HSBC Securities yesterday said that many products on display at this year’s Computex trade fair are not new design concepts, except for Asustek Computer Inc’s (華碩) Transformer Book mobile devices.
In her day-one summary of the annual tech event in Taipei, Jenny Lai (賴惠娟), head of equity research at HSBC Securities Taiwan Corp, said most hardware products are extensions of last year’s trends, although they are offered with more options for cloud computing and data storage solutions.
“To sum up, this year’s product design trend for tech hardware overall is ‘thin’ and ‘mix’ — slim design and multi-usage model for devices,” Lai said in a research note issued yesterday.
Her peer at Credit Suisse Group AG, Thompson Wu (武光明), agreed, saying in a client note that he still has not seen a single device that consumers would really want to purchase from the offerings at Computex.
Overall, analysts said hybrid devices that offer multiple functions, like smartphones, tablets and notebook PCs with multiple operating systems including Windows and Android, are the key features of the show this year.
For instance, Asustek’s laptop-tablet hybrid — Transformer Book V — can switch between Microsoft Corp’s Windows 8.1 and Google Inc’s Android 4.4 “KitKat” operating systems. The device also has a detachable keyboard and a 5-inch smartphone dock at the back of the tablet.
“Asustek is still the most innovative hardware company at the event,” Lai said. “While its new Transformer Book products are attractively designed, the retail prices for these new models could be targeting the premium pricing segment.”
The show’s organizers have touted a variety of products exhibited at Computex as a kaleidoscope for smart technology, wearable trends, cloud computing and touch applications.
Global wearable device shipments reached about 13 million units last year and the figure is likely to reach 34.9 million units this year, with 76.7 percent being bracelets and watches, according to statistics released by Taipei-based market researcher Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC, 產業情報研究所).
The wearable market’s growth is forecast to expand at a compound annual rate of 62.7 percent over the next few years to reach about 145.2 million units in 2018, and wearable devices will be integrated into the trend of the “Internet of Things,” MIC researcher Jessica Hsu (許桂芬) said yesterday at a forum alongside Computex.
However, Lai said hardware manufacturers apparently are still in the early design stages of actual hardware production for wearable gadgets.
Meanwhile, reflecting the trend toward accelerated build-on data centers, several companies, such as Inventec Corp (英業達), Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) and Promise Technology Corp (喬鼎), have exhibited their hardware and software products for cloud computing servers and data centers in a bid to fulfill potential demand from Internet service providers and other corporate clients, Lai said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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