so..you're pretty-much satisfied with your desktop and laptop, and maybe your smart phone and you haven't been following tablets (leaving aside your covetous glance at the sleek ipad and the even sleeker woman next who is using it on the Chunnel) but now you're thinking about a tablet...at least to read an ebook..and you know what? you are not alone! So here's a sprinkling of articles about tablets..if you read them you'll get grounded pretty fast and with your grounding you will get a sense of what's up and what's not
...as always all praise to the random and various who have joined me (equally randomly and equally variously)
Apple, Amazon and B&N to Capture 87% of Tablet Market
7:00 PM - February 23, 2012 - By Douglas Perry - Source : Digitimes
Global tablet shipments are expected to climb about 78 percent year-over-year in Q1, but will decline 30 percent compared to the fourth quarter.
ZoomWhat remains the same, however, is the fact that Apple controls more than half of the market, while Amazon and Barnes & Noble are the only other major vendors.Of the 14.97 million tablets predicted by Digitimes Research to ship in Q1, 11 million or 73 percent will be iPad 2 and iPad 3 devices, leaving a little over 26 percent to Android. Amazon'sKindle will hit 1.5 million or about 10 percent share, followed by the Barnes & Noble Nook with 500,000 units and 4 percent share. Combined, these three manufacturers will dominate thetablet market with 87 percent market share.
If Digitimes Research is correct, then it also appears that non-iPad tablets are facing much more serious seasonal peaks in their sales: The company said that non-iPad tablet shipments will decline 51 percent sequentially. In Q1, 83 percent of all tablets shipped globally will have been assembled by Foxconn and about 10 percent by Quanta
SOURCE:http://www.tomsguide.com/us/ipad-amazon-kindle-fire-nook-tablet,news-14227.html
ARTICLE #2
8GB Nook Tablet takes on Kindle Fire at $199
Barnes & Noble launch version with lower internal storage to compete with Amazon
By MARK JONES
Published: 23 February, 2012
Anyone in the market for a reasonably spec'd $199 tablet now has another device to consider as Barnes & Noble has released an 8GB version of the Nook Tablet. When the book seller launched its Nook Tablet last year, despite being $50 more expensive, it looked like a sound alternative to the Kindle Fire and even offered some benefits over Amazon's device. However a Kindle killer it wasn't though now it's making another attempt on its rival tablet's life with the new cheaper model.
With the exception of the lower amount of internal storage the key specs are pretty much the same. The 8GB Nook Tablet contains a dual-core 1GHz processor, a lower 512MB of RAM (compared to the 16GB model's 1GB) and a 7" display. Running Android 2.3 it's said to offer 9 hours of battery life. 8GB of storage puts it on the same level as the Kindle Fire but it still has the advantage of having a microSD card slot to expand the potential amount of memory which its rival doesn't.
Previously Barnes & Noble's direct rival for the Kindle Fire was the Nook Color which cost the same at $199 but wasn't quite so impressive in the hardware stakes. Naturally the Nook Color has also had its price slashed and currently goes for $169.99.
Although the price difference between the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire wasn't that big to begin with Amazon has still managed to make more of an impact on the tablet market, even with the device's shortcomings. It will be interesting to see if the new variant of the Barnes & Noble slate can change this but the freshly reduced price doesn't change the fact that its maker just isn't Amazon.
The tablet is on sale now with the option of picking it up in store for $199 from Barnes & Noble's website.
SOURCE: http://www.rethink-wireless.com/2012/02/23/8gb-nook-tablet-takes-kindle-fire-199-8gb-nook-tablet-takes-kindle-fire-199.htm
ARTICLE #3
Previously Barnes & Noble's direct rival for the Kindle Fire was the Nook Color which cost the same at $199 but wasn't quite so impressive in the hardware stakes. Naturally the Nook Color has also had its price slashed and currently goes for $169.99.
Although the price difference between the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire wasn't that big to begin with Amazon has still managed to make more of an impact on the tablet market, even with the device's shortcomings. It will be interesting to see if the new variant of the Barnes & Noble slate can change this but the freshly reduced price doesn't change the fact that its maker just isn't Amazon.
The tablet is on sale now with the option of picking it up in store for $199 from Barnes & Noble's website.
SOURCE: http://www.rethink-wireless.com/2012/02/23/8gb-nook-tablet-takes-kindle-fire-199-8gb-nook-tablet-takes-kindle-fire-199.htm
ARTICLE #3
7 markets in which tablet growth will explode
February 22, 2012: 10:42 AM ET
Forget PCs, tablets have captured the technology industry's attention. Here are the areas where tablets are poised to dominate.
By Greg Andrews, contributor
FORTUNE -- Tablets are compelling devices that have captivated much of the tech industry over the past year. Most tablets are slick, portable, equipped with a bright touch screen, and priced lower than a typical desktop or laptop. Detractors have said that while tablets are innovative devices, they fall well short in functionality to a desktop or laptop PC. These critics are raising serious business and technology questions. What are tablets really going to be used for in large enterprises? What are their practical uses beyond viewing content and email? How much money can be made making and selling tablets?
Here are seven promising applications for tablets according to our findings at Accenture based on ongoing interactions with clients, coupled with industry research and analysis. The common thread underpinning these applications is that tablets are especially relevant for people on the move who need real-time, economical access to critical information virtually anywhere, anytime to accelerate communications and improve customer service.
Healthcare, Hospital, and Medical Applications
Doctors, nurses, administrators and patients are finding tablets particularly useful to reduce costs, accelerate transaction times, streamline information access, reduce paperwork, and simplify the overall healthcare experience for workers and patients.
Tablets are attractive for hospital use because, lacking keyboards, they are easy to wipe down and disinfect. They also provide quick mobile access to the latest information about clinical best practices. Tablets also enable doctors and nurses to read and record blood pressure and glucose levels while in a patient's room rather than at a desktop or laptop computer in another location. The devices can connect wirelessly into a hospital's electronics patient record system and a doctor can use a tablet to review a set of patient test results.
Radiologists can read films from their tablets from virtually anywhere. Doctors can show patients exactly what the test or diagnosis or x-ray reveals in real-time.
Sales Force
Sales people are finding tablets appealing because they tend to offer more features and applications than netbooks, and are smaller, weigh less, and are less cumbersome to carry and use than laptops in face-to-face customer meetings. As such, sales people can swiftly and easily access, display, and enter essential data on their tablets and provide on-the-spot and updated product and price quotes, and order requests.
Entertainment
The entertainment industry, particularly cable TV and broadcast network companies, are exploring tablets as another medium for content delivery beyond PCs and smartphones, Cable and content providers are ascertaining the affect it will have on TV viewing habits. A tablet is large enough to offer easy viewing of TV shows and movies. In addition, using tablets for gaming, photography, video and illustration is appealing. Using the tablet screen to view TV tracks with recent Accenture research that found consumers are rapidly turning to consumer electronics products such as smartphones and tablets to view media.
Retail
In-store tablet use allows retailers to efficiently integrate online and in-store inventory in real-time, obtain a 360 degree view of consumers by receiving and analyzing shopping and browsing behaviors, and creating an interactive, media-rich store experience. Tablets help consumers buy goods, check inventory, and compare products in real-time from anywhere in the store.
Education
Among the most promising use of tablets in education today involve disabled children. Tablet's touch screens have proven to be especially appealing for these children because they provide instant gratification, more control, and independence. Similarly, children with poor fine-motor skills find the touch screen simpler to use than a desktop computer which requires the use of a mouse. For students with vision impairment, the sharp, bright screens are easier to read. And recent reports suggest that mathematically challenged students find solving problems on a tablet more enjoyable than working with textbooks.
Publishing
Tablets are likely to have a big impact on the publishing industry particularly in the education arena. One of the most noteworthy developments recently has been the launch and distribution of a $35 tablet called AaKash to India's students. At this price point, tablet computing becomes much more accessible to many more students in India*. The Indian Ministry of Education is purchasing approximately 100,000 tablets to subsidize the costs so students can buy them for $35. Students will be able to browse the access e-textbooks they could not afford otherwise. Students from elementary through graduate schools will eventually have most or all of their textbooks online; many will access them on their tablets. In many other countries around the world tablets are likely to be used by the publishing industry. A growing number of school textbooks are going to be installed on tablets. Students from elementary through graduate schools will eventually have most of their textbooks on tablets.
Mobile Workers
A tablet can be an ideal engineering field tool, recording data from sensors, taking photos, adding notes, and drawing sketches. The tablet's multi-touch feature also makes it ideal for map-reading. A user can move from a global view to a street-level view, and zoom out again. Similarly, schematics on a tablet can be zoomed to a full device view, down to the individual component level, and back again. Instruction manuals can be stored on a tablet for quick access and viewing. A construction company can have its field workers use tablets to diagnose quality issues on site; to store and share material; and relay audio, digital photos and documents.
*How a $35 Tablet Could Revolutionize Classroom Learning," Audrey Waters, October 13, 2011, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Greg Andrews is a senior executive with Accenture's Electronics & High-Tech group
SOURCE:http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/02/22/7-markets-in-which-tablet-growth-will-explode/?section=magazines_fortune
ARTICLE #4
Tablets and smartphones: Why PC vendors should panic
Forget PCs, tablets have captured the technology industry's attention. Here are the areas where tablets are poised to dominate.
By Greg Andrews, contributor
FORTUNE -- Tablets are compelling devices that have captivated much of the tech industry over the past year. Most tablets are slick, portable, equipped with a bright touch screen, and priced lower than a typical desktop or laptop. Detractors have said that while tablets are innovative devices, they fall well short in functionality to a desktop or laptop PC. These critics are raising serious business and technology questions. What are tablets really going to be used for in large enterprises? What are their practical uses beyond viewing content and email? How much money can be made making and selling tablets?Here are seven promising applications for tablets according to our findings at Accenture based on ongoing interactions with clients, coupled with industry research and analysis. The common thread underpinning these applications is that tablets are especially relevant for people on the move who need real-time, economical access to critical information virtually anywhere, anytime to accelerate communications and improve customer service.
