Computex To Be Google's And Microsoft's Best Chance To Generate Tablet Buzz

Bloomberg has an interesting take on the lead-up to this week's Computex event, where Google and Microsoft are supposedly unveiling their strategic plans to cut into Apple's iPad market dominance. The Taipei-based trade show -- which also includes attendees Acer and Asustek, among others -- should provide an ample preview of most Apple-competing tablet manufacturers' new hardware designs. According to KGI Securities analyst Angela Hsiang,

Investors want to know which tablet is better, which has the best price-performance, and when the non-iPad camp is going to get going... Previously, people couldn’t actually see the products. At Computex, we’ll be able to touch and use them.

As far as price for performance, the iPad has been notoriously difficult to match at its baseline $500 configuration, and it's hard to see that bit changing much. It will be fun to observe what the rest of the industry believes can dethrone iPad, though competing on the grounds of hardware design seems like a dead end. However, the operating systems -- with their libraries of apps and developer rosters -- will play a far more important role in challenging Apple. To that end, most companies are using Google's Android, but Microsoft is expected to show off a Windows 8-based tablet OS running on partner-built devices. Computex should also be a strong gauge of where the tablet market is headed in the grand scheme of things. According to Bloomberg, the outlook for this segment as an industrial mainstay is very positive, and annual tablet shipments are expected to reach 215 million units by 2015 (up from 17 million in 2010). Accordingly,

[c]ompetition from new entrants will cut Apple’s share of the tablet market to 50 percent next year, iSuppli Corp. said on April 21, from almost 100 percent when the Cupertino, California-based company began selling the iPad in [April].

That might sound like a drastic fall for Apple, but as long as Cupertino keeps pumping out iPads at capacity (and as long as the demand and shipments for iPad keep growing), there's no real reason to think its industry-leading status will change any time soon. As a side note, IBM and ARM will be on hand at Computex as well, doing what they can to convince manufacturers that their CPU and SOC offerings are better for future mobile implementation. Since ARM technology is already licensed for and used in most mobile hardware (including Apple's A-series microchips) -- and with Microsoft already on record saying they have a strong stake in Windows on ARM -- Intel's definitely facing an uphill battle. Between Computex and the WWDC, we're coming up on a truly exciting few weeks for the mobile space, so make sure you stay tuned!

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