Microsoft Corp is likely to launch a smaller and less expensive tablet computer in the fourth quarter of the year to compete with Apple Inc’s popular iPad Mini, a Topology Research Institute (拓璞產業研究所) analyst said yesterday.
The Windows 8-based tablet, called the Surface mini, is expected to feature a touchscreen of between 7.5 inches and 8 inches and a low-power Intel Corp Atom microprocessor, and carry a price tag of US$299, Topology analyst Maxwell Chang (張乘維) told reporters at a media briefing on consumer electronics trends.
Microsoft has been in talks with two or three Taiwanese original-design manufacturers to produce the new gadget, but the list has not been finalized, Chang said, citing supply chain sources.
The US giant also plans to launch the second generation of its Surface Pro tablet, which is expected to use a more powerful Intel Haswell processor, he added.
“Microsoft is likely to aim at taking on the iPad Mini because it knows it is hard to compete with [Google Inc’s] Android tablets in terms of price,” Chang said.
Taiwan-based Acer Inc (宏碁) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) have launched 7-inch tablets costing as little as US$129, while Acer and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co are also set to sell 8-inch models priced at between US$249 and US$399, Chang said.
Topology data show that worldwide tablet shipments are expected to total 161 million units this year, up 42 percent from 113 million last year.
Tablet models sized between 7 inches and 8 inches will make up 54 percent of the total shipments this year, a massive increase from 32 percent last year, the institute said.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
RSS