HP and Dell executives have spoken out against Apple, saying that the iPad will ultimately fail in the business market.

Dell’s head of marketing for large enterprises and public administration, Andy Lark, spoke to Australia’s CIO and said that although Apple pioneered the tablet, it won’t dominate for much longer.

“Apple is great if you’ve got a lot of money and live on an island. It’s not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex,” said Lark, according to CIO.

He added that the iPad was costly and was quoted saying that if someone were to buy the iPad with some of its key accessories such as a keyboard and a mouse; it would cost about $1500, which InformationWeek has debunked, confirming that even with the most expensive iPad, the entire cost including accessories amounts to $979.

By contrast, Lark argues that Dell and other companies might outpace the iPad because they’re focusing more on the enterprise sector, “We’ve taken a very considered approach to tablets, given that the vast majority of our business isn’t in the consumer space,” he said.

On his end, HP’s senior vice president of Consumer products told CRN’s Kevin McLaughlin at HP’s Americas Partners Conference in Las Vegas that Apple’s relationship with its partners was completely transactional and that there wasn’t an “inclusive philosophy of partner capabilities, and that’s just absurd.”

He also lauded HP’s OS, WebOS, and said that unlike Apple, “HP is very channel friendly. And if you have an issue with HP you can pick up the phone and talk to someone. That’s something that’s impossible with Apple”

While both Dell and HP admit that Apple is the current leader in the tablet market, and that it offered great products, they believe that the company will eventually be outpaced. “I couldn’t be happier that Apple has created a market and built up enthusiasm but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price and proprietary,” said Lark to Australia’s CIO.