Rival tablets ready to bite into iPad lead

Chris Nuttall Financial Times 05/30/2010 18:19

Supplies of the iPad have been limited but the low-priced rivals are expected to be plentiful

The international launch of the iPad at the weekend is set to be swiftly followed by the release of a raft of rival tablet PCs, costing a fraction of Apple’s $500 device.

Tablets priced at about $100 will be unveiled at Computex in Taiwan, which begins Monday – the first major trade show since the release of the iPad in April.

Such low-cost tablets are part of a trend in the PC industry as component costs fall, with laptops and netbooks attracting low-cost competitors from relatively tiny companies across Asia.

Small Asian manufacturers such as Eken, G-Link, Bluesky and Kinstone will all be unveiling their iPad-lite models from Monday.

Meanwhile, a $75 tablet is expected next year from manufacturers supporting the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative to provide computers for disadvantaged schoolchildren, while consumers in some countries will be able to take advantage of free tablets from telecoms and TV providers in exchange for subscription contracts.

Apple’s products carry a premium and supplies of the iPad have been limited but the low-priced rivals are expected to be plentiful and encourage mass adoption. Unit shipments of tablet devices are predicted to increase by 230 per cent over the next year, according to the In-Stat research firm, while Deloitte forecasts tens of millions of sales worth more than $2bn by the end of 2011.