Acer, Asustek to start up low price tablet competition

Monica Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Monday 24 December 2012]

After Acer reportedly plans to release a 7-inch tablet model with a price of US$99 in the first quarter of 2013, Asustek Computer is also set launch a 7-inch tablet with a price of US$149 during the same quarter, according to sources from the upstream supply chain. Asustek declined to comment about its tablet plans.

Asustek's new 7-inch tablet will focus on emerging markets including India and China, while Lenovo and Samsung Electronics are also preparing products with similar specifications and price levels, but will first observe Acer and Asustek's competition before releasing their products.

Acer's US$99 7-inch tablet will adopt chips from MediaTek and a touch panel from China-based suppliers, and will be manufactured by Compal Electronics, targeting mainly emerging markets.

As for Asustek's 7-inch tablet, Asustek will adopt ARM-based processor from Wondermedia, a subsidiary of VIA Technologies and a touch panel from China-based suppliers.

Asustek's tablet shipments are expected to reach 6.3 million units in 2012 with Google Nexus 7 accounting for 4.5 million units. In 2013, Asustek is set to ship 12 million tablets and with expected 24 million notebook shipments, the company aims to ship totally 36 million mobile devices in 2013 to become the second largest vendor worldwide.

Acer, Asustek to start up 7-inch tablet war in 2013
Photo: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes file photo