HP says consumers won't swallow its tablets

 

Gallery

By Dave Stevenson in Shanghai

Posted on 10 May 2007 at 17:49

No sooner had HP finished presenting its new business tablet, the Compaq 2710p, than Alberto Bozzo, HP's Vice President and General Manager for commercial products, poured cold water on the company's consumer tablets.

There is 'no horizontal usage' for tablet PCs, he said, referring to tablet PCs in the home - a surprise declaration given that the company launched its Pavilion tx1080ea consumer tablet just two months ago. Bozzo went on to claim the tx1080 was 'for early adopters. It is inspiring, movable, design-focused.' However, he also admitted that tablet PCs currently account for only five per cent of HP's volume, and that tablets were 'not a mainstream product'.

But there's life in the form factor yet, he said. There's still demand from vertical markets such as hospitals and the military, and he said he expected to 'see more and more volume on this platform'.

The Compaq 2710p was the first product demonstrated at HP's Mobility Summit in Shanghai, after the company announced a new logo for the Compaq brand. The tablet is billed as 'portability with a twist', and is one of the first ultra-portable convertible tablets.

It weighs just 1.65kg, and is also the first Santa Rosa tablet PC to be announced. It will be powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV chip.

It also boasts an innovative business card reader - a card is held at the front of the chassis while you fold the screen down to take a picture of the card, which is then scanned, recognised and saved.