

The billion dollar Smart Cover - raganesh
http://www.asymco.com/2011/03/13/the-billion-dollar-smart-cover/
If the projections do come true, it will be like adding insult to injury on competitor tablet sales.
======
lachyg
This is really a great step forward from Apple. I like the idea of them not
just creating a product, but creating the accessories, and building some of
the functionality into the product. Keeping both in mind whilst developing
each other for best functionality.

Will be cool to see how Apple does this on future products.

~~~
roadnottaken
it also lets them keep aggressive price-points for the actual products and
simultaneously enjoy huge profit-margins on accessories that everyone buys.
it's sort of like their cables business, but more people will buy these covers
than cables.

------
kmfrk
Being able to say that you made more from your tablet cover than your
competitors did from tablets (combined?) is just ridiculous. But there it is.

~~~
zyb09
There it is? It hasn't happend yet and these numbers are estimations. While
things may go that way it would be very presumptuous to claim they already
made more money with the cover than all other competitors made with their
tablets.

~~~
camdykeman
I don't own any apple products, nor am I aboard the Apple bandwagon per se,
but I honestly don't think this claim is presumptuous at all. Apple currently
IS the tablet market and its competitors are barely competing at all.

Motorola's Xoom has been the only real adversary that I've heard of lately (I
do not profess to be an expert). The Xoom was superior in terms of all
hardware, but it failed to make a dent against Apple simply because Apple
executes the tablet exquisitely. Their attention to design is immaculate and
in a market like the tablet market--where the entire platform is dependent on
design and user interaction--that attention has set them waaaaay ahead of the
pack.

Keeping in mind that the Smart cover is probably the most innovative
difference between generations 1 and 2 and that Apple are marketing gods,
making every buyer want one, I think a billion dollar valuation is easily
attainable.

~~~
nlogn
> The Xoom was superior in terms of all hardware, but it failed to make a dent
> against Apple simply because Apple executes the tablet exquisitely.

Do you have any hard numbers to back up this assertion?

~~~
camdykeman
Let me Google that for you...

Hardware comparisons:

<http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20035092-1.html>

[http://www.androidauthority.com/ipad-2-vs-motorola-xoom-
vs-s...](http://www.androidauthority.com/ipad-2-vs-motorola-xoom-vs-samsung-
galaxy-tab-10-1-10341/)

<http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/xoom-vs-ipad-vs-ipad-2/9257>

[http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/ipad-2-vs-motorola-
xoom-v...](http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/ipad-2-vs-motorola-xoom-vs-hp-
touchpad-vs-blackberry-playbook/)

Sales Comparisons:

[http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/motorola-xoom-sales-tepid-
prod...](http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/motorola-xoom-sales-tepid-production-
cuts-next/45978)

[http://www.benzinga.com/news/11/03/914761/motorola-xoom-
sale...](http://www.benzinga.com/news/11/03/914761/motorola-xoom-sales-awful-
mmi)

[http://internet2go.net/news/operating-systems/xoom-
stuggling...](http://internet2go.net/news/operating-systems/xoom-stuggling-
ipad-2-nearly-sold-out)

[http://www.businessreviewusa.com/industry-
focus/technology/x...](http://www.businessreviewusa.com/industry-
focus/technology/xoom-sales-underwhelming-ipad-2-spot-line-sells-900)

Obviously these aren't official company reports. If you'd really like i can
drag exact figures out of my university's databases but I'd rather not take
the time since this is all pretty evident with a little research.

