原创 Media tablets: Which category do they belong?

According to a report by the market research firm IC Insights Inc., PC sales will rise by 13 percent in 2011, thanks in part to strong projected growth of Apple Inc.'s iPad and other media tablets.

Among other things, the report calls to the forefront the central question of whether a tablet actually fits into the PC category or is something else entirely.

Some analysts are projecting that PC sales in 2011 will actually be undercut this year by media tablets, which they put in a separate category. Market research firm IHS iSuppli, for example, recently reported that first quarter PC sales slipped slightly compared to the first quarter of 2010, thanks in part to rising interest in media tablets.

Clearly, all comers recognize that the media tablet is a phenomenon that is making a big impact on the PC market. It's either lifting the PC market or hurting the PC market, depending on your point of view.

So, the logical question is: Is a media tablet a PC or not? A simple question, yes, but not an easy one. And if you ask 10 people, you are likely to get a five-to-five split decision.

This being 2011, it might be useful to turn to Wikipedia, the default reservoir of knowledge on all topics. Wikipedia says:

"A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. PCs include any type of computer that is used in a 'personal' manner. This is in contrast to the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed large expensive mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time, or large data processing systems which required a full-time staff to operate efficiently."

Okay. By this definition, a tablet would appear to qualify. But so would a lot of other things that aren't mainframes (do we use mainframes anymore?). An iPod might also qualify as a PC under this definition.

Wikipedia goes on to say:

"A personal computer may be a desktop computer or other mobile types, for example a laptop, tablet PC or a handheld PC (also called a palmtop) that is smaller than a laptop."

This would also appear to support the inclusion of a tablet. But, palmtop? Was this written in 1996? Regardless of whether a tablet is ultimately considered a PC or not, it appears that someone ought to take advantage of the collaborative nature of Wikipedia and go in and update the definition of PC using language recognizable by today's reader (sorry, I'm not really the go-getter type).

Media tablet vs. tablet PC
Later, the Wikipedia entry on the PC includes a sub-section for tablet PCs:

"A tablet PC is a notebook or slate-shaped mobile computer. Its touchscreen or graphics tablet/screen hybrid technology allows the user to operate the computer with a stylus or digital pen, or a fingertip, instead of a keyboard or mouse. The form factor offers a more mobile way to interact with a computer. Tablet PCs are often used where normal notebooks are impractical or unwieldy, or do not provide the needed functionality."

Aha! Right? Well, not exactly. For one thing, the photo used to illustrate the tablet PC is an HP Compaq tablet PC with a rotating/removable keyboard. The photo was taken in 2006. And many people tend to differentiate between a tablet PC—read, runs Windows—and a media tablet like the iPad or Android-based tablets.

What we have here is one of those situations that people have been warning us about. With the rapid evolution of technology and the increased prominence of mobility, the lines between product categories are blurring beyond recognition. Good luck these days drawing distinctions between notebook PCs, netbooks, tablets and even, in some cases, e-readers.

Does it really matter? Yes and no. Yes, because with tablets, something very important is happening. The usual suspect PC vendors—HP, Dell, Acer, etc.—are all scrambling to put out compelling tablets. But so are a lot of other companies—including handset companies like Research in Motion and Motorola, electronics giants like Samsung, and even—depending on your definition of a tablet—book retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. There are literally dozens of companies throwing their hat in the ring, and though many will fail, it's likely that the firms left standing won't be just the leading traditional PC firms. If the tablet is a PC, the PC market suddenly has a lot more meaningful players.

(Apple is obviously far and away the leader in tablets, but though the company has roots in the personal computer—which the company still refuses to call a PC and in fact attempts to distinguish its products from—at this point it's more of a consumer electronics vendor that happens to sell PCs.)

Whether a tablet is a PC or not doesn't matter in another sense. That is, to IC Insights' point, like traditional PCs, tablets consume a lot of chips—processors, memories, etc. Whether you consider them a PC or not, the popularity of tablets is a good thing for chip vendors. Though, of course, unlike the traditional Wintel PC, the tablet has opened the game to a whole host of ARM-based processors that are fighting hard for market share at this very moment.

Dylan McGrath

EE Times