HP focuses on corporates with its Elitepad900 tablet

Dubai: Apple iPad’s dominance in the enterprise segment is challenged by the introduction of premium tablets by HP and Dell.

The world’s largest PC maker HP has already secured more than 3,000 orders from the Middle East for its ElitePad 900 with runs on Windows 8 Pro.

Emirates Airlines was the first global customer of the HP Elitepad900 tablet using it as the primary interface for the airline’s Knowledge-driven Inflight Service (KIS).

Kevin Griffiths, senior vice-president – cabin crew, service delivery, Emirates, told Gulf News in November that a senior cabin crew member will have the tablet and will have all the details of the passengers as well as the crew.

“Emirates airlines have received the 900 tablets but have only deployed 70 tablets as part of pilot programme. Within three to six months we expect the entire tablet to be rolled over,” he told Gulf News.

An industry expert said that iPad’s supremacy with consumers and enterprise alike is likely to be challenged by the latest enterprise tablets from HP and Dell. All the top PC makers have strong relationships with top corporates and they have been dealing with them for years with Microsoft operating platform.

“The advantage of the tablet is that it has a smart jacket which adds connectivity options and longer battery life along with specific add-ons that customise the tablet for specialised uses,” Salim Ziade, General Manager, Printing and Personal Systems Group, HP Middle East.

The sleeve adds an additional 10 hours of battery life apart from the tablet’s 10 hours of life.

He said around 30 big corporates are currently testing the product within the region.

“We have signed a deal for 1,600 units with a pharmaceutical company today [Monday]. The product is mainly focused at businesses, governments, healthcare and retail and it will not be available at retailers,” Ziade said.

According to research firm IDC, Apple’s global market share is expected to fall from 51 per cent to 46 per cent this year while Android share is expected to touch close to 49 per cent this year compared to 41.5 per cent last year.

According to Tom Mainelli, research director of tablets at IDC, both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android will lose some market share to Microsoft’s Windows 8 tablets. By 2017, Windows will have a market share of 7.4 per cent in 2017 compared to one per cent last year.