Acer Prepares Windows 7 And Android Tablets for 2011

Acer plans to release two Android-based tablets and a Windows 7 tablet in early 2011, joining an already-crowded market. Pricing and names remain undisclosed for the devices, which will compete against not only the Apple iPad, but also other Android-based tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Acer’s 7-inch and 10.1-inch tablets will debut next April. The manufacturer is also reportedly planning a 10.1-inch tablet running Windows 7, with front- and rear-facing cameras, which will hit store shelves in February 2011.

Foothold In The Tablet Market

Despite sharing WiFi and 3G connectivity, they are designed for different uses. The Android tablet is aimed at entertainment and gaming, with a 1280 x 800 screen resolution, 10-point multi-touch and gyro-meter control. It also features an HDMI output for a High Definition 1080p capability.

The Windows version, on the other hand, is designed for business users. It offers full-size keyboard and a full docking station. Its front and rear facing 1.3MP camera also enables VDO conferencing, film recording and picture taking.

During a press conference in New York City, Acer executives also demonstrated an Android-powered smartphone with a 4.8-inch touch-screen, and a 14-inch dual-screen laptop.

Having coasted the netbooks trend to ever-higher profits and profile, Acer now faces a conundrum in the burgeoning tablet market. Companies such as Apple and Samsung are making significant forays into that space, with others – including Acer competitors Dell and Hewlett-Packard – poised to join the fray in coming months. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab has already sold 600,000 units within a month of release, according to one new report, while millions of iPads have shipped since April.

While the iPad holds some 95.5 percent of the worldwide tablet market, according to recent data from Strategy Analytics, the general expectation is that proliferating Android tablets will begin to seize a higher percentage in coming months.

The billion-dollar question is whether the surging interest in tablets is negatively impacting the market for traditional low-end notebooks and netbooks.

“No one expected netbook sales to stay at the atmospheric levels of 2009 and in fact netbooks, as a percentage of consumer sales, have been very steady all year in the mid-teens,” Stephen Baker, an analyst with NPD Group, wrote in a blog posting. “In light of the sales facts, it is, in my view, a mistaken and absolutely untenable position to claim that PC sales are under pressure because of the iPad when there are so many other factors that are contributing to poor results.”

Other analysts seem more convinced of tablets’ weighing down the notebook market.

“We expect tablets to continue to pressure PCs as more vendors launch products (for example Dell Streak and Samsung Tab) and Apple expands its iPad distribution,” Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty wrote in a research note, using data from NPD Group, showing overall US notebook sales declining four percent year-over-year for 2010.

Whether the tablet market continues to grow cannibalisation-free or if it impacts sales of netbooks, Acer evidently intends to play a part in it.