High prices make tablets hard to swallow

Tablet PC take up in the EMEA region is being held back in the horizontal sector due to high prices and a lack of mainstream applications, analyst IDC has warned.

According to the group's research for the first quarter of 2003, sales grew 33 per cent compared to the previous quarter but less than 30,000 units were shipped.

IDC analyst Andy Brown explained that vertical markets are showing the strongest demand, with the broad market reluctant to meet the high prices of an immature platform.

"Specific vertical markets are demonstrating a healthy desire for tablet PC products," he said.

"As product prices reduce, new designs appear, the number of apps with handwriting support increase and the platform becomes more stable, we expect tablet PC products to increase in popularity."

Despite the slow start, Tablet PC manufacturer Motion Computing has identified the UK as an opportunity and is making its first steps outside North America with the intention of building its global reseller channel.

The company, which only makes Tablet PCs and uses Centrino chips from Intel, has already signed Ergo as its first UK reseller, which has taken on a master reseller role and will supply other resellers.

"We are coming to the UK first in Europe because we have an English version of our product and the reseller channel is very strong," said Pete Lewis, international business development director at the vendor.

"Tablets are selling well in the vertical sectors because they are not price sensitive. But the horizontal market is price sensitive, so prices will have to drop if they are to take off."

Motion Computing is now looking for more resellers to work directly with it in the UK.