Acer Says Tablet Fever is Already Cooling Down
Consumer demand for tablets is seemingly diminishing as they turn their eyes to Ultrabooks heading to the market beginning next month.
Acer chairman JT Wang said on Friday that "tablet fever" is already starting to cool down, and that consumers are looking to notebooks again thanks to Intel's Ultrabook design and the intriguing features Windows 8 promises to bring to the PC sector next year. Acer came to this conclusion thanks to recent surveys which have indicated that consumers have a high interest in Intel's sleek Ultrabook form-factor.
Other players in the PC sector reportedly share the same opinion: that tablets are mainly marketed for entertainment purposes and will eventually reach market saturation. Once that happens, consumer desire to replace their notebooks and/or desktops with tablets will diminish. Tablet volumes will then reach a certain level and sales will stagnate.
The release of new OS is also expected to drive stronger sales for notebooks than tablets, especially during the back-to-school season of 2012. But that remains to be seen: the market hasn't really experienced what Microsoft has in store for consumers other than glimpsing at a quad-core prototype during Microsoft’s recent TechEd New Zealand conference. Windows 8 could change the way we interact with tablets, or it could merely be just another OS on another non-Android, non-iOS tablet.
As reported earlier, Acer is slated to launch an Ultrabook during September for as low as $799 USD. Asus is also offering a similar product in September, and will be followed by Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Q4 2011 or Q1 2012.
Friday Acer president Jim Wong added that Ultrabooks will only account for a portion of the notebook shipments in 2011, but the numbers are expected to increase to somewhere around 25 to 35-percent in 2012. Intel previously predicted that Ultrabook shipments would reach 40-percent by the end of 2012.
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Tablets have a place. So do netbooks. They are niches. Nothing wrong with a product filling a niche...
First post has a great point, I will stick with my laptop, does just fine.
No way!! They're supposed to replace desktops lolololololololololololol
Well, so much for that.
Well... I hope acer doesn't decide to stop producing tablets because of this. The IconiaTab is one of the better designed tablets on the market that I've found.
No way!! They're supposed to replace desktops lololololololololololololWell, so much for that.
It's always nice to see the "media agenda machine" defeated by reality!
The PC is popular because nothing else can even come close to replacing it, and it is a great value and easily upgraded. The tablet is none of those things and never will be for the foreseeable future.
What a coincidence right before Acer launches its new ultrabook they make a statement like this.
WOW NEVER SAW THIS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A windows based ultra book has yet to be released, right?
Wait ur telling me a $500 device that isnt as entertaining as my $500 Samsung LCD is a gimmick!?
junior noob - tablet
senior noob - netbook
entry level/normal user - notebook
normal/high end user - desktop
professional - workstation
enterprise/corporation - server
science/military - super computer
they all got their place , desktop won't be replace
junior noob - tabletsenior noob - netbookentry level/normal user - notebooknormal/high end user - desktopprofessional - workstationenterprise/corporation - serverscience/military - super computer they all got their place , desktop won't be replace
iDiot - Ap...
senior noob - netbook
entry level/normal user - notebook
normal/high end user - desktop
professional - workstation
enterprise/corporation - server
science/military - super computer
they all got their place , desktop won't be replace
Never really liked tablets or netbooks... but a niche exists for a reason. I just don't get it I guess. Never really understood the appeal of watching movies on such a small screen. Why've we been spending so many years making bigger and bigger monitors and TVs just to get a miniature screen? I honestly know someone who spends more time sitting in their house looking at their little tablet screen watching movies than the 52" in thier living room.
The market is cooling because Apple hasn't told everyone they need to buy a 2nd iPad yet.
@sonofliberty08:
Interesting use of the word 'noob'. I approve. ^.^
I have to agree with the post about filling a product niche. Nothing wrong with that at all. Though, consumers are going to flock to ultrabooks, then THAT will cool down after a while, and eventually things will come around full circle the the almighty PC.
But that's just me.
