Intel Corp’s push for laptop-tablet hybrid computers powered by its new processors might not gain consumer traction in the near term, an International Data Corp (IDC) analyst said yesterday.
Tom Mainelli, research director for tablets for the tech tracking firm, said the chipmaker is pushing strongly for both Windows notebooks and tablets because it realizes that it is competing with Apple Inc products at the US$329 price level, and with Android device makers at under US$199.
“For them to give the sort of ASPs [average selling prices] that they’re used to, for the partners to be successful, they got to have a product that people feel is as satisfying as a notebook and a tablet, and which I can buy as one device,” he told a press briefing in Taipei.
“I’m not yet convinced that it will be successful,” Mainelli said. “I think there are a certain percentage of people and some commercial users that will embrace the idea, but I tend to be the kind of person who thinks most people would like to have a really good notebook and a really good tablet.”
Global tablet shipments are expected to grow 58.7 percent year-on-year to 229.3 million units this year, while worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall by 7.8 percent to 321.9 million units this year, IDC forecast.
On Tuesday, Intel said it would display the fourth generation of its Core series of processors at the Computex trade show underway in Taipei this week in a bid to capitalize on growing demand for 2-in-1 Ultrabooks, which refer to ultra-thin notebook PCs with a detachable or convertible keyboard that can be transformed into a tablet when the keyboard is removed.
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