According to sources, in the second quarter of 2003 Acer will launch the world's first 14.1-inch TFT LCD Tablet PC. The company's first Tablet PC – the TravelMate C100 – was equipped with a 10.4-inch screen and has sold 35,000 units since its launch last year.
With the larger screen, Acer will leapfrog brand vendors such as Toshiba and Motion Computing, which have adopted 12.1-inch screens. Acer decided not to use a 12.1-inch screen because the price of 14.1-inch panel is close to that of 12.1-inch, sources said. Like the TravelMate C100, the new model will come with a keyboard and use the same kind of flat panel display apparatus and tilt/swivel mechanism.
Acer expects to ship over 300,000 Tablet PCs this year, of which 200,000 units will be of the convertible-screen type and 100,000-150,000 units of the slate type (pure handwriting pads) or other new forms, component suppliers revealed. International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts two million Tablet PCs will be shipped this year.
Acer expects Tablet PCs to contribute 20% of its IT product sales by the fourth quarter of 2003. The company also projects 60-65% of its PC product sales to come from notebooks this year, with convertible-screen Tablet PCs accounting for about 15% of Acer's notebook shipments for the full year but 30% in the fourth quarter, sources predicted.
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News source: DigiTimes