They just can't unload their own Android tablets because they didn't have much marketing and they have trouble playing 1080p and many 720p videos, unlike the ASUS transformer which goes for the same price and has the same specs (except for that host USB the Acer tablet has while you need to buy the dock for the ASUS if you want that).
junior noob - tabletsenior noob - netbookentry level/normal user - notebooknormal/high end user - desktopprofessional - workstationenterprise/corporation - serverscience/military - super computer they all got their place , desktop won't be replace
that pretty much sums it up. but in a few years time i just see people buying desktops just to be a media server and use a laptop for everything else. and to be clear i am talking about the mainstream consumers. gamers are still going to buy desktop over laptops just because theres more upgradeable options with them
Never really liked tablets or netbooks... but a niche exists for a reason. I just don't get it I guess. Never really understood the appeal of watching movies on such a small screen. Why've we been spending so many years making bigger and bigger monitors and TVs just to get a miniature screen? I honestly know someone who spends more time sitting in their house looking at their little tablet screen watching movies than the 52" in thier living room.
It has to do with privacy and portability. There are those of us who don't need any processing power, outside of the ability to do word processing, and some 'break time' entertainment. Some of us need battery life, not raw power and size. Sometimes you need a scalpel, not a sledgehammer...
tablet market is cooling because all the brainwashed apple drones are waiting for the ipad3
So the HP touchpad sell off was the tablet fever throwing up?
So the HP touchpad sell off was the tablet fever throwing up?
No, all the HP tablet fire sale showed is how much people (excluding apple sheep) think tablets are worth. i bet most people who bought them would never pay 400-500 bucks for a tablet (again excluding apple sheep who will no doubt pay over $1000.00 for an ipad)
It has to do with privacy and portability. There are those of us who don't need any processing power, outside of the ability to do word processing, and some 'break time' entertainment. Some of us need battery life, not raw power and size. Sometimes you need a scalpel, not a sledgehammer...
I love my sledgehammer
I have a netbook, and it is a great accessory to my desktop. It allows me to have a few productive tricks up my sleeve when I am out and about. I can edit documents, browse the web, play a few little games, record audio, etc. But it cannot do anything major like editing audio/video, watching HD anything, and it is far too small to do any serious multi-tasking.
I looked into a tablet to replace it, but then realized the only good ones are in the $500+ dollar range (compare to the $280 netbook), gets less battery life, cannot handle any normal x86 programs, and all that really works well on it are plants vs zombies and angry birds... while fun, they are not worth sinking $500+ into a device that plays 2 games, and some internet access.
What I really want is a phone sized device that houses my user profile, software, and some documents which can take over whatever device I plug into. On the go it would be a smart phone, then when I come home I would plug it into my TV to watch movies, when I go to work I plug it into my PC and am able to take advantage of that hardware, when at church have it drive the multimedia for the projector, when working on a vieo project have it take over the server/editor in the basement. One personal device that has my interface on several devices. May use cloud tech for file storage, but all of my personal information stays local. Give me that machine and I will go into debt for it.
Acer has claimed so many bogus predictions. They are calling the tablet dead already? Based on ultrabooks which havent even been released yet and windows 8which hasnt either.
I'm still waiting for the intersection of the E-reader and the tablet: an E-reader with wifi and a web browser. Then I can do all of my reading untethered.
Has anyone seen one yet?
I think Acer means "People are realizing that Android tablets are shit and buying iPads we quit buy our laptops"
a powerful desktop for games and heavy work; a laptop for light games, normal work and portability; and a tablet or smartphone for mobility. those are what i need. anything in between, like netbook and ultrabook, only if i get a fat bonus from my boss.
There was never such a thing as a tablet fever - there is/was however an iPad fever.
a powerful desktop for games and heavy work; a laptop for light games, normal work and portability; and a tablet or smartphone for mobility. those are what i need. anything in between, like netbook and ultrabook, only if i get a fat bonus from my boss.
I don't even have a laptop anymore for personal usage. I use my desktop for high power stuff and my iPad when I'm on the go - had a laptop but quickly found that I wasn't really using for anything more than surfing/email.
Have a PC desktop for my games and video/photo editing.
Have a 17" laptop for the wife because she is in school and barely takes the laptop outside the house anyway (but wants it portable for some study sessions in the library).
Have an iPad2 for the times where we just want to look something up online and don't feel like booting up the PC. Also take it on flights to watch movies or read instead of whipping out the laptop plus battery lasts much longer.
All have their place.
The demand for the color blue is fading. Turns out it was just a fad. The color orange will replace the color purple.
The demand for 2 door cars is fading. Turns out it was just a fad. 4 door cars will replace 2 door cars.
The demand for yogurt is fading. Turns out it was just a fad. Ice cream will replace yogurt.
The demand for tablets is fading....