![]() ![]() A round of finger-pointing ensued, with PC and chip executives blaming a shortage of touchscreen components and others saying it was the manufacturers that sharply underestimated consumer demand for touch devices. Microsoft’s Windows 8 launch in October brought touchscreen features but failed to spark a resurgence in PC sales many manufacturers had hoped for. And Asus 2357.TW showed a hefty 18-inch, all-in-one Windows 8 PC that converts to a tablet running Google's Android operating system. Intel itself showed off a hybrid prototype laptop dubbed "North Cape", housed in a thin tablet screen that attaches magnetically to a low-profile keyboard. ![]() Lenovo's 0992.HK North America President Gerry Smith told Reuters last week that over the holidays he sold out of the company's "Yoga", a laptop with a screen that flips back behind its keyboard, and the "ThinkPad Twist", another lightweight laptop with a swiveling screen. You have to innovate and have something special."Īt last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, devices on display from Intel and others underscored the PC industry’s plan to bet more on convertible laptops. "People used to be able to just show up at the party and do well just because the market was going up," Lisa Su, a senior vice president at Advanced Micro Devices AMD.N, which competes against Intel. With sales of PCs falling last year for the first time since 2001, this year may usher in a renaissance in design and innovation from manufacturers who previously focused on reducing costs instead of adding new features to entice consumers. The Surface can fill that gap.”Īpple's AAPL.O iPad began chipping away at demand for laptops in 2010, an assault that accelerated with the launch of Inc's AMZN.O Kindle Fire and other Google GOOG.O Android devices like Samsung Electronics' 005930.KS Note. That’s the niche that Microsoft is going after. “The hybrid model is very compelling for a lot of users,” Bussmann told Reuters last week. That's a major selling point for corporate customers like German business software maker SAP SAPG.DE, which plans to buy Surface Pros for employees that want it, said SAP Chief Information Officer Oliver Bussmann. Microsoft, expanding beyond its traditional business of selling software, is expected this month to roll out a “Surface Pro” tablet compatible with legacy PC software developed over decades. ![]() With the release of Microsoft’s touch-centric, re-imagined Windows 8 platform in October and more power-efficient chips from Intel, PC makers are trying to spark growth by focusing on creating slim laptops with touchscreens that convert to tablets and vice versa. In 2013, some are hoping that will change. Wall Street is predicting flat to sluggish quarterly revenue growth for both, underscoring the plight of an industry that has struggled to innovate. The wave of hybrids comes as Intel Corp INTC.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O, long the twin leaders of the PC industry, prepare to report results this week and next. ![]()
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