Tablet PCs primed for the mainstream
Microsoft hopes reduced cost designs will spur adoption
Follow @infoworldTwo years after introducing Tablet PC technology, Microsoft is attempting to drive it into the mainstream in 2005 with less expensive tablets, but some analysts believe reduced prices alone won’t do the trick.
During the past year, Microsoft worked with PC makers and component suppliers to push down the cost of manufacturing Tablet PCs.
“This spring you will see tablets go into retail in the $1,500 to $1,600 price range,” said Robert Williams, director of business development and partner engineering for Microsoft’s mobile platforms.
Toshiba America plans to ship a new Tablet PC, the $1,599 Satellite R15-S822, in the first quarter of this year, and Acer also plans to ship a lower cost model later this year.
Since their introduction in November 2002, Tablet PC sales have increased but are still only a blip compared with overall notebook sales. In 2004 only about 1.3 percent of notebooks shipped were Tablet PCs, according to IDC Research Analyst Alan Promisel.
Pricing is crucial for the Tablet PC to be adopted more widely, but applications are also very important, said Gartner analyst David Smith.
IDC’s Promisel agreed. “There has been lack of a killer application that creates that ‘gotcha’ moment for all users that tablet is the way to go.”
To that end, Microsoft offered a significant upgrade to the Tablet PC OS last year with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 and made it easier to develop applications for the Tablet PC OS.
Hewlett-Packard on Feb. 2 plans to introduce two new Tablet PCs in its business notebook lineup. One of the devices, HP’s first convertible notebook, resembles a regular notebook but has a screen that swivels around to support pen-based computing. It will be priced slightly more than $2,000.
