The January 2011 Consumer Electronics Show seems much farther away than a mere nine months, at least for any business that debuted technology to take on Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad. When Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) took the lid off of its Honeycomb version of the Android mobile operating system, it appeared to consumers and investors alike that there finally was going to be a tablet market rather than an iPad market. It didn’t happen. However, technology industry watchers expect a renewed vigor to come to the tablet competitive landscape after Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) unveiled its new $199 Kindle Fire tablet Wednesday.
But Amazon isn’t the only company that’s bringing a new device to the market to cripple Apple. While Research In Motion‘s (NASDAQ:RIMM) PlayBook and Hewlett-Packard‘s (NYSE:HPQ) TouchPad have failed to find an audience in the past 12 months — crippling share prices in both companies in the process — other tablet hopefuls are gearing up for Round 2 and, in one case, Round 3.
Motorola/Google
Motorola (NYSE:MMI) and its Xoom Android tablet were seen as frontrunners coming out of CES at the beginning of the year. The device looked like a technological powerhouse compared to the first-generation iPad still flying off shelves at the time, and investor confidence in the company grew as a result. Shares climbed from $29 to around $36 following the Xoom’s debut. Of course, the device’s massive price tag and poor app selection caused it to tank on release in February, and MMI sank to a 52-week-low of below $21 by July. Today the ! company is trading above $38, with investor interest renewed by a pending Google acquisition of the company.
It’s no surprise that with their combined might, Motorola and Google are coming back to the tablet market with a vengeance. Engadget showed off pictures of two Xoom 2 prototypes on Sunday. The new devices come in two sizes and offer 4G LTE support, meaning that — provided they hit the market in the next few months — MMI and Google can rely on AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) to push the tablets as the fastest on the market. MMI has a lot to prove with this one.
Samsung
Try, try and try again is the motto over at Samsung (PINK:SSNLF). The Korean technology company beat all comers but Apple to the tablet market at the end of 2010 with its Samsung Galaxy Tab, an Android device using a version of the OS that Google never intended for tablets at all. Early word was that the device sold well, but by February 2011, reports that 13% of Galaxy Tab buyers were returning their purchases spelled bad news for Samsung.
More recently, the company released an updated version of the device called the Galaxy Tab 10.1, but myriad international lawsuits filed by Apple against the company for patent infringement have hampered sales in the U.S., Germany, Australia, Japan, and other countries.
The company announced on Tuesday that it is releasing yet another new tablet, the Galaxy Tab 8.9, on Oct. 2. The smaller form factor might protect it from some of Apple’s design-based patent lawsuits while the new-and-improved processor makes it a strong sell to technology enthusiasts. Samsung likely will get buried under consumer enthusiasm for the Amazon Kindle, though. The lowest-tier model will retail for $469, undercutting Apple’s lowest iPad at $499, but still not reaching the sub-$300 sweet spot.
Barnes & ! Noble
Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) appears ready to reprise its refrain of “Anything Amazon does, I can do better” by releasing a tablet of its own. The Digital Reader reported Friday that Barnes & Noble is preparing yet another relaunch for its Nook Color e-reader line due in October. While the company released a tablet-esque version of the e-reader in May, this new device will be a $349 tablet named Acclaim. How it compares in terms of technical specifications to Amazon’s device remains to be seen, but both companies will likely be competing in terms of service rather than horsepower.
Amazon’s big profit proposition with the Kindle Fire tablet will be subscriptions to the $79-per-year Amazon Prime service — not sales — luring in consumers with the promise of all-inclusive book rentals and streaming video. Barnes & Noble will gun to match Amazon with its own premium service. Considering that Liberty Media (NASDAQ:LSTZA) recently invested heavily in BKS, it’s possible Acclaim might double as a device for a Starz streaming video service.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at?@ajohnagnello?and?become a fan of?InvestorPlace on Facebook.
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