Jul

No Tablet Plans for HTC as Yet

HTC Evolve

If its a tech company and if its not making tablet PCs than the company is doomed. At least that is what seems to be the thinking behind every other company getting into a tablet making spree. And with Research in Motion already having announced its plans along with a host of other companies of launching a tablet device in future, HTC too was expected to tow the same line. But in a move that surprised many, HTC has said they don’t have a tablet device in their pipeline of future products.

Eric Lin, the online Community Manager and global PR of HTC opine that the main reason for them not to jump on to the tablet bandwagon now is not just a mere endeavor to reignite the dead industry of tablet pc.

As per him the number of tablet PC is so huge currently that they would be just one more in the lot if they came up with an addition right away. HTC was rather looking for the right mix of feature and reason to make the tablet that will make it a sure shot success amongst the customer base. To prove his point he mentioned about the display of tablet at the Computex which had 80 by number of tablet PCs that was running on Android. His intention he said was not just to make HTC the 81st Android Tablet.

“We are always looking at it, but, right now, the whole idea is that in order to be successful with a tablet, you need to have something compelling. And not just a compelling form factor”.

And that means HTC is happy to sit back and see what the rest of the market does first: “You need to find that compelling use, that compelling story, that one compelling feature. And we are not going to do anything until we have found that.” This is what Lin had to say.

HTC is therefore whiling time. They are waiting for the correct time and thinking to produce the gadget that would make its mark amongst the customers. It is hoped that 2011 should bring in an HTC tablet given this thought process by them. So for the the HTC fans out there, the news might be disappointing but there is some solace in that the smartphone maker is at least not ruling out a tablet device completely.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan based company isn’t completely new to tablets, having produced quite a few of them in the past. It was when the smartphone maker was devoted to Windows and had pumped out quite a few tablet devices like the Advantage and the Shift based on the Microsoft mobile or desktop operating systems. That they did not go on to script a success story in gold is a different matter and it was left on the iPad to actually resurrect the tablet PC industry that was considered dead at best. In fact, it was in December last year itself that HTC had shown off a concept tablet named Evolve (picture above) running the Android operating system while having an Intel Atom processor.

So, when HTC comes up with a tablet device in future (they didn’t say they won’t), it will be more of a second coming for them. And hopefully, they come up with something that’s as impressive as their smartphones as its earlier tablet were considered too power hungry and costly. Clearly, they need to draw on all their smartphone prowess and add some more to make a truly impressive tablet.

Sovan Mandal (1917 Posts)

Sovan Mandal is the senior tablet and tech corespondent for goodereader.com. He brings a international approach to news that is not just applicable to the North American market, but also Asia, India, Europe and others. Sovy brings his own writing flavor to the website and is interested in Science Fiction, Technology and Writing. Any questions, send an email