Ah, but the trend has been set.

A new report says that after a little more than 18 months on the market, tablet PCs based on Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system have established themselves in several niches but have yet to catch on in the wider PC markets for businesses or consumers.

Tablet PCs have been adopted by companies in the health care, real estate and insurance industries, for example, but businesses have not yet deployed the pen-driven computers to executives or other workers in large numbers, and consumer sales also have been slow, according to a report released Wednesday by research company In-Stat/MDR.

Over time, some of the apparent lack of enthusiasm among businesses and consumers could change. However, tablet sales are likely to continue to be slow in those two markets until prices come down and the software improves--two things that are expected to begin happening later this year, according to the report.

Tablet PCs have done "pretty well in vertical markets, such as insurance or real estate, because those industries were used to the tablet form factor," said Brian O'Rourke, an analyst at In-Stat/MDR.

Tablets take their time

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Here is another article on the same report. The spin is in the positive rather than the negative. :D

Tablet PC adoption has been slow, but sales should rise in 2005 as prices fall, according to a research report by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based In-Stat/MDR.

The report, released Wednesday, focuses on several tablet PC makers, including Austin-based Motion Computing Inc. Austin is also home to rugged tablet PC maker, Xplore Technologies Corp.

The report says most of the success of the tablet PC has been in specific industries such as health care, real estate and insurance.

"Many vertical markets were accustomed to pen-based computing, and saw the tablet PC as giving them the flexibility of pen-based computing plus access to all software that runs on Microsoft's XP operating system," says Brian O'Rourke, a senior analyst with In-Stat/MDR.

O'Rourke says the newness of tablet PCs and the lack of information technology spending at many large companies has contributed to the slow adoption rate throughout all industries. The report says demand should increase when the average selling price drops below $2,000 in 2005.

In 2008, the report estimates 4 million tablet PCs will be sold compared with less than 1 million in 2004.

Tablet PC sales expected to grow

__________________
Layne P. Heiny / Administrator for Tux Reports Network

Please do not send private messages requesting technical support. Place your request in the proper forum and hopefully someone can help you.

Computer Sites
Tablet PC Blogs | Technology Questions | Tablet PC Post | Windows Vista | What Is New

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