"Tens of millions" of tablets to be sold in 2010
updated 03:20 pm EST, Tue January 19, 2010
Apple to drive growth of new touch devices
Thanks to key releases, tablets are about to have their "breakout year" and move tens of millions of units, Deloitte says in a new long-term estimate. Apple's expected tablet unveiling as well as the eventual launch of the HP slate should help fuel the otherwise quiet category, which includes any Internet-aware, touch-only device larger than a smartphone but smaller than a netbook. Author Paul Lee anticipates that tablets could account for up to over $1 billion in sales and eclipse the GPS market.
He justifies the ambitious projection by characterizing the tablet as a "Goldilocks device" that fills a key niche. The desire for an in-between device has existed for awhile, Lee explains, but poor battery life, performance and wireless speeds have often made tablets impractical. Technology is just now catching up to where customers have wanted to be.
It remains to be seen whether the prediction will prove accurate. Microsoft has tried unsuccessfully for several years to push the Tablet PC to the general public but has so far only found business with specific industries, such as doctors and warehouses. The HP slate is also believed to be taking a very different route than Apple's supposed hardware as it will use just Windows 7 where Apple is poised to have a more limited, but also more optimized, variant of the iPhone platform.
Not going to happen
01/19, 04:53pm reply
Why? Why? Why? Why would anyone want a tablet? Its technology in search of a market.
Pocketable = cellphone
Non Pocketable = laptop
Who wants to spend $999 on a laptop with no keyboard?
I predict, if Apple is actually launching a tablet, it will be among their biggest flops ever.
Its like the Segue (which Jobs famously boosted). If you're on the sidewalk, you're a pedestrian. If you're not on the sidewalk, you're on a bike or in a car. Seques have a very limited market.
graxspoo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
it was the Segway
01/20, 12:54am reply
and Apple had nothing to do with it
if you think the Apple tablet is going to be a huge flop, you should put your money where your big, fat mouth is - short AAPL.
climacs
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2001
There's definitely a huge gap between
01/25, 09:28am reply
tens of millions of tablets and "nobody wants a tablet." I'd have a tendency to go with an agency who's done some research than one person who clearly doesn't own a multimedia tablet. The whole idea of a survey is to get as many people as possible to give their opinion as to whether they'd buy a tablet and find a trend. It appears that "nobody wants a tablet" is not the truth. One or two people don't speak for the masses of consumers out there that may not own netbooks or smartphones.
I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle that if the price is right and the tablet delivers enough, at least a few million people will buy it in 2010 which would make it a success or at least much more successful than tablets that went before it.
And by the way, Steve Jobs said the Segway "sucked": http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/07/08/steve-jobs-on-the-se.html
I believe it was Steve Wosniak that was a Segway supporter.
iphonerulez
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Joined: Nov 2008