Last week at Apple’s iPad 2 launch event Steve Jobs said several amazing things about both the iPad in general and the new version in particular. One of the more stunning things he said–besides the fact that Apple has now shipped 15 million iPads in just nine months–was that Apple had shipped more iPads in just nine months than all Tablet PCs (Windows and Linux variety) ever sold.
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Think about that. Microsoft introduced the world to the Microsoft Windows Tablet PC back in 2001. In addition to Windows-based devices there have been several Linux varients, but for all these options and in so many years (9 to be exact) Apple outsold them all combined in just nine months!
That’s quite an accomplishment and shows you the tremendous, game-changer momentum Apple has generated with the first iPad.
Goodness Comes in Nines
The number nine seems to be meaningful to Apple and its iPad product line. Not only has Apple outsold all others combined in nine months compared to their roughly nine years but the new iPad 2–very importantly for the engineering and CAD markets–is now nine times faster in graphics performance!
And the main CPU performance is twice as fast. All an all this is very important and good news for Apple’s leadership in this space. And it is good news for software developers who take advantage of this technical leadership, says Charles Edge, book author and director of technology for 318, Inc., an IT consulting and development firm specializing in integrating Apple in the enterprise.
“The added performance with the new processors and graphics is going to bring a lot of new possibilities,” said Edge. “That’s the main reason why Apple built the Garage Band and iMovie applications…to showcase how far you can push the envelope.”
But the nine times graphics performance is really going to benefit engineering and CAD software developers serving the enterprise space. “If a company like Autodesk releases tools–which they have–then they are going to de facto have portability to the desktop applications and a lot of adoption because of that,” said Edge.
Next page > Enterprise is Leading
Enterprise is Leading
Apple is experiencing remarkable interest in the iPad in enterprise. This is hardly news to those following the industry. What they may not realize is why? And they may not realize that Apple is also experiencing exploding growth in enterprise with Mac. The link between the two is very interesting and has implications for the engineering CAD market.
To understand this we must first understand more about why the iPad is so attractive to the enterprise in particular. Besides the iPad’s amazing technology the iPad represents a sea change in how technology can exist within large business. Charles Edge explains. “Customers of our IT consultancy, 318, Inc., see the iPad as representing a different approach to IT, almost a symbol of decentralization and consumerism.”
“It is a single user device that costs less than most portable computers,” says Edge. “There is a limited set of policies that can be enforced, but it is sandboxed in such a way that users are very limited in how they can interact with the device outside of what an app is able to do. Organizations who are in the midst of re-thinking big, monolithic IT are amongst those that see the most value in the iPad.”
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With the emergence of cloud-computing larger enterprises are investigating completely new approaches to IT. This is why CAD industry software giants have already begun to implement strategic product changes to address these new sea changes in the industry, such as Solidworks and Autodesk. It is because, by and large, the biggest players happen to have the majority of the largest (enterprise-scale) customers and these customers are responding to change in IT.
This may partly explain why it was Autodesk, for example, who arrived on the iPad technology stack first ahead of major Mac CAD developers. They likely had the scale of enterprise customers pushing them to get to market first with a CAD or engineering application that addressed the possibilities of both the cloud and the iPad.
Next page > The Connections
The Connections
Today that first show belongs to Autodesk. Their ability to bring AutoCAD WS to market for the iPad (and iOS) exists because they were already addressing CAD in the cloud with Project Butterfly’s development in Israel. (see are feature on Project Butterfly here).
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It is the fundamental changes of the cloud and the power of the Net on many types of devices that is the major driver behind Apple’s success with iPad. In the realm of business IT, like many past phases of “disruptive innovations,” it is the largest customers who are able to both gain the most and afford to investigate early. In engineering and AEC today that largely holds true as the biggest AEC teams for instance are doing the majority of projects under BIM versus traditional 2D CAD paradigms. (learn more, see Architosh’s 2010 BIM report)
So it follows that those who gain early leads on iPad stand to benefit the most as the iPad has a dramatic take-up in enterprise accounts. These large installations can number in the many thousands per customer. And with de facto portability back to the desktop, software developers with complete roundtrip technology stacks (between iOS and desktop operating systems), are in the best position to capitalize.
Creativity and Quality Still Rule
While many of the world’s leading engineering software companies are plugging away developing apps for the iPad, one shouldn’t make the mistake of assuming that their shear size and the size of their customers will automatically make them the leaders on iPad.
As Edge said, “…3D and CAD are very much about the apps and so there’s a lot of opportunity for something different and new, like the iPad itself.” The secret to leading on the iPad platform for CAD and engineering software applications is likely to follow Apple’s simple formula for success of the iPad itself.
“Apple is making a quality product,” said Edge. “When you hold the iPad and interact with it, the experience is simply a quality experience.”
Creativity and quality will be the markers of success with iPad apps. Apple has an open-platform for sales and marketing and it is up to developers to simply create the best software experiences delivering the most value to customers.
Apple is doing that itself says Edge, pushing the boundaries of its core technology stack and leading over the competition, like Blackberry and Google. It comes down to keeping TCO in check. “The sandbox technology keeps users or applications from damaging the device and therefore they need very little support,” says Edge. “Add to that, all the great features and the inertia Apple has already built up from its market success, and you really have to conclude that Apple is in the driver’s seat in the tablet market.”
Editor’s note: Charles Edge is a book author and director of technology for 318, Inc., an IT consulting and development firm specializing in integrating Apple into the enterprise.