Healthcare, Hospital, and Medical Applications
Doctors, nurses, administrators and patients are finding tablets particularly useful to reduce costs, accelerate transaction times, streamline information access, reduce paperwork, and simplify the overall healthcare experience for workers and patients.
Tablets are attractive for hospital use because, lacking keyboards, they are easy to wipe down and disinfect. They also provide quick mobile access to the latest information about clinical best practices. Tablets also enable doctors and nurses to read and record blood pressure and glucose levels while in a patient's room rather than at a desktop or laptop computer in another location. The devices can connect wirelessly into a hospital's electronics patient record system and a doctor can use a tablet to review a set of patient test results.
Radiologists can read films from their tablets from virtually anywhere. Doctors can show patients exactly what the test or diagnosis or x-ray reveals in real-time.
Sales Force
Sales people are finding tablets appealing because they tend to offer more features and applications than netbooks, and are smaller, weigh less, and are less cumbersome to carry and use than laptops in face-to-face customer meetings. As such, sales people can swiftly and easily access, display, and enter essential data on their tablets and provide on-the-spot and updated product and price quotes, and order requests.
Entertainment
The entertainment industry, particularly cable TV and broadcast network companies, are exploring tablets as another medium for content delivery beyond PCs and smartphones, Cable and content providers are ascertaining the affect it will have on TV viewing habits. A tablet is large enough to offer easy viewing of TV shows and movies. In addition, using tablets for gaming, photography, video and illustration is appealing. Using the tablet screen to view TV tracks with recent Accenture research that found consumers are rapidly turning to consumer electronics products such as smartphones and tablets to view media.
Retail
In-store tablet use allows retailers to efficiently integrate online and in-store inventory in real-time, obtain a 360 degree view of consumers by receiving and analyzing shopping and browsing behaviors, and creating an interactive, media-rich store experience. Tablets help consumers buy goods, check inventory, and compare products in real-time from anywhere in the store.
Education
Among the most promising use of tablets in education today involve disabled children. Tablet's touch screens have proven to be especially appealing for these children because they provide instant gratification, more control, and independence. Similarly, children with poor fine-motor skills find the touch screen simpler to use than a desktop computer which requires the use of a mouse. For students with vision impairment, the sharp, bright screens are easier to read. And recent reports suggest that mathematically challenged students find solving problems on a tablet more enjoyable than working with textbooks.
Publishing
Tablets are likely to have a big impact on the publishing industry particularly in the education arena. One of the most noteworthy developments recently has been the launch and distribution of a $35 tablet called AaKash to India's students. At this price point, tablet computing becomes much more accessible to many more students in India*. The Indian Ministry of Education is purchasing approximately 100,000 tablets to subsidize the costs so students can buy them for $35. Students will be able to browse the access e-textbooks they could not afford otherwise. Students from elementary through graduate schools will eventually have most or all of their textbooks online; many will access them on their tablets. In many other countries around the world tablets are likely to be used by the publishing industry. A growing number of school textbooks are going to be installed on tablets. Students from elementary through graduate schools will eventually have most of their textbooks on tablets.
Mobile Workers
A tablet can be an ideal engineering field tool, recording data from sensors, taking photos, adding notes, and drawing sketches. The tablet's multi-touch feature also makes it ideal for map-reading. A user can move from a global view to a street-level view, and zoom out again. Similarly, schematics on a tablet can be zoomed to a full device view, down to the individual component level, and back again. Instruction manuals can be stored on a tablet for quick access and viewing. A construction company can have its field workers use tablets to diagnose quality issues on site; to store and share material; and relay audio, digital photos and documents.
*How a $35 Tablet Could Revolutionize Classroom Learning," Audrey Waters, October 13, 2011, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Greg Andrews is a senior executive with Accenture's Electronics & High-Tech group
SOURCE:http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/02/22/7-markets-in-which-tablet-growth-will-explode/?section=magazines_fortune
ARTICLE #4
Tablets and smartphones: Why PC vendors should panic
Analysis A thorough explanation
22 Feb 2012 13:57 | by Paul Taylor in Lisbon | Filed in Business Gartner Smartphone
The PC industry has very little going for it right now, with slow PC sales, rising component prices, government and businesses slashing IT spending leaving the end user to pick up the slack – right in the middle of a recession.
Bluntly put, 2011 has not been kind to the PC industry, and the outlook remains doom-and-gloom for 2012, which has prompted widespread cuts, slimming down of inventory, product cancellations, postponement, shoring up expenditure and a general caution for the first half of this year.
The UK, in particular, has felt the decline of the desktop PC, reflected by a sharp decrease in PC shipments in the last quarter of 2011. Notebooks and desktops slipped 19.6 percent year on year, according to Gartner’s latest data. In fact, most analysts are predicting that 2012 will be slightly worse in western countries than in emerging markets, PC-wise, so vendors are lumbering like the proverbial dinossaurs in the tar pits.
Continuing the trend, the consumer - not the enterprise - is driving technology consumption. In fact, the consumer is driving it to such a point that we have given up on bulky desktop PCs and are willingly going for the much-prized smaller, handier and infinitely more portable tablet PC or smartphone without thinking twice.
"Despite aggressive pricing and special holiday deals for PCs, consumers' attention was caught by other devices, such as smartphones, media tablets and e-readers," said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner.
2012 – Year of the Tablet
While traditional PC integrators are struggling to make ends meet and support their enterprise customers and strategies, the tablet business has projected into the foreground a number of foundries, semiconductor- and fabless design businesses. Only a few notable exceptions in the PC world have managed to adapt and pre-empt the changing market conditions. Of these, Appleand Nvidia stand out the most.
Apple, living off the quasi-religious devotion of its followers, has had wild success with its iPhones and iPads. It is expected to announce on 7 March the iPad 3, which has left so far a slightly underwhelming feeling as rumours suggest it won't feature a new design of the iPad 2’s A5 SoC, but a tweaked version.
Fortunately for Apple, a lot of its customers don’t care about what goes on in the background.
Over 70 percent of Apple’s revenues now come from iOS devices such as the iPhone or iPad, and this does not even take into account iTunes revenues.
With desktop, server and notebook Macs now accounting for just 14 percent of the company’s total revenues, this adds more weight to the alleged Apple ARM notebook, forcibly hooking its fate to iOS.
It isn’t surprising that, of Apple’s record $46.33 billion revenues from last year, it made $13.06 billion in profit.
One of the most resounding names in the PC graphics industry - Nvidia - has also managed to navigate these dire straits by expanding its business concern into mobile graphics and then into system-on-chip designs based on ARM architecture.
Nvidia’s Tegra is now positioned shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Texas Instruments (OMAP), Samsung (Exynos), Qualcomm (Snapdragon) and Apple (A-series), and has raked in for the company, in 2011 alone, almost $600 million in revenue.
Nvidia will be announcing several Tegra 3-based products with its partners next week at MWC and expects the revenue growth in this segment to be a healthy 50 percent. Overall, the outlook is much more favourable today than a year ago when Tegra was still confronted with scepticism from handset makers.
So, what of Intel? Intel’s push into the portable business is coming to fruition with the forthcoming announcement of both smartphone and tablet PCs based on its Medfield design. Ironically, firmly rooted in the Intel and AMD rivalry, PC vendors will have Intel as their only option in moving into the tablet market without taking more risks.
Shipping through its traditional PC partners, the same ones who’ve struggled to shift into the tablet gear, this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for the likes of Lenovo, HP, Toshiba, Dell and Acer to jump on the tablet bandwagon.
Even if you’re sceptical of Intel’s ability to pull off an x86 device like Medfield, don’t underestimate the depth of Intel’s pockets and the strength of co-marketing.
Two tablet PC vendors in particular have locked themselves in deadly combat, to the point where you can hardly distinguish the combatants: Barnes and Noble announced its Nook Tablet 8GB, which faces off squarely with Amazon’s Kindle Fire, same price, same specs, mostly the same of everything, at already affordable prices. Your choice of tablet will fall on your choice of book store.
The company formerly known as 3DLabs
One dark horse may surprise many onlookers sometime soon: ZiiLabs , formerly known as 3DLabs, a subsidiary of Creative Technologies, has penned a deal with the Chinese government to supply the HanZpad. Han, being Chinese for, erm, Chinese.
The HanZpad will be using an as-yet undisclosed homebrew Chinese OS and its own “stemcell” processor, the ZMS-40. The ZMS-40 is a quad-core ARM A9 design with an array of 96 “stemcell processors”, not unlike shaders on a GPU, that accelerate multimedia processing. It also benefits from having Creative X-Fi technology integrated into the hardware. On paper it puts the competition to shame.
If things come to fruition, the low-profile ZiiLabs has beaten age-old ARM licensees to the quad-core grail. This is really a testament to how fast and how easy it is to get in on a piece of the action.
Apps: Cheap and cheerful
In case you haven’t noticed, Microsoft and other companies have tried shoving widgets down our throats for a few years now, but it really hasn’t taken off. On tablets and smartphones, it’s a whole different story.
Probably one of the greatest assets handheld devices have is the cheap and cheerful software known as apps, and you’ll pardon us if we’re stating the obvious, but this can’t be emphasised enough: Apps are cheap and easy to use. They are the epitome of “dumbing down the user experience” and appeal to the lowest common denominator of computer users.
Apps also give you a tunnel vision of sorts, focusing your attention on one thing at a time, providing you with exactly what you want without distracting you with other odd bits and ends like desktop programs do. Apps are about the same price as a ringtone, but their use far exceeds that of a mentally unstable frog.
Mobility driving the industry
The tablet and smartphone business is also making an impact in the component industry. From TFT panel makers ramping up smaller screen production to R&D investment in new SoC designs, RF, baseband and storage technology, new players are surfacing and old ones are adapting to the best of their ability.
Tablets and smartphones are also a lifeline for many companies struggling to cope with overcapacity, stemming from over-optimistic desktop computer forecasts.
RAM manufacturing is shifting production to meet the demand of tablet PCs. Lower desktop memory margins have prompted this move and greater margins exist in ‘niche’ segments such as tablets and servers, where there’s a premium to be had.
