 2011, while Motorola's Xoom has sold about 100,000 devices in total. LAPTOP cites a handful of possible reasons why this has happened, but the bottom line seems to be that Honeycomb just doesn't match the simplicity of the iPad 2, in other words, it's too hard for the mythical 'average user' to figure out. One Xoom user was quoted as saying “I honestly found it one of the most painful experiences of any ‘modern’ device I’ve used in literally years. Terrible is my only adjective.” Google has started working with vendors on customizations, to address some of the concerns (or shortcomings), but did state that vendors are free to tweak as (much as) needed. Of course, the inevitable statistic about available apps has re-surfaced, with Honeycomb offering about 50 apps, while the iPad 2 number is around 65,000 and even the PlayBook number is about 3,000. It's catch-22, as software developers won't write software (or port existing code) to Honeycomb if they don't see a market, and the market won't develop if there is a lack of quality apps. So, is Honeycomb a failure? I'd say no, but it has disappointed so far - users expected more at launch.