Dell introduced its first tablet PC recently, joining a niche market predicted to quintuple within three years. The Latitude XT offers a 12.1-inch touch screen and weighs in at less than four pounds.
Digital Journal — Tablet PCs never took off like manufacturers hoped they would, but Dell is determined to grab a foothold of that neglected market. The company has released its first entry in that segment with its Latitude XT, one of the thinnest and lightest convertible PCs available.
Toshiba also recently launched its ninth tablet PC, and its first with an LED screen (the Portege M700 Tablet PC).
Due for a late December release, the Dell XT features a 12.-inch screen using capacitive touch technology, which picks up on the electrical current in someone’s hand. It “senses the touch of a finger with no pressure required for the system to recognize input,” according to Dell. The Texas-based company also said most competitive tablets on the market today rely on resistive touch that requires the application of force for the system to recognize user interaction. Dell is confident this “groundbreaking” technology will exceed expectations.
Margaret Franco, director of Dell Product Group, said in a statement: “Until now, customers have been forced to make tradeoffs in tablet functionality to have usable systems. With capacitive touch technology, the Latitude XT will…allow customers to take full advantage of tablet technology and enables customers to get more done with greater speed and precision.”
XT boasts other specs that could interest beginner tablet buyers: a 1.06-gigahertz Intel Core 2 Solo processor, 1GB of memory, a 40GB hard drive and an optional add-on that extends battery life to 9.5 hours. Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising number is the unit’s price: $2,500.
Judging by the price point, Dell is targeting the commercial market with its tablet PC debut. It makes sense: tablet PCs comprise just 2.4 per cent of the worldwide notebook market, according to IDC. Also, research analysts at IDC predict massive growth in the coming year: shipments of tablet PCs will rise to 12.3 million units in 2011 from 2.5 million units in 2007.
Doug Bell, at industry analyst firm IDC, recently said:
Dell’s plan to enter the tablet PC market will help promote the platform among its large number of customers and help facilitate the product category to go mainstream.
No word yet on whether Dell’s tablet PC will be available through retail channels, in light of its recent announcement to partner with Best Buy stores in the U.S. Earlier this year, Dell also announced it will brings its desktop PCs to more than 3,000 Wal-Mart stores, which is as a departure from its usual direct-from-the-manufacturer business model.
Dell isn’t the only major player looking to muscle in on the tablet PC market. Nokia is also known for its tablet PC entries, such as its recently released N810, measuring five inches wide and coming in at eight ounces. A keyboard is hidden beneath the display and can be used by sliding the display upwards.
Undoubtedly, the flurry of these new tablet PC releases signal revitalized interest in this market segment. But it’s interest on the part of manufacturers, and consumers have yet to flock to tablets like they have with regular notebooks.
Not content to merely rely on old faithful desktops and notebooks, Dell, Toshiba, Nokia and other companies may be gambling with its tablet PC debuts. Sometimes, innovation carries with it risky decisions that could backfire, or propel a company to new heights.