Memory manufacturing companies are also investing in developing new technologies that will – one way or another – end up in the palm of your hand. Whether it’s ReRAM, MRAM or CMOx-based Flash, R&D money is going straight into these business units. Even Rambus has joined in on the action with its recent acquisition of Unity Semiconductor.
TFT panels, on the other hand, have become commoditised and shrunk panel makers’ revenues. The industry has been forced to walk a fine balance between innovating (OLED, AMOLED) and weaning consumers off ‘traditional’ TFT panels. It has managed it poorly. Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and LG are all suffering from having invested far too much and having commoditised the technology too quick.
But not all is bad news for TFT, if you’re willing to adapt. According to research firm NPD DisplaySearch, tablet PCs have accounted for a massive boost in TFT panel shipments. Apart from the smallish ‘Public Display’ segment used in interactive advertising, it is the single greatest boost to the industry which otherwise struggled with low margins and lower-still PC shipments in 2011.
DisplaySearch reports a 217 percent growth of TFT panels, year on year, for the 9+ inch segment, although 2012 will definitely put a spin on the metrics as 7- and 8-inch designs are growing in popularity with both Samsung and an alleged 8-inch Apple iPad.
Finally, ARM licensees have seen business booming as their system-on-chip designs are now powering just about everything handheld. Broadcom, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics and even second tier Chinese contenders like Rockchip have found a home with the SoC.
So, why should PC vendors panic?
Being the lumbering corporate giants that they are, PC vendors are like supertankers, slow to turn and very, very cautious about where they are navigating.
No chances are taken and the beancounters have the last word. While they have the budget to invest in developing new products they are wary to do so as it can cannibalise their own product lines, upset the supply chain and generally impact their bottom line.
PC vendors are also facing off with just about anyone willing to lay down their reputation in tablets and smartphones. A quick trip to Taiwan or mainland China will generate the necessary ODM engineering and manufacturing to come up with competitive products, so it is very easy to get in on the action.
Tablets alone are expected to reach around 100 million unit shipments in 2012, according to Digitimes Research and IDC, and this is purely the hardware side of things.
When you factor in smartphones or superphones, the revenues, even at far lower average selling points, and growth easily overtake anything the PC world has to offer. Now, add the entire parallel economy of revenues generated by app sales for both iOS and Android devices that keep developers’ tummies full and CEOs happy.
No wonder Microsoft wants to push WOA fast and hard. There is no other way to stay in the game.
Next week there will be plenty of developments as Mobile World Congress takes place in Barcelona, and if your business is selling desktop PCs, we'd recommend you put together a team and ship them off to Catalunya as fast as you can. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two.
Read more: http://news.techeye.net/business/tablets-and-smartphones-why-pc-vendors-should-panic#ixzz1nG4bGDft
ARTICLE #5
$199 iPad is a bad idea
By Joe Wilcox
Published 6 hours ago
Over at eWeek, Don Reisinger presents "A $199 iPad: 10 Reasons Apple Should Discount its Tablet". My retitle: "10 lame-ass reasons why Apple should slash iPad's price to $199".
I don't often go for another reporter's jugular, but Reisinger is the king of top-10 lists and this is among his worst. We post top-10s sparingly at BetaNews, because of their limited news value. But they do generate traffic. Top-10s are the purview of pagevew whores. Well, hell, Google search might filter this post for the "W" word; so much for my pageviews. Frack it. I'm not a traffic slut; I just have a bad reputation.
Not Everyone Else is Doing It
Reisinger's first reason is by far the worst: "Everyone else is doing it". Oh yeah? Everyone else but Apple sells cheap PCs, too, and know-it-alls have called for price cuts for years. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company rightly resisted, drew a line at $999 and has fairly consistently stayed above it. That's MacBook Air's starting price. Higher pricing helped establish Mac as a premium brand and kept PC margins high.
Apple generated $46.33 billion revenue and $13.06 billion profit during calendar fourth quarter. Macs alone generated $6.6 billion revenue. Dell, which is best known for low-cost PCs, announced quarterly results two days ago: About $16 billion in revenue but only $764 million in profit. That's what happens when a company sells products cheap and reaps low margins as a result. Apple rightly resisted going there with Macs and should do so with iPad.
Apple's business model is very much not what everyone else is doing. So what if Amazon and Barnes & Noble sell $199 Android tablets? Why should Apple pee away margins? In the last quarter alone, Apple sold more than 15 million tablets, generating $9.1 billion in revenue. If my math is right -- and I am dog sick with the flu today, so it might not be -- that works out to about $591 per iPad. The tablet sells well, and according to every analyst tracking the market iPad is overwhelmingly the share leader.
It's insane to suggest slashing prices because "everyone else is doing it", when iPad is top of its game and Apple would give away lucrative margins for minimal gains.
Besides, everyone else isn't doing it. Most major brand tablets that compete head-to-head with iPad cost considerably more than $199. For example, Amazon's discounted price for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi is $448 for the 16GB model and $480.53 for the 32GB. Heck, even the smaller Tab 7.0 Plus is $346.51 and $380.53 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime ranges from $546.35 to $717.99. Yeah, everyone sure is doing it.
It Devalues the Brand
I won't rebut all Reisinger's reasons, mainly because I feel too sick but also it's professionally unbecoming. I've energy and inclination for two more, however. Next up: "It doesn’t devalue the brand". Doh, of course $199 iPad devalues the brand. Apple's successfully-proven pricing strategy is simple: Start high and go low only as needed to expand the market of available buyers.
iPod and iPhone are excellent examples. Apple started selling the original iPod, with 5GB storage, in November 2001 for $399. The following summer, Apple introduced new models with lower and higher selling prices: 5GB ($299), 10GB ($399) and 20GB ($499). From there, prices dropped slowly, as Apple introduced smaller, lower-capacity models like iPod mini in early 2004.
Today you can buy an iPod for as little as $49 or as much as $399. Apple carefully lowered prices, while spreading them out across a range, as it sought to reach more buyers and give existing iPod owners reasons to buy another.
iPhone pricing is similar but less so, since it's a product subsidized by wireless carriers. The original iPhone went on sale in June 2007 for $499 and $599, respectively, for 4GB and 8GB capacities (soon after, Apple lowered prices and issued $100 credits to early buyers). Prices dramatically dropped for iPhone 3G to $199 and $299, in July 2008, but subsidized by wireless carriers. Apple collected much more money, averaged exceeding $600 per handset. So the company could lower prices in partnership with carriers without peeing away margins.
iPad isn't iPhone
My continued explanation hits on another of the 10 reasons: "It’s working with the iPhone". Reisinger observes that Apple and carriers are "giving away the iPhone 3GS for free, and the iPhone 4 is being sold for just $99" He asks: "If it works with the iPhone, why wouldn’t it work with the iPad?"
For starters there's no need. Apple only lowered price on older iPhones outfitted with lessstorage capacity after maximizing sales and margins on higher-priced models. Discounts open the market to buyers wanting or needing to pay less. iPad still sells really well, starting at $499, as aforementioned.
iPhone is a subsidized product, and iPad is not. iPhone 3GS might be free to the customer, but it's not to carriers, which, last I checked, pay Apple $375. What works for iPhone won't for iPad, unsubsidized.
There is only one circumstance that justifies $199 iPad: Carrier subsidies. Because, like with iPhone, Apple would still get the big bucks for iPad from telcos like AT&T or Verizon. But, then, carriers would require monthly data plans, which are optional today. Definitely there are customers who would pay less now and commit to 24-month data contracts.
In this scenario, Apple could hit lower price points and snatch some sales from $199 Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook. Customers looking for carrier-free arrangements would pay full price. Apple keeps its higher margins either way.
There remains the question of reducing price on iPad 2, alongside iPad 3. Apple could possibly justify $399 but would sacrifice too much at $299. Considering how much demand there is for iPad 2 and interest in iPad 3, I don't see much reason for Apple to give up margins on older iPad selling for less. Yet.
SOURCE: http://betanews.com/2012/02/23/199-ipad-is-a-bad-idea/
ARTICLE #6
22 Feb 2012 13:57 | by Paul Taylor in Lisbon | Filed in Business Gartner Smartphone
The PC industry has very little going for it right now, with slow PC sales, rising component prices, government and businesses slashing IT spending leaving the end user to pick up the slack – right in the middle of a recession.
Bluntly put, 2011 has not been kind to the PC industry, and the outlook remains doom-and-gloom for 2012, which has prompted widespread cuts, slimming down of inventory, product cancellations, postponement, shoring up expenditure and a general caution for the first half of this year.
The UK, in particular, has felt the decline of the desktop PC, reflected by a sharp decrease in PC shipments in the last quarter of 2011. Notebooks and desktops slipped 19.6 percent year on year, according to Gartner’s latest data. In fact, most analysts are predicting that 2012 will be slightly worse in western countries than in emerging markets, PC-wise, so vendors are lumbering like the proverbial dinossaurs in the tar pits.
Continuing the trend, the consumer - not the enterprise - is driving technology consumption. In fact, the consumer is driving it to such a point that we have given up on bulky desktop PCs and are willingly going for the much-prized smaller, handier and infinitely more portable tablet PC or smartphone without thinking twice.
"Despite aggressive pricing and special holiday deals for PCs, consumers' attention was caught by other devices, such as smartphones, media tablets and e-readers," said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner.
2012 – Year of the Tablet
While traditional PC integrators are struggling to make ends meet and support their enterprise customers and strategies, the tablet business has projected into the foreground a number of foundries, semiconductor- and fabless design businesses. Only a few notable exceptions in the PC world have managed to adapt and pre-empt the changing market conditions. Of these, Appleand Nvidia stand out the most.
Apple, living off the quasi-religious devotion of its followers, has had wild success with its iPhones and iPads. It is expected to announce on 7 March the iPad 3, which has left so far a slightly underwhelming feeling as rumours suggest it won't feature a new design of the iPad 2’s A5 SoC, but a tweaked version.
Fortunately for Apple, a lot of its customers don’t care about what goes on in the background.
