With Asus and Samsung controlling the lion’s share of Android tablet marketshare, it looks like there wasn’t enough room for a second runner up in the U.S. HTC has announced that it is leaving the Android tablet market behind in the U.S.A, but they may just jump back into the fray again if they think they can make a sizable splash, according to Fierce Wireless.
“It was a great learning experience for us, and they definitely met expectations,” Gordon said of the tablets. However, he acknowledged that Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad continues to dominate the tablet market and he said that HTC would only consider returning to the tablet space if it developed a product that could make inroads against the iPad and other tablets … Gordon said it’s unclear what strategy HTC might take in a possible return to tablets. He said the company could try to tackle the lower-end of the market, as Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has attempted with the Wi-Fi-only Nexus 7, or it could build a more powerful device that would cost more.
Well, that’s kind of a bummer. HTC made some of the nicest looking Android tablets on the market. I guess it was only a matter of time until the market started contracting again, separating the pretenders from the rest of the pack. Earlier both LG and HP pulled out of the Android tablet market. Right now, the only real name left standing in the ring is Samsung. The fact that Samsung has become synonymous with Android must keep Google up at night. It’s only a matter of time until Samsung pulls an Amazon and releases a variant of Android for its own handsets.
