“Under-the-radar” media tablets poured into world markets in 2010

SINGAPORE: Most people in North America or Western Europe, if asked how many media tablets had been commercially launched so far, would say “just one or two.” But the reality is very different: in fact more than 60 distinct media tablet models from nearly 50 different manufacturers are already available in at least one country or region.

Media tablets are among several product types documented regularly by ABI Research.

“Many of these media tablets do not bear household brand names like Apple or Samsung,” says ABI Research industry analyst Celia Bo. “China is definitely a market leader, but it is a ‘white box’ market in which brand is relatively unimportant, prices are relatively affordable (though still higher than those of netbooks), and devices are aimed at domestic consumers.”

Principal analyst Jeff Orr adds, “While these are not (yet) global brands, the very presence of such a thriving white box market in Asia is a good indicator of a growing market that is expected to see robust adoption rates in years to come.”

Most of these tablets feature 7-inch displays, and run on the Android operating system. The majority of media tablets released commercially in 2010 use application processors from Freescale Semiconductor.

Most are Wi-Fi enabled, giving them web browser access to much of the content the Internet offers. In addition, because many of these tablets run the Android OS, they also have access to Android Market for OS-specific applications, as well as to vendor-proprietary or regional online stores that are offering content in local languages. Mobile operators are also adding their own storefronts.

ABI Research practice director Kevin Burden concludes: “Most of these products started shipping in the last 75 days. They are still building their market presence. The products released so far do not show any great degree of technological innovation, but we expect to see a new set of vendors in the first quarter of 2011, offering devices with more ambitious capabilities.”