Over 70 percent of Apple’s revenues now come from iOS devices such as the iPhone or iPad, and this does not even take into account iTunes revenues.
With desktop, server and notebook Macs now accounting for just 14 percent of the company’s total revenues, this adds more weight to the alleged Apple ARM notebook, forcibly hooking its fate to iOS.
It isn’t surprising that, of Apple’s record $46.33 billion revenues from last year, it made $13.06 billion in profit.
One of the most resounding names in the PC graphics industry - Nvidia - has also managed to navigate these dire straits by expanding its business concern into mobile graphics and then into system-on-chip designs based on ARM architecture.
Nvidia’s Tegra is now positioned shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Texas Instruments (OMAP), Samsung (Exynos), Qualcomm (Snapdragon) and Apple (A-series), and has raked in for the company, in 2011 alone, almost $600 million in revenue.
Nvidia will be announcing several Tegra 3-based products with its partners next week at MWC and expects the revenue growth in this segment to be a healthy 50 percent. Overall, the outlook is much more favourable today than a year ago when Tegra was still confronted with scepticism from handset makers.
So, what of Intel? Intel’s push into the portable business is coming to fruition with the forthcoming announcement of both smartphone and tablet PCs based on its Medfield design. Ironically, firmly rooted in the Intel and AMD rivalry, PC vendors will have Intel as their only option in moving into the tablet market without taking more risks.
Shipping through its traditional PC partners, the same ones who’ve struggled to shift into the tablet gear, this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for the likes of Lenovo, HP, Toshiba, Dell and Acer to jump on the tablet bandwagon.
Even if you’re sceptical of Intel’s ability to pull off an x86 device like Medfield, don’t underestimate the depth of Intel’s pockets and the strength of co-marketing.
Two tablet PC vendors in particular have locked themselves in deadly combat, to the point where you can hardly distinguish the combatants: Barnes and Noble announced its Nook Tablet 8GB, which faces off squarely with Amazon’s Kindle Fire, same price, same specs, mostly the same of everything, at already affordable prices. Your choice of tablet will fall on your choice of book store.
The company formerly known as 3DLabs
One dark horse may surprise many onlookers sometime soon: ZiiLabs , formerly known as 3DLabs, a subsidiary of Creative Technologies, has penned a deal with the Chinese government to supply the HanZpad. Han, being Chinese for, erm, Chinese.
The HanZpad will be using an as-yet undisclosed homebrew Chinese OS and its own “stemcell” processor, the ZMS-40. The ZMS-40 is a quad-core ARM A9 design with an array of 96 “stemcell processors”, not unlike shaders on a GPU, that accelerate multimedia processing. It also benefits from having Creative X-Fi technology integrated into the hardware. On paper it puts the competition to shame.
If things come to fruition, the low-profile ZiiLabs has beaten age-old ARM licensees to the quad-core grail. This is really a testament to how fast and how easy it is to get in on a piece of the action.
Apps: Cheap and cheerful
In case you haven’t noticed, Microsoft and other companies have tried shoving widgets down our throats for a few years now, but it really hasn’t taken off. On tablets and smartphones, it’s a whole different story.
Probably one of the greatest assets handheld devices have is the cheap and cheerful software known as apps, and you’ll pardon us if we’re stating the obvious, but this can’t be emphasised enough: Apps are cheap and easy to use. They are the epitome of “dumbing down the user experience” and appeal to the lowest common denominator of computer users.
Apps also give you a tunnel vision of sorts, focusing your attention on one thing at a time, providing you with exactly what you want without distracting you with other odd bits and ends like desktop programs do. Apps are about the same price as a ringtone, but their use far exceeds that of a mentally unstable frog.
Mobility driving the industry
The tablet and smartphone business is also making an impact in the component industry. From TFT panel makers ramping up smaller screen production to R&D investment in new SoC designs, RF, baseband and storage technology, new players are surfacing and old ones are adapting to the best of their ability.
Tablets and smartphones are also a lifeline for many companies struggling to cope with overcapacity, stemming from over-optimistic desktop computer forecasts.
RAM manufacturing is shifting production to meet the demand of tablet PCs. Lower desktop memory margins have prompted this move and greater margins exist in ‘niche’ segments such as tablets and servers, where there’s a premium to be had.
Memory manufacturing companies are also investing in developing new technologies that will – one way or another – end up in the palm of your hand. Whether it’s ReRAM, MRAM or CMOx-based Flash, R&D money is going straight into these business units. Even Rambus has joined in on the action with its recent acquisition of Unity Semiconductor.
TFT panels, on the other hand, have become commoditised and shrunk panel makers’ revenues. The industry has been forced to walk a fine balance between innovating (OLED, AMOLED) and weaning consumers off ‘traditional’ TFT panels. It has managed it poorly. Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and LG are all suffering from having invested far too much and having commoditised the technology too quick.
But not all is bad news for TFT, if you’re willing to adapt. According to research firm NPD DisplaySearch, tablet PCs have accounted for a massive boost in TFT panel shipments. Apart from the smallish ‘Public Display’ segment used in interactive advertising, it is the single greatest boost to the industry which otherwise struggled with low margins and lower-still PC shipments in 2011.
DisplaySearch reports a 217 percent growth of TFT panels, year on year, for the 9+ inch segment, although 2012 will definitely put a spin on the metrics as 7- and 8-inch designs are growing in popularity with both Samsung and an alleged 8-inch Apple iPad.
Finally, ARM licensees have seen business booming as their system-on-chip designs are now powering just about everything handheld. Broadcom, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics and even second tier Chinese contenders like Rockchip have found a home with the SoC.
So, why should PC vendors panic?
Being the lumbering corporate giants that they are, PC vendors are like supertankers, slow to turn and very, very cautious about where they are navigating.
No chances are taken and the beancounters have the last word. While they have the budget to invest in developing new products they are wary to do so as it can cannibalise their own product lines, upset the supply chain and generally impact their bottom line.
PC vendors are also facing off with just about anyone willing to lay down their reputation in tablets and smartphones. A quick trip to Taiwan or mainland China will generate the necessary ODM engineering and manufacturing to come up with competitive products, so it is very easy to get in on the action.
Tablets alone are expected to reach around 100 million unit shipments in 2012, according to Digitimes Research and IDC, and this is purely the hardware side of things.
When you factor in smartphones or superphones, the revenues, even at far lower average selling points, and growth easily overtake anything the PC world has to offer. Now, add the entire parallel economy of revenues generated by app sales for both iOS and Android devices that keep developers’ tummies full and CEOs happy.
No wonder Microsoft wants to push WOA fast and hard. There is no other way to stay in the game.
Next week there will be plenty of developments as Mobile World Congress takes place in Barcelona, and if your business is selling desktop PCs, we'd recommend you put together a team and ship them off to Catalunya as fast as you can. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two.
Read more: http://news.techeye.net/business/tablets-and-smartphones-why-pc-vendors-should-panic#ixzz1nG4bGDft
ARTICLE #5
$199 iPad is a bad idea
By Joe Wilcox
Published 6 hours ago
Over at eWeek, Don Reisinger presents "A $199 iPad: 10 Reasons Apple Should Discount its Tablet". My retitle: "10 lame-ass reasons why Apple should slash iPad's price to $199".
I don't often go for another reporter's jugular, but Reisinger is the king of top-10 lists and this is among his worst. We post top-10s sparingly at BetaNews, because of their limited news value. But they do generate traffic. Top-10s are the purview of pagevew whores. Well, hell, Google search might filter this post for the "W" word; so much for my pageviews. Frack it. I'm not a traffic slut; I just have a bad reputation.
Not Everyone Else is Doing It
Reisinger's first reason is by far the worst: "Everyone else is doing it". Oh yeah? Everyone else but Apple sells cheap PCs, too, and know-it-alls have called for price cuts for years. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company rightly resisted, drew a line at $999 and has fairly consistently stayed above it. That's MacBook Air's starting price. Higher pricing helped establish Mac as a premium brand and kept PC margins high.
Apple generated $46.33 billion revenue and $13.06 billion profit during calendar fourth quarter. Macs alone generated $6.6 billion revenue. Dell, which is best known for low-cost PCs, announced quarterly results two days ago: About $16 billion in revenue but only $764 million in profit. That's what happens when a company sells products cheap and reaps low margins as a result. Apple rightly resisted going there with Macs and should do so with iPad.
Apple's business model is very much not what everyone else is doing. So what if Amazon and Barnes & Noble sell $199 Android tablets? Why should Apple pee away margins? In the last quarter alone, Apple sold more than 15 million tablets, generating $9.1 billion in revenue. If my math is right -- and I am dog sick with the flu today, so it might not be -- that works out to about $591 per iPad. The tablet sells well, and according to every analyst tracking the market iPad is overwhelmingly the share leader.
It's insane to suggest slashing prices because "everyone else is doing it", when iPad is top of its game and Apple would give away lucrative margins for minimal gains.
Besides, everyone else isn't doing it. Most major brand tablets that compete head-to-head with iPad cost considerably more than $199. For example, Amazon's discounted price for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi is $448 for the 16GB model and $480.53 for the 32GB. Heck, even the smaller Tab 7.0 Plus is $346.51 and $380.53 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime ranges from $546.35 to $717.99. Yeah, everyone sure is doing it.
It Devalues the Brand
I won't rebut all Reisinger's reasons, mainly because I feel too sick but also it's professionally unbecoming. I've energy and inclination for two more, however. Next up: "It doesn’t devalue the brand". Doh, of course $199 iPad devalues the brand. Apple's successfully-proven pricing strategy is simple: Start high and go low only as needed to expand the market of available buyers.
iPod and iPhone are excellent examples. Apple started selling the original iPod, with 5GB storage, in November 2001 for $399. The following summer, Apple introduced new models with lower and higher selling prices: 5GB ($299), 10GB ($399) and 20GB ($499). From there, prices dropped slowly, as Apple introduced smaller, lower-capacity models like iPod mini in early 2004.
