Tablets Set To Take Off Big Time In 2011

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THAI MARKET

Tablets set to take off big time next year

By Asina Pornwasin

The Nation

Dell, Samsung plan new models; other vendors to join the local fray

Tablet devices are expected to become a major segment in the Thai IT market next year, offering the potential for huge growth amid intense competition as many vendors schedule the launch of products.

The tablet market started in Thailand around the middle of this year, when Apple's iPad became available. The market is in the spotlight again this quarter, with Samsung officially launching its first Android-powered tablet computer - the Samsung Galaxy Tab - at the "Thailand Mobile Expo 2010" last month.

In addition, Dell has unveiled the soft launch of its first tablet, the Dell Streak, with the offer of 500 units for customers who pre-order between October 22 and November 2.

It is expected that by next year, many more IT vendors will launch their tablet products and that the market will expanded rapidly.

Dell Corporation (Thailand) managing director Anothai Wettayakorn said that according to International Data Corp's forecast, the tablet market worldwide this year would be about 7.6 million units, and that this would increase at a 57-per-cent compound annual growth rate to 46 million units in 2014.

Market size and growth in Thailand are expected to be in line with this trend.

"The tablet market in the current situation is different from tablet devices in the past, as tablets in the current market are called media tablets whereas those in the past were tablet PCs," said Anothai.

He said the market had great potential and next year would be huge in Thailand, adding that tablets are the emerging segment that will fulfill customer needs. He said the Dell Streak is the highlight product in the segment for this year.

"We have only one model, the Dell Streak, for this year but in the first half of next year Dell plans to launch at least three new models to the market in different sizes, 5 inches [12.7 centimetres] and 7 inches. This market segment is growing very fast and we will see a tough competitive situation next year, for sure," said Anothai.

The company has offered pre-ordering for 500 units of the Streak at www.tarad.com from October 22 to November 2, with successful buyers receiving the products at "Commart Comtech" from November 3 to 7. The first batch is being offered via the website at Bt19,900, including value-added tax, against the normal VAT-inclusive price of Bt21,900.

He added that Dell would use its corporate-market strength to deliver the Streak to that segment, rather than solely focusing on the consumer segment. The Dell Streak is a hybrid product that comes with features suitable for both markets. The company will distribute the device through 100 telecom outlets and its seven Dell Concept Stores.

"The target group for tablet devices is people aged 20 to 40. The Streak's prospective customers are second-time buyers rather than first-timers. The tablet is not going to cannibalise the notebook market, as Dell's notebook sales volume this year has also increased even though tablets [the iPad] were already on the market," said Anothai.

He said the 5-inch screen of the Streak is the right size to address the need for a small and lightweight device, as it comes in at only 200 grams. Its actual size is 6-inches wide, 3.1-inches tall and just 0.4-inch thick. This category of device is very comfortable to carry around, he added.

"We think the main potential customers for the Dell Streak are smart-phone users and notebook users who want to buy a second gadget," said the MD.

Meanwhile, Thai Samsung Electronics' Sitthicoke Nopchinabutr, head of mobile marketing in the Telecommunication Unit, said the the overall Thai tablet market next year is expected to be about 500,000 units, against 100,000 sales this year. Samsung aims to sell more than 3,000 of its Galaxy Tab devices by the end of this year.

"This year, we are initially tapping into this new market segment with only one model. Next year, tablet devices will be a rising market and we plan to introduce three or four more new models to the market," said Sitthicoke.

The Galaxy Tab comes with a 7-inch screen and weighs in at 380 grams, which he said is the right size as it is neither too big nor too small. The device is priced at Bt22,900, including VAT.

"Tablets will fill the market gap between notebooks, netbooks and smart phones. It is a new market segment that is not geared to replace these devices, even though it comes with a phone function," said Sitthicoke.

The Galaxy Tab is Samsung's flagship product and the company's business driver for next year. The company has a 2010 marketing budget of Bt30 million in the Kingdom, and it plans to spend more than Bt100 million on marketing its tablet products next year.

"The Galaxy Tab is the flagship and driver for the company's telecommunication unit [which handles tablets, smart phones and mobile phones], with expected growth at 60 per cent this year and 50 per cent next year," said Sitthicoke.

Introduced at last month's Thailand Mobile Expo, 3,000 of the devices were pre-ordered. It will be available for all buyers by the end of this month.

Samsung has negotiated with Advanced Info Service to take care of a bundled deal for the Galaxy Tab. AIS offers a bundled data package with 500MB per month free of charge for 12 months.

Moreover, Samsung will deliver the product through its existing marketing channels, including 44 hub masters, 10 organised trade outlets and IT channels, he added.

Dell Streak

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1GHz processor

OS: Android 1.6 (Froyo)

Dimensions: 152.9x79.1x10mm

Weight: 220 grams

Display: TFT capacitive touch screen

Size: 480x800 pixels, 5-inch screen

Internal: 16GB storage, 512MB ROM, 512MB RAM

Camera: 5 megapixels, 2,592x1,944 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED

flash

Samsung Galaxy Tab

OS: Android 2.2 (Froyo)

Size: 7-inch TFT-LCD display (1,024x600 pixels)

Weight: 380 grams

Camera: front (1.3 megapixels) and rear (3 megapixels) cameras, full HD video playback (DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264)

Model: 16GB and 32GB

Connectivity: built-in 3G HSPA, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 3.0

Apple iPad

Size: 9.7-inch touch screen

Height: 242.8mm

Width: 189.7mm

Depth: 13.4mm

Weight: 0.68kg Wi-Fi model; 0.73kg Wi-Fi + 3G model

-- The Nation 2010-10-27

[MaiChai]

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