How can PCs survive tablet invasion?

USA: In order to stave off the onslaught of popular media tablets and smartphones, notebook PCs need to evolve, adopting touch technology that has proved so popular among consumers.

Speaking at the upcoming Society for Information Displays (SID) 2013 Conference, Duke Yi, senior manager for display components and materials research at IHS, will present his vision for the future of touch notebooks. Yi will deliver his presentation at the SID Touch Gesture Motion Focus Conference  on Wednesday May 22, 2013, in Vancouver, Canada.

“Touch screens are the hottest feature driving the near-term growth in the notebook market,” Yi said. “It’s true that it is impossible to use all the applications of a notebook perfectly just through a touch function. However, consumers will gain a greater familiarity with the touch system, allowing them to comfortably access many other functions on a notebook. In essence, the touch function is more of an assistant than the actual main interface in notebook PCs.”

But the incorporation of touch into notebooks does not just benefit consumers, as manufacturers also will find that adding this technology will be an effective way to keep the average selling price (ASP) of their notebooks from plunging. For this reason, touch will likely establish a solid foothold in the notebook market, IHS believes.

Tablet threat
It has only been three years since the Apple iPad came to market. Nonetheless, in that short time, media tablets have become firmly established and are on a strong growth path. Not surprisingly, tablets have become a huge threat to other products—including notebook PCs.

“Both the PC and the tablet markets want a piece of each other’s pie,” Yi said. “Tablet suppliers want some of the market share that notebooks have—and vice versa. So, while there is a clear intersection between the two applications, we see manufacturers and brands offering at least one or two crossover products that span the functions of both PCs and tablets.”

Yi’s session, entitled “Touch Gesture Motion Industry Analysis,” also will include the IHS outlook and growth opportunities for touch and interactive devices, with additional analysis from Geoff Walker, senior touch technologist for Intel Corp.