Today you can buy an iPod for as little as $49 or as much as $399. Apple carefully lowered prices, while spreading them out across a range, as it sought to reach more buyers and give existing iPod owners reasons to buy another.
iPhone pricing is similar but less so, since it's a product subsidized by wireless carriers. The original iPhone went on sale in June 2007 for $499 and $599, respectively, for 4GB and 8GB capacities (soon after, Apple lowered prices and issued $100 credits to early buyers). Prices dramatically dropped for iPhone 3G to $199 and $299, in July 2008, but subsidized by wireless carriers. Apple collected much more money, averaged exceeding $600 per handset. So the company could lower prices in partnership with carriers without peeing away margins.
iPad isn't iPhone
My continued explanation hits on another of the 10 reasons: "It’s working with the iPhone". Reisinger observes that Apple and carriers are "giving away the iPhone 3GS for free, and the iPhone 4 is being sold for just $99" He asks: "If it works with the iPhone, why wouldn’t it work with the iPad?"
For starters there's no need. Apple only lowered price on older iPhones outfitted with lessstorage capacity after maximizing sales and margins on higher-priced models. Discounts open the market to buyers wanting or needing to pay less. iPad still sells really well, starting at $499, as aforementioned.
iPhone is a subsidized product, and iPad is not. iPhone 3GS might be free to the customer, but it's not to carriers, which, last I checked, pay Apple $375. What works for iPhone won't for iPad, unsubsidized.
There is only one circumstance that justifies $199 iPad: Carrier subsidies. Because, like with iPhone, Apple would still get the big bucks for iPad from telcos like AT&T or Verizon. But, then, carriers would require monthly data plans, which are optional today. Definitely there are customers who would pay less now and commit to 24-month data contracts.
In this scenario, Apple could hit lower price points and snatch some sales from $199 Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook. Customers looking for carrier-free arrangements would pay full price. Apple keeps its higher margins either way.
There remains the question of reducing price on iPad 2, alongside iPad 3. Apple could possibly justify $399 but would sacrifice too much at $299. Considering how much demand there is for iPad 2 and interest in iPad 3, I don't see much reason for Apple to give up margins on older iPad selling for less. Yet.
SOURCE: http://betanews.com/2012/02/23/199-ipad-is-a-bad-idea/
ARTICLE #6
Acer Iconia Tab W500 – Hybrid with Promise
by Andy Brock
The Acer Iconia W500 is a new breed of tablet (hybrid tablet) that offers netbook and tablet features in one unified device. But how does this tablet stand up in the world of tablet devicesthat is pretty much dominated by the iPad?
What are the reviews saying?
One way to get a sense of how its doing is to check out reviews from sources you trust. You should not only look at the various features and specs of the device, but you should also consider how previous users and technology experts rate the device.
This is not a be-all-end-all type strategy but hopefully this should give you a good idea whether or not this tablet is the device that best suits your preferences as well as your expectations.
Hybrid device
The Acer Iconia Tab W500-BZ467 is a 10.1 inch tablet that can convert into a netbook with a full size chiclet keyboard. This hybrid device runs on an AMD dual-core processor C-50 and uses a Windows 7 Home Premium operating system.
The device also includes dual 1.3 MP Acer Crystal Eye webcams with 1280 x 1024 resolution. In addition to Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities, the tablet also has two USB ports and an Acer PowerSmart 3-cell Li-polymer battery that provides four to six hours of power.
Those who put stock in good screen resolution (who doesn’t) may also like the sharp images and rich, vivid colors that make the smooth multimedia playback come to life. The device is also compatible with HDTV with an HDMI output. If you plan to carry your tablet/netbook on the go, the device is lightweight at only three and a half pounds and the design is meant to be sturdy enough to help it stand up to the demands of travel.
How does it compare
Many users tend to enjoy this device and claim that it is definitely on par with other well-known tablet devices in features. Some laud the tablet because of its touch screen capabilities. However, some users say that the device works better with a Windows 8 system, but of course this upgrade will cost more. Still, there are users that agree that the device does everything it is supposed to for its $500 price tag, lower than many other tablet devices.
There are also a few users who claim that the keyboard is not as efficient as it could be. There are also claims that the battery life is much less than what the manufacturer claims. Furthermore, there are users who say the device is too heavy for reading or watching films and video. For others, the device appears more as a laptop. However, many users appear to like this tablet overall as it suffices as a tablet.
Innovate, innovate, innovate
Really, what its going to come down to is how much you are willing to spend versus the features that are needed. Acer has been making reliable computers for years so there is some brand recognition here. But is that enough? And, frankly, I wonder whether Windows 7 is a hindrance or a boost to the tablet as compared to something like Honeycomb (previously) or Ice Cream Sandwich that now comes on the Asus Transformer Prime.
One thing is for sure, as users, and manufacturers for that matter, figure out how to move tablet computing from more of a consumption device to a productive device, innovation will continue to surpass current technology – which is exciting, allowing for new ways to get the job done. Which also means, that we will probably continue to see hybrid type computers continue to hit the marketplace.
SOURCE: http://www.pdfdevices.com/acer-iconia-tab-w500-hybrid-with-promise/
ARTICLE #7
Cheap iPad Mini could ‘crush’ tablet rivals, says analyst
20 February, 2012 by Gregg Keizer
Apple could price an 8-in. iPad as low as US$299, an analyst claimed, as part of a strategy to “crush the opposition.”Rumors of a smaller iPad resurfaced earlier this week after the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported that Apple was contemplating a tablet with an 8-in. display.
Then, several experts expressed skepticism that Apple would introduce a tablet with a screen smaller than the current 9.7-in. size of the current iPad.
Rhoda Alexander, senior manager of tablet and monitor research at IHS iSuppli, disagrees. “Based on our sources, we’re very solid [in our belief] that Apple will release a smaller iPad that uses a 7.85-in. display, essentially an 8-in. screen, this year,” said Alexander.
iSuppli’s projection for a release: The fourth quarter of 2012.
With savings from downsizing the display and associated touchscreen, and perhaps reducing the storage memory to a default 8GB, Apple could price what Alexander’s dubbed the “iPad Mini” — perhaps a sop to the Mac Mini name that Apple uses for its petite desktop Mac — as low as US$299, although US$349 would be another option.
“Apple doesn’t need to compete with the US$200 price point,” Alexander argued, referring to the price tag of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, a 7-in. device the e-tailer started selling last November.
Adding a smaller iPad would let Apple address several issues, said Alexander.
“There’s a certain segment of the consumer base where the current iPad is just too big,” she said. “And Apple would have the opportunity to dual-sell some people.” There are some consumers, she explained, who would like to have multiple tablets, a larger one for around the house and a smaller one to take with them.
But the most important motivation would be to give the company a way to stomp the competition. “Rather than just maintaining their dominance of the tablet market share, a smaller iPad would let them make a move to crush the opposition,” said Alexander.
Her reasoning was based on tablet numbers from the fourth quarter of 2011.
During those three months, Apple’s share of all tablet unit sales dropped to 57% from the prior quarter’s 64% as lower-priced rivals, particularly the Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble’s Nook tablets, sold in volume.
The introduction of the Fire and Nook, especially the former, forced other Android tablet makers to slash prices to move inventory, a strategy Alexander said was unsustainable.
By expanding the iPad line to include a smaller device — as well as launch an iPad 3 and retain the now-current iPad 2 at a lower price — Apple would be in position to grow its share, perhaps to the point next year when it could again account for an overwhelming majority of tablets shipped and sold.
“Tablets are replacing PCs for a lot of people, and like success in the PC market, tablet makers need several product families,” said Alexander. The addition of an 8-in. iPad would give Apple a “richer product family,” she added.
iSuppli believes that Apple will move on an 8-in. iPad in time for the 2012 holiday sales season, a period that brought the company huge success in 2011, when it sold a record 15.4 million iPads, 111% more than the same quarter the year before.
The research firm — which regularly estimates the BOM, or bill of materials, of future or current electronics products — has not yet settled on cost projections for a smaller iPad, said Alexander, because the tablet is “vaporware.” Instead, it’s modeling several possible configurations.
“I’d be surprised if [an 8-in. iPad] came in the same number of models as the [larger] iPad does now,” Alexander said. Instead, she would expect Apple to settle on one or two entry-level, lower-priced models, if only to contrast them to the full-sized iPad.
Apple did the same in 2010 when it revamped the MacBook Air line, offering a new lower-priced 11-in. model that is consistently outsold by the larger, more-expensive 13-in. configuration when customers start comparing the two, then end “buying up.”
One possibility: An 8-in. iPad with just 8GB of storage space, or half the amount in the lowest-priced iPad 2, that comes in both Wi-Fi and 3G flavors.
Like other analysts, Alexander is betting that Apple will keep the iPad 2 in its tablet line-up after launching the iPad 3, as most have called the next model, and will cut the price of the older device, as it did the iPhone 4 last year after introducing the iPhone 4S. A US$100 price cut, which would start the iPad at US$399, is more than doable, she said.
“As we move out into 2012, the pricing of the iPad has got a lot of wiggle room,” Alexander said. “They can knock it down by US$100, but actually they have the room [in the cost-to-build] to knock the iPad 2 down more than that.”
She dismissed concerns by some that adding a smaller iPad to Apple’s offerings would force developers to support another screen resolution — an 8-in. would sport the same format of 1,024-by-768 pixels as the current iPad, she said.
SOURCE: http://www.macworld.com.au/news/cheap-ipad-mini-could-crush-tablet-rivals-says-analyst-44636/
ARTICLE #8
Gartner Says Western European PC Shipments Fell 16 Percent in Fourth Quarter of 2011
- U.K. PC Market Exhibited Worst Decline in Five QuartersEgham, UK, February 7, 2012—
PC shipments in Western Europe totaled 16.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 16 per cent decline from the equivalent period in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. For the year, PC shipments numbered 58.5 million units in Western Europe in 2011, also a 16 percent decrease from 2010.
The PC market in Western Europe has suffered four consecutive quarters of shipment decline. "Despite aggressive pricing and special holiday deals for PCs, consumers' attention was caught by other devices, such as smartphones, media tablets and e-readers," said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner. "Even though we saw a drop in prices, consumer PC shipments could not match the levels of previous years."
