Keen Competition on Tablet PC Market Expected for 2012

Taipei, Nov. 7, 2011 (CENS)--Non-Apple manufacturers of tablet PCs will compete to roll out new gadgets in 2012 to fight against Apple's latest iPads, underscoring the beginning of another wave of competition on the market, Taiwan's industry executives pointed out.

The manufacturers include Acer Inc., Asustek Computer Inc., HTC Corp., Sony and Motorola. They are embracing Google's latest mobile OS, called Android 4.0 Ice Cream Switch (ICS), which combines the best of the Android 2.x phone interface with the Android 3.x Honeycomb tablet interface. They are estimated to launch ICS-based tablets in the first quarter of 2012.

Also, Apple is estimated to release latest iPad in the first quarter of 2012. Its Taiwanese supply chains are reportedly gearing up for contract production.

According to industry executives, HTC, Motorola, and Sony will introduce 10.1-inch tablets. Sony and Motorola will contract the Foxconn Group to make the products while HTC will make by itself.

Acer will roll out 10-inch tablets using ICS OS early next year. Compal Electronics Inc. is the contract manufacturer.

In February next year, Asustek will make available its next generation of Transformer tablet.

In addition to adopting Android OS, non-Apple tablet makers are also supporting Microsoft Windows 8. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Acer, Dell and Lenovo are planning to debut tablets running on Windows 8 in the third quarter next year.