Tablet PC explodes @ Taipei IT expo; most tablet PCs will be launched in 1Q11

TAIWAN: According to DRAMeXchange, with the higher acceptance from consumers, tablet PC is expected to become the spotlight in the Christmas holiday sales.

Most vendors are accelerating the tablet PC launch. From the Taipei IT expo from 12/4, we notice some several circumstances. These are:

* The differentiation between branded notebook is diminishing that price turn to the critical concern from customers.
* PC vendors are lowering the old model inventory level with aggressive pricing promotion and ready for the sandy-bridge models.
* Consumers are fading away from notebook and are attracted by tablet PC. Besides the traditional channel, we expect tablet PC makers will corporate with telecom carriers leverage with the 3G internet package and content services.

Meanwhile, Google Android is getting improved in terms of the performance and can be more suitable for tablet PC. We expect most tablet PCs will launch after CES, which is likely at 1Q11 end and early of 2Q11. However, iPad will likely dominate the tablet PC market with the mature application software and content services.

According to DRAMeXchange, 2010 the overall tablet PC market will be scaled at 15 million units while iPad accounts more than 95 percent. The 2011 tablet market will sharply grow to over 52 million units and iPad market share will decline to range of 80-85 percent given the better exposure of non-iPad tablet PC.