In the fourth quarter of 2011, the PC markets of Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain were particularly hard hit, with year-on-year PC demand declining 30 per cent and more. The mobile PC market in Western Europe declined 17.5 percent during the quarter, while the region's desktop PC market decreased 12.1 percent.
"Uptake of professional PCs for migrations to Windows 7 remained subdued due to the troubled economic outlook," said Ms. Escherich. “PC shipments in the professional segment declined 13.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, but the consumer segment suffered a bigger decline, falling 18 percent.”
HP not only maintained the No. 1 position for PC shipments in Western Europe, but it increased its lead over Acer, despite a shipment decline of 15.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 (see Table 1). Acer continued to decline, but steadied its shipment volumes quarter-on-quarter. Dell struggled with slow demand from large organizations and the public sector, while Asus won several major deals in the retail channel, which raised its total.
"Asus has successfully shifted its portfolio from mini-notebooks to the mainstream and managed to outgrow the market," said Ms. Escherich. Lenovo's growth was partly due to its acquisition of Medion in Germany, which helped it secure the No. 5 position. Lenovo offered very aggressive prices, which made Western Europe one of its key regions.
"The impact of the hard-disk drive shortage was minimal in the fourth quarter of 2011, with local vendors feeling most of the impact. If general market conditions continue to deteriorate, we expect hard-disk drive shortages to be just one of many contributors to overall PC market contraction in 2012," said Ms. Escherich.
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs. Media tablets are excluded.Lenovo data includes historic Medion shipments.
Source: Gartner (February 2012)
U.K.: PC Market Exhibited Worst Decline in Five Quarters
In the fourth quarter of 2011, shipments in the U.K. PC market totaled 2.9 million units, a decline of 19.6 percent compared with the equivalent period in 2010 (see Table 2). This was the UK's fifth consecutive quarterly shipment decline, and also its worst decline in five quarters. In 2011, as a whole, the U.K. market declined 15.9 percent, shrinking by nearly 2 million units from 2010.
"The UK market has been a prime illustration of the underlying weakness in PC demand across Western Europe," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.
In the fourth quarter of 2011, the U.K. PC market was impacted by the economic upheaval and the growing popularity of smartphones, media tablets and e-readers. As a result, the consumer market continued to shrink, with a decline of more than 20 per cent year-on-year. The professional market was also weak as austerity measures hit the education segment. Mini-notebook shipments declined more than 50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, indicating the final stage in a shift away from these devices by PC vendors (in the third quarter of 2009 these devices represented over 30 percent of the U.K.'s total mobile PC market).
Four of the top five vendors performed poorly. Only Apple achieved growth, which consolidated its hold on the No. 4 position. "PC vendors face a long, uphill struggle to regain the interest of consumers. The introduction of Ultrabooks in late 2011 is desperately needed," said Mr. Atwal.
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs. Media tablets are excluded.
Source: Gartner (February 2012)
France: PC Market Suffered Sixth Consecutive Quarterly Drop
PC shipments in France totaled 2.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a decline of 11.8 percent compared with the equivalent period in 2010 (see Table 3). In 2011 as a whole, PC shipments numbered 10.4 million units, a 12 percent decline from 2010.
"The PC market in France remained weak, with lower sell-in to the channel and a difficult economic environment that squeezed consumer spending," said Isabelle Durand, principal analyst at Gartner. As a result, the PC market in France recorded its sixth consecutive quarterly decline in shipments.
The consumer market declined 11.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 as demand for mini-notebooks was lower than in the same period in 2010. "The last quarter of the year is traditionally driven by growth in the consumer segment, but Christmas PC sales in France were disappointing as consumers spent their money on other devices, such as media tablets and smartphones," said Ms. Durand. The professional market declined 13 percent in the fourth quarter 2011, despite a number of deals being signed in the public sector.
In the fourth quarter of 2011, the mobile PC market accounted for 68 percent of total PC shipments in France, while shipments declined 9.5 percent. Desk-based PC shipments declined 16.5 percent. Shipments of mini-notebooks decreased 36.6 percent.
Of the top five vendors, only Asus and Apple grew in the fourth quarter 2011. Asus achieved the strongest growth and claimed the No. 2 position. HP regained the No. 1 position, while Acer's market share collapsed as demand for mini-notebooks diminished, causing it to fall to the third position.
"Overall, we expect the PC market to remain under pressure in the first half of 2012, and although shortages of hard-disk drives had only a limited impact in the fourth quarter of 2011, we expect substantial increases in average selling prices in the first quarter of 2012," said Ms. Durand.
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs. Media tablets are excluded
Source: Gartner (February 2012)
Germany: Demand for PCs Fell Again but More Slowly Than in Other Western European Markets
PC shipments in Germany totaled 3.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a decrease of 8.2 percent compared with the equivalent period in 2010 (see Table 4). This was the sixth consecutive decline for the German PC market. In 2011 as a whole, PC shipments declined 11 percent from 2010.
"Although PCs remain important devices for consumers, there are few compelling technological reasons for them to buy new ones, especially in times of economic uncertainty," said Ms. Escherich.
The PC market in Germany continued to suffer from poor sales of mobile PCs. Mobile PC shipments ell 9.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. This decrease was steeper than that of the desk-based PC market, which declined 6 percent.
After three difficult quarters, Acer regained the No. 1 position in the fourth quarter of 2011. Lenovo nearly doubled its shipments through the Medion acquisition, which helped it stay ahead of HP. Lenovo's ThinkPad line, which used to have a high price premium, is now available at very attractive prices. In the consumer sector, Lenovo continued to expand its retail presence with its IdeaPad line.
HP had to battle aggressive pricing from competitors and deal with weak consumer PC demand during the holiday season, but it remained the leader in the desk-based PC segment. Asus continued to expand its notebook line, replacing mini-notebooks with mainstream mobile PCs, but it was competing against its own very strong shipments from 2010. Dell secured several large enterprise and government deals. It was the only top-five vendor to increase its shipments, aided by its lower reliance on the consumer business.
"Despite a sixth consecutive quarter of declining shipments, Germany continued to outperform most other Western European markets," said Ms. Escherich. "Two consecutive instances of quarter-on-quarter growth could indicate that the PC market in Germany is stabilizing."
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs. Media tablets are excluded.Lenovo data includes historic Medion shipments.
Source: Gartner (February 2012)
Contact:
- U.K. PC Market Exhibited Worst Decline in Five QuartersEgham, UK, February 7, 2012—
PC shipments in Western Europe totaled 16.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 16 per cent decline from the equivalent period in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. For the year, PC shipments numbered 58.5 million units in Western Europe in 2011, also a 16 percent decrease from 2010.
The PC market in Western Europe has suffered four consecutive quarters of shipment decline. "Despite aggressive pricing and special holiday deals for PCs, consumers' attention was caught by other devices, such as smartphones, media tablets and e-readers," said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner. "Even though we saw a drop in prices, consumer PC shipments could not match the levels of previous years."
In the fourth quarter of 2011, the PC markets of Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain were particularly hard hit, with year-on-year PC demand declining 30 per cent and more. The mobile PC market in Western Europe declined 17.5 percent during the quarter, while the region's desktop PC market decreased 12.1 percent.
"Uptake of professional PCs for migrations to Windows 7 remained subdued due to the troubled economic outlook," said Ms. Escherich. “PC shipments in the professional segment declined 13.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, but the consumer segment suffered a bigger decline, falling 18 percent.”
HP not only maintained the No. 1 position for PC shipments in Western Europe, but it increased its lead over Acer, despite a shipment decline of 15.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 (see Table 1). Acer continued to decline, but steadied its shipment volumes quarter-on-quarter. Dell struggled with slow demand from large organizations and the public sector, while Asus won several major deals in the retail channel, which raised its total.
"Asus has successfully shifted its portfolio from mini-notebooks to the mainstream and managed to outgrow the market," said Ms. Escherich. Lenovo's growth was partly due to its acquisition of Medion in Germany, which helped it secure the No. 5 position. Lenovo offered very aggressive prices, which made Western Europe one of its key regions.
"The impact of the hard-disk drive shortage was minimal in the fourth quarter of 2011, with local vendors feeling most of the impact. If general market conditions continue to deteriorate, we expect hard-disk drive shortages to be just one of many contributors to overall PC market contraction in 2012," said Ms. Escherich.
Table 1Western Europe: PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q11 (Thousands of Units)
Vendor | 4Q11 Shipments | 4Q11 Market Share (%) | 4Q10 Shipments | 4Q10 Market Share (%) | 4Q10-4Q11 Growth (%) |
3,612 | 22.2 | 4,287 | 22.1 | -15.7 | |
Acer | 2,176 | 13.4 | 4,041 | 20.8 | -46.1 |
Asus | 1,879 | 11.5 | 1,850 | 9.5 | 1.5 |
Dell | 1,718 | 10.5 | 1,899 | 9.8 | -9.5 |
Lenovo | 1,416 | 8.7 | 1,243 | 6.4 | 13.9 |
Others | 5,487 | 33.7 | 6,078 | 31.4 | -9.7 |
Total | 16,288 | 100.0 | 19,398 | 100.0 | -16.0 |
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs. Media tablets are excluded.Lenovo data includes historic Medion shipments.
Source: Gartner (February 2012)
U.K.: PC Market Exhibited Worst Decline in Five Quarters
In the fourth quarter of 2011, shipments in the U.K. PC market totaled 2.9 million units, a decline of 19.6 percent compared with the equivalent period in 2010 (see Table 2). This was the UK's fifth consecutive quarterly shipment decline, and also its worst decline in five quarters. In 2011, as a whole, the U.K. market declined 15.9 percent, shrinking by nearly 2 million units from 2010.
"The UK market has been a prime illustration of the underlying weakness in PC demand across Western Europe," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.
In the fourth quarter of 2011, the U.K. PC market was impacted by the economic upheaval and the growing popularity of smartphones, media tablets and e-readers. As a result, the consumer market continued to shrink, with a decline of more than 20 per cent year-on-year. The professional market was also weak as austerity measures hit the education segment. Mini-notebook shipments declined more than 50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, indicating the final stage in a shift away from these devices by PC vendors (in the third quarter of 2009 these devices represented over 30 percent of the U.K.'s total mobile PC market).