~~~
nlogn
I googled it before I commented, thank you. Note that I asked if you had any
numbers. In each of your sales comparisons links, they point to the very same
short quote from an analyst. Not the most compelling data, wouldn't you agree?

~~~
camdykeman
They cite Misek, Chowdhry and Sterling--only 2 are redundant though they use
the quotation in different contexts--but i see what youre getting at. Thats
fair.

Sales of the iPad 2 havent been released officially yet to my knowledge but
sales in the first 3 days are thought to be around 600000--more than the
original iPad made in its first week and look how well it did in the long run
--and to sell around 5.5 million units in its first quarter.

[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870402750457619...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704027504576198832667732862.html)

<http://www.wowtechy.com/apple-ipad-2-sales-forecast/>

Furthermore, iPad is meeting current projections of 45 million (though this
likely includes sales of the iPad2).

[http://www.knowyourmobile.com/blog/626826/45_million_ipad_sa...](http://www.knowyourmobile.com/blog/626826/45_million_ipad_sales_forecast_for_2011.html)

On the other hand, Xoom was projected to ship only 800,000 in its first
quarter and 1 million if lucky.

[http://www.onlinesocialmedia.net/20110110/motorola-xoom-
sale...](http://www.onlinesocialmedia.net/20110110/motorola-xoom-sales-
expectations-four-different-colors/)

however, actual sales for the Xoom have been so terrible that they're not even
releasing them and theyre planning to cut back production for future quarters.

[http://www.benzinga.com/news/11/03/914761/motorola-xoom-
sale...](http://www.benzinga.com/news/11/03/914761/motorola-xoom-sales-awful-
mmi)

[http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/motorola-xoom-sales-tepid-
prod...](http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/motorola-xoom-sales-tepid-production-
cuts-next/45978)

I cant provide any more information than that right now because it literally
isnt available to the public as far as I know; however, we can induce from
whats above that Apple really isn't feeling the effects predicted by Xoom
analysts, if they are feeling effects at all. And this is despite the superior
hardware listed in my previous post.

Sure, Motorola dominated at CNET this year, but so did Palm when it announced
the Pre and we've seen how that worked out. Like I said earlier, I have no
allegiances to Apple but I think its rather difficult to deny that theyre
dominating the tablet platform. You seem hypercritical of my evidence which is
fine but I have yet to see any to the contrary. If its out there I'm happy to
be enlightened.

------
kylec
Am I the only one that's not into the Smart Cover? It seems like a neat
concept, but I don't think I'll be getting one. Marco's suggestion on Build
and Analyze of using a media mail envelope makes much more sense because it
protects both sides of the iPad in transit and can easily be replaced for
pennies if lost or damaged.

Also, at my local Apple Store the Smart Covers aren't even available for
customers to try - they're enclosed in a plastic box at the end of the iPad
table. If people don't have an opportunity to try it out, it'll just be seen
as another case/cover. And with a $40 price tag, I'm sure a good number of
people will opt for something different or less expensive.

------
lionhearted
Good video of the Smart Cover if you haven't seen it yet -

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbl_6DmzO4g>

------
daimyoyo
I went in the my local apple store to try the iPad 2 out when I saw something
I'd never imagined I'd see. There was a guy in a blue shirt, hanging out,
playing with a smart cover. That's it. Apple thinks this thing will generate
enough revenue for them that they will deticate someones entire day to
shilling it for potential customers. They sure didn't do that for my iPad 1
case. Or my iPhone 4 bumper.

------
zach
The Smart Cover is far more damaging to the revenue potential of accessory
vendors than the in-app subscription policy is to content publishers.

~~~
kenjackson
But nothing stops an accessory vendor from creating something very similar to
the Smart Cover and undercut Apple on price. While you may not be able to beat
the quality, you could make a very usable attractive version at $10 and sell
at $20.

The only thing that might stop this is if Apple had a patent on the use of
magnets in a cover (everything else in the cover already had been done by
InCase).

~~~
rbarooah
Not only do they not have a patent, but they have stated that other vendors
are welcome to make use of the magnets. They probably include them in the
specs they make available to vendors.

------
bond
Seeing from what happened to the ipad case business last year, i would say
that this will not impact sales of third-party cases. The market will be there
for all.

Some will buy the smart cover and some will buy the traditional folio case...

