Android 4.0 clears up the fragmentation of OS and app versions for Android smartphones and tablets and has the task of making Android tablets much more attractive than they are today.

DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim voiced concerns that Android 4.0 may not be enough for Google and tablet makers to achieve the breakthrough they are hoping for. In the end, Android does not solve Android’s most pressing problem: Differentiation.

“The main challenge in the tablet market continues to be differentiation,” Shim wrote in a blog post. “There are still too many tablets offering similar usage experiences, making it difficult to compete with the entrenched player, Apple and its iPad, and leading to a price-driven market.”

So far, we have seen the iPad control the $500 and above tablet market, with Android and other competing platforms making waves only with heavily discounted products. Shim’s expectation is that this environment will not change unless Google will give tablet makers as well as application developers tools that will specifically leverage capabilities in Android that Apple cannot match with iOS. In previous Android versions, Google leveraged this capability on smartphones and offered exclusives such as the Sky app to create an incentive to buy an Android phone.

SOURCE via Display Search