Four of the top five vendors performed poorly. Only Apple achieved growth, which consolidated its hold on the No. 4 position. "PC vendors face a long, uphill struggle to regain the interest of consumers. The introduction of Ultrabooks in late 2011 is desperately needed," said Mr. Atwal.
Table 2United Kingdom: PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q11 (Thousands of Units)
Vendor | 4Q11 Shipments | 4Q11 Market Share (%) | 4Q10 Shipments | 4Q10 Market Share (%) | 4Q10-4Q11 Growth (%) |
HP | 618 | 21.0 | 847 | 23.1 | -27.0 |
Dell | 408 | 13.8 | 601 | 16.4 | -32.2 |
Toshiba | 296 | 10.0 | 313 | 8.5 | -5.4 |
Apple | 267 | 9.1 | 228 | 6.2 | 17.2 |
Acer | 230 | 7.8 | 610 | 16.7 | -62.4 |
Others | 1,127 | 38.3 | 1,065 | 29.1 | 5.8 |
Total | 2,946 | 100.0 | 3,665 | 100.0 | -19.6 |
Source: Gartner (February 2012)
France: PC Market Suffered Sixth Consecutive Quarterly Drop
PC shipments in France totaled 2.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a decline of 11.8 percent compared with the equivalent period in 2010 (see Table 3). In 2011 as a whole, PC shipments numbered 10.4 million units, a 12 percent decline from 2010.
"The PC market in France remained weak, with lower sell-in to the channel and a difficult economic environment that squeezed consumer spending," said Isabelle Durand, principal analyst at Gartner. As a result, the PC market in France recorded its sixth consecutive quarterly decline in shipments.
The consumer market declined 11.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 as demand for mini-notebooks was lower than in the same period in 2010. "The last quarter of the year is traditionally driven by growth in the consumer segment, but Christmas PC sales in France were disappointing as consumers spent their money on other devices, such as media tablets and smartphones," said Ms. Durand. The professional market declined 13 percent in the fourth quarter 2011, despite a number of deals being signed in the public sector.
In the fourth quarter of 2011, the mobile PC market accounted for 68 percent of total PC shipments in France, while shipments declined 9.5 percent. Desk-based PC shipments declined 16.5 percent. Shipments of mini-notebooks decreased 36.6 percent.
Of the top five vendors, only Asus and Apple grew in the fourth quarter 2011. Asus achieved the strongest growth and claimed the No. 2 position. HP regained the No. 1 position, while Acer's market share collapsed as demand for mini-notebooks diminished, causing it to fall to the third position.
"Overall, we expect the PC market to remain under pressure in the first half of 2012, and although shortages of hard-disk drives had only a limited impact in the fourth quarter of 2011, we expect substantial increases in average selling prices in the first quarter of 2012," said Ms. Durand.
Table 3France: PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q11 (Thousands of Units)
Vendor | 4Q11 Shipments | 4Q11 Market Share (%) | 4Q10 Shipments | 4Q10 Market Share (%) | 4Q10-4Q11 Growth (%) | |
HP | 696 | 25.2 | 709 | 22.6 | -1.8 | |
Asus | 405 | 14.7 | 345 | 11.0 | 17.4 | |
Acer | 397 | 14.4 | 729 | 23.3 | -45.5 | |
Dell | 316 | 11.4 | 364 | 11.6 | -13.2 | |
Apple | 226 | 8.2 | 196 | 6.3 | 15.3 | |
Others | 720 | 26.1 | 790 | 25.2 | -8.9 | |
Total | 2,762 | 100.0 | 3,133 | 100.0 | -11.8 | |
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs. Media tablets are excluded
Source: Gartner (February 2012)
Germany: Demand for PCs Fell Again but More Slowly Than in Other Western European Markets
PC shipments in Germany totaled 3.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a decrease of 8.2 percent compared with the equivalent period in 2010 (see Table 4). This was the sixth consecutive decline for the German PC market. In 2011 as a whole, PC shipments declined 11 percent from 2010.
"Although PCs remain important devices for consumers, there are few compelling technological reasons for them to buy new ones, especially in times of economic uncertainty," said Ms. Escherich.
The PC market in Germany continued to suffer from poor sales of mobile PCs. Mobile PC shipments ell 9.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. This decrease was steeper than that of the desk-based PC market, which declined 6 percent.
After three difficult quarters, Acer regained the No. 1 position in the fourth quarter of 2011. Lenovo nearly doubled its shipments through the Medion acquisition, which helped it stay ahead of HP. Lenovo's ThinkPad line, which used to have a high price premium, is now available at very attractive prices. In the consumer sector, Lenovo continued to expand its retail presence with its IdeaPad line.
HP had to battle aggressive pricing from competitors and deal with weak consumer PC demand during the holiday season, but it remained the leader in the desk-based PC segment. Asus continued to expand its notebook line, replacing mini-notebooks with mainstream mobile PCs, but it was competing against its own very strong shipments from 2010. Dell secured several large enterprise and government deals. It was the only top-five vendor to increase its shipments, aided by its lower reliance on the consumer business.
"Despite a sixth consecutive quarter of declining shipments, Germany continued to outperform most other Western European markets," said Ms. Escherich. "Two consecutive instances of quarter-on-quarter growth could indicate that the PC market in Germany is stabilizing."
Table 4Germany: PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q11 (Thousands of Units)
Vendor | 4Q11 Shipments | 4Q11 Market Share (%) | 4Q10 Shipments | 4Q10 Market Share (%) | 4Q10-4Q11 Growth (%) |
577 | 16.0 | 795 | 20.2 | -27.5 | |
Lenovo | 514 | 14.2 | 514 | 13.1 | -0.1 |
HP | 457 | 12.7 | 494 | 12.6 | -7.4 |
Asus | 441 | 12.2 | 493 | 12.5 | -10.5 |
Dell | 362 | 10.0 | 322 | 8.2 | 12.5 |
Others | 1,263 | 34.9 | 1,320 | 33.4 | -4.3 |
Total | 3,614 | 100.0 | 3,938 | 100.0 | -8.2 |
Source: Gartner (February 2012)
Contact:
Laurence Goasduff
Gartner
+ 44 1784 267 195
laurence.goasduff@gartner.com
About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is a valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 11,500 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,500 associates, including 1,250 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
SOURCE: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1915815
ARTICLE #9
Enderle predicts tablets en route to death bed
Hybrids will replace them
31 Jan 2012 11:29 | by Nick Farrell in Rome | Filed in Hardware Apple Tablet
Rob Enderle, who is a principal analyst at the Enderle Group, claims that tablets are dying as millions of the people who buy them suddenly work out there is no earthly use for them.
Writing in SD Times, Enderle said that over the last year iPads have been finding their way to shelves where they are collecting dust.
He thinks that many of them were replaced by MacBook Air laptops but interest in tablets is slowly waning in favour of something a bit more powerful.
Enderle said that Intel has been the first to grasp where tablets were leading to and came up with the Ultrabook. But this missed one of the more important things from the brief fling with tablets. People wanted touch and they wanted long battery life, which is something that Ultrabooks don't quite have enough of yet.
He thinks that this year, the flavour of the month will be the hybrid notebook/tablet computer which will be enough to kill off both traditional notebooks and tablets.
Enderle said that there wre two types of hybrids on the market now. The first is like the Lenovo X1 Hybrid, which has both an x86 and an ARM processor to give it laptop-like features, and a 10 hour battery life.
The other is the Asus Transformer and Transformer Prime, a product that could morph from laptop to tablet.
He thinks that the coming generation will run Windows 8, which should mean the tablet/notebook hyrbid that punters want should be around.
He also expects a third choice to appear which combines the first two. Since Windows 8 has an ARM and an x86 version, there could be a hybrid that combines both ideas but provides a common user interface and can move between modes.
The tablet would be ARM-based and limited to the Metro interface, while in laptop mode it would be a fully capable laptop.
Read more: http://news.techeye.net/hardware/enderle-predicts-tablets-en-route-to-death-bed#ixzz1nG70tsRw
ARTICLE #10Nvidia, Asus focus on cheap, powerful tablets
CES 2012 Tegra 3 running Windows 8
10 Jan 2012 09:42 | by Edward Berridge |
Nvidia attempted to wow the unwashed at CES by showing off tablets which work on its GPU chips.
It was showing off an Asus 7-inch tablet with a quad-core processor and Android 4.0 for $249 and a demo of a Tegra 3 tablet running Windows 8.
CEO Jen-Hsun Huang carefully avoided mentioning the upcoming 28nm Kepler GPUs. We expected him to say something because AMD will ship its first Radeon 7000 series GPUs this week.
Instead he was more interested in showing off his new tablets.
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While many manufactures are starting to think that tablets are a waste of time, Huang still sees dollar signs in the fact that tablets are the fastest-growing consumer electronics device in history.
He insisted that rather than it being an Apple thing, like the iPod, it is a category which will continue to grow into a large industry.
He said that just as people have a lot of choice in cars, there will be a lot of choice in tablets as well.
Huang said the problem was that when Apple rivals released the first Android tablets, the market became fragmented. Honeycomb essentially became an ecosystem of its own.
Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, has now solved that problem delivering one Android for all types of devices, he claimed.
Asus CEO Jerry Shen came onto the stage and showed off the new 7-inch tablet with Tegra 3 and Ice Cream Sandwich, which he said will be priced at $249. This could give the Amazon Fire a run for its money. Those products do not offer the same performance or features.
Huang mentioned that Nvidia has been working on the Tegra 3's companion core for longer battery life and PRISM display technology that preserves colour while dimming the backlight to save battery life.
Nvidia has also developed something called DirectTouch, which does the analog-to-digital conversion of touch input directly in the processor, rather than in a separate touch controller that costs more and consumes power. DirectTouch can also process three times the number of samples per second of a separate touch controller.
Huang said that Windows 8 will bring in a golden age of mobile devices and Microsoft's Aidan Marcuss gave a demo of a Tegra 3 developer platform running the latest build of Windows 8.
