Monica Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Thursday 20 October 2011]
Google launched its latest Android
4.0 operating system (Ice Cream Sandwich) on October 19, but since the
focus of the launch conference was mainly concentrated on Samsung
Electronics' new Galaxy Nexus smartphone, and no mention was made about
tablet PCs, sources from PC vendors are concerned that Google's resource
distribution between smartphones and tablet PCs may become imbalanced.
Although
Android 4.0 has several improvements from the previous version, the
operating system is still not strong enough to help Android tablet PCs
compete against iPad 2, and with Apple expected to launch the iPad 3 as
soon as March 2012, the technology gap between Android tablet PCs and
iPad may expand further, according to the sources.
The
sources pointed out that Google, lacking R&D personnel, has been
unable to provide support to its downstream partners and the situation
is unlikely to improve for Android 4.0. Google is likely to place its
focus on Android smartphones, which have already gained a firm market
share to compete against Apple's iPhone.
With Asustek
Computer set to launch its second-generation Eee Pad Transformer with
Android 4.0 by the end of October, market watchers are mostly
conservative about its sales performance as Amazon's Kindle Fire has
significantly affected the Android tablet PC market with its low price.
Several
notebook players have already placed their hopes on Microsoft's
upcoming Windows 8 operating system and expect its compatibility and
familiar user interface will help them regain consumer demand.
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