Source: http://news.techeye.net/chips/nvidia-asus-focus-on-cheap-powerful-tablets
ARTICLE #11
Tips on Buying a Cheap Tablet PC
by Andy Brock
Tablet computers are the latest technological marvels to get peoples’ attention. Obviously, the benefits of these computers are small, light and highly portable, making them a great option for people who are constantly on the go.
Tablets are smaller than laptops, plus most of them (there are exceptions) lack keyboards; however, they can be very powerful and capable of performing a number of different tasks.
Of course, you usually get what you pay for when you purchase a tablet, which means that the most expensive models are considered to be the best.
Fortunately, since there are so many different tablet PCs now available, some cheap tablet models exist that feature great quality and numerous features at affordable prices.
If you are in the market for a tablet, but you are unable to afford one of the more expensive models, you will have to be careful in your search for the ideal device.
What is cheap?
If you are not able to spend the money necessary to afford a high-end tablet, you will have to more than likely make some compromises on features, specs, expandibility, etc. For this reason, it is important to make a list of the features you will absolutely require, and those you can live without.
Consider a smaller screen size
One factor to consider carefully is screen size. The most expensive tablets tend to feature 10 inch screens. If you do not need such a large screen, there are many terrific tablets available that feature 7 inch screens. The smaller screen size can potentially save you hundreds of dollars, and it can make your tablet even more portable than some of the more expensive units.
The Kindle Fire is a great starter device. Priced at $199, it lives up to this small screen size standard while providing a lot of punch for the money. Backed by Amazon’s massive infrastructure and marketplace, you really can’t go wrong with this device if you are new to tablets and are looking to get started.
eReader turn tablet
One segment of the tablet market that you may want to consider is the ereader category. Though many ereaders only feature black and white e ink screens, some models have color screens. These color ereaders often feature the capability to run other applications such as games, internet browsers and email apps, making them tremendously versatile.
They may not feature the hard drive space and memory capabilities of more expensive tablets, but the best color e readers possess most of the features tablet consumers want, and they can be purchased for less than $300 in most cases.
Similar to the Fire, a good example of an ereader/tablet is the Nook Color. At under $200, it is a good value for someone who is just getting started. Though it lacks some of the high end features of something like an iPad, it does have an app marketplace where you can download apps and ebooks.
Cheap tablets under $100
Lastly, there is yet another possibility to consider. There is a segment of cheap tablets that are by manufactures that you may not be familiar with. These devices are so inexpensive, that you wonder how in the world can someone produce this type of technology so cheaply. Exactly. Buyer beware on these types.
Oftentimes, these tablets skimp in areas that will make the tablet feel clunky, perform slow and difficult to use. Before buying one, check user reviews to see how people are liking that particular model.
Tablet computers are at the cutting edge of current technology, and there are numerous models available from which to choose. If you are on a budget, but you still desire one of these computers, you will have to give up some features; however, you should still be able to find a high-quality device that features everything you need at a terrifically affordable price.
SOURCE:http://www.pdfdevices.com/tips-on-buying-a-cheap-tablet-pc/
Gartner
+ 44 1784 267 195
laurence.goasduff@gartner.com
About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is a valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 11,500 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,500 associates, including 1,250 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
SOURCE: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1915815
ARTICLE #9
Enderle predicts tablets en route to death bed
Hybrids will replace them
31 Jan 2012 11:29 | by Nick Farrell in Rome | Filed in Hardware Apple Tablet
Rob Enderle, who is a principal analyst at the Enderle Group, claims that tablets are dying as millions of the people who buy them suddenly work out there is no earthly use for them.
Writing in SD Times, Enderle said that over the last year iPads have been finding their way to shelves where they are collecting dust.
He thinks that many of them were replaced by MacBook Air laptops but interest in tablets is slowly waning in favour of something a bit more powerful.
Enderle said that Intel has been the first to grasp where tablets were leading to and came up with the Ultrabook. But this missed one of the more important things from the brief fling with tablets. People wanted touch and they wanted long battery life, which is something that Ultrabooks don't quite have enough of yet.
He thinks that this year, the flavour of the month will be the hybrid notebook/tablet computer which will be enough to kill off both traditional notebooks and tablets.
Enderle said that there wre two types of hybrids on the market now. The first is like the Lenovo X1 Hybrid, which has both an x86 and an ARM processor to give it laptop-like features, and a 10 hour battery life.
The other is the Asus Transformer and Transformer Prime, a product that could morph from laptop to tablet.
He thinks that the coming generation will run Windows 8, which should mean the tablet/notebook hyrbid that punters want should be around.
He also expects a third choice to appear which combines the first two. Since Windows 8 has an ARM and an x86 version, there could be a hybrid that combines both ideas but provides a common user interface and can move between modes.
The tablet would be ARM-based and limited to the Metro interface, while in laptop mode it would be a fully capable laptop.
Read more: http://news.techeye.net/hardware/enderle-predicts-tablets-en-route-to-death-bed#ixzz1nG70tsRw
ARTICLE #10Nvidia, Asus focus on cheap, powerful tablets
CES 2012 Tegra 3 running Windows 8
10 Jan 2012 09:42 | by Edward Berridge |
Nvidia attempted to wow the unwashed at CES by showing off tablets which work on its GPU chips.
It was showing off an Asus 7-inch tablet with a quad-core processor and Android 4.0 for $249 and a demo of a Tegra 3 tablet running Windows 8.
CEO Jen-Hsun Huang carefully avoided mentioning the upcoming 28nm Kepler GPUs. We expected him to say something because AMD will ship its first Radeon 7000 series GPUs this week.
Instead he was more interested in showing off his new tablets.
Get more powerful, intelligent, efficient server architecture solution
Ads by TechClicks
While many manufactures are starting to think that tablets are a waste of time, Huang still sees dollar signs in the fact that tablets are the fastest-growing consumer electronics device in history.
He insisted that rather than it being an Apple thing, like the iPod, it is a category which will continue to grow into a large industry.
He said that just as people have a lot of choice in cars, there will be a lot of choice in tablets as well.
Huang said the problem was that when Apple rivals released the first Android tablets, the market became fragmented. Honeycomb essentially became an ecosystem of its own.
Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, has now solved that problem delivering one Android for all types of devices, he claimed.
Asus CEO Jerry Shen came onto the stage and showed off the new 7-inch tablet with Tegra 3 and Ice Cream Sandwich, which he said will be priced at $249. This could give the Amazon Fire a run for its money. Those products do not offer the same performance or features.
Huang mentioned that Nvidia has been working on the Tegra 3's companion core for longer battery life and PRISM display technology that preserves colour while dimming the backlight to save battery life.
Nvidia has also developed something called DirectTouch, which does the analog-to-digital conversion of touch input directly in the processor, rather than in a separate touch controller that costs more and consumes power. DirectTouch can also process three times the number of samples per second of a separate touch controller.
Huang said that Windows 8 will bring in a golden age of mobile devices and Microsoft's Aidan Marcuss gave a demo of a Tegra 3 developer platform running the latest build of Windows 8.
Source: http://news.techeye.net/chips/nvidia-asus-focus-on-cheap-powerful-tablets
ARTICLE #11
Tips on Buying a Cheap Tablet PC
by Andy Brock
Tablet computers are the latest technological marvels to get peoples’ attention. Obviously, the benefits of these computers are small, light and highly portable, making them a great option for people who are constantly on the go.Tablets are smaller than laptops, plus most of them (there are exceptions) lack keyboards; however, they can be very powerful and capable of performing a number of different tasks.
Of course, you usually get what you pay for when you purchase a tablet, which means that the most expensive models are considered to be the best.
Fortunately, since there are so many different tablet PCs now available, some cheap tablet models exist that feature great quality and numerous features at affordable prices.
If you are in the market for a tablet, but you are unable to afford one of the more expensive models, you will have to be careful in your search for the ideal device.
What is cheap?
If you are not able to spend the money necessary to afford a high-end tablet, you will have to more than likely make some compromises on features, specs, expandibility, etc. For this reason, it is important to make a list of the features you will absolutely require, and those you can live without.
Consider a smaller screen size
One factor to consider carefully is screen size. The most expensive tablets tend to feature 10 inch screens. If you do not need such a large screen, there are many terrific tablets available that feature 7 inch screens. The smaller screen size can potentially save you hundreds of dollars, and it can make your tablet even more portable than some of the more expensive units.
The Kindle Fire is a great starter device. Priced at $199, it lives up to this small screen size standard while providing a lot of punch for the money. Backed by Amazon’s massive infrastructure and marketplace, you really can’t go wrong with this device if you are new to tablets and are looking to get started.
eReader turn tablet
One segment of the tablet market that you may want to consider is the ereader category. Though many ereaders only feature black and white e ink screens, some models have color screens. These color ereaders often feature the capability to run other applications such as games, internet browsers and email apps, making them tremendously versatile.
They may not feature the hard drive space and memory capabilities of more expensive tablets, but the best color e readers possess most of the features tablet consumers want, and they can be purchased for less than $300 in most cases.
Similar to the Fire, a good example of an ereader/tablet is the Nook Color. At under $200, it is a good value for someone who is just getting started. Though it lacks some of the high end features of something like an iPad, it does have an app marketplace where you can download apps and ebooks.
Cheap tablets under $100
Lastly, there is yet another possibility to consider. There is a segment of cheap tablets that are by manufactures that you may not be familiar with. These devices are so inexpensive, that you wonder how in the world can someone produce this type of technology so cheaply. Exactly. Buyer beware on these types.
Oftentimes, these tablets skimp in areas that will make the tablet feel clunky, perform slow and difficult to use. Before buying one, check user reviews to see how people are liking that particular model.
Tablet computers are at the cutting edge of current technology, and there are numerous models available from which to choose. If you are on a budget, but you still desire one of these computers, you will have to give up some features; however, you should still be able to find a high-quality device that features everything you need at a terrifically affordable price.
SOURCE:http://www.pdfdevices.com/tips-on-buying-a-cheap-tablet-pc/
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