Will the tablet devices boom last long?

BANGALORE, INDIA: A decade has passed since the sleek looking computing device tastefully named the ‘laptop’, invaded the personal computing space and have almost beaten their bigger counterparts, the desktops in mobility and features. Laptops have gradually shrunk from 17 inches to as small as 10 inches and are now referred to as Netbooks/ Netpads and are primarily used for surfing information on the internet.

Netbooks entered the global markets a couple of years ago and their size continue to shrink and these shrunken versions are called “Tablets”.

There have been a number of changes taking place in the design of computers from the time they were introduced, but the thing noteworthy here is that the change duration is becoming shorter as new innovations are taking place in the competitive market of computers.

A recent independent survey revealed that most people want sleeker gadgets at their disposal but are apprehensive about switching to smaller and sleeker gadgets as they feel that they have to compromise on some of the vital features that are offered by Desktops/Laptops. Imagine tallying an excel sheet or making an extensive presentation report on an iPad.

Computer makers have realized that buyers have changed their criterion for buying devices that ‘delight’ them in terms of appearance and those who offer numerous ‘wow’ features against the yesteryears’ criterion of configuration and features of computers that merely ‘satisfied’ the computing needs of users.

Recent developments in the offerings of smartphones like iPhone, BlackBerry and other android based devices were on the verge of taking care of almost all the possible offerings of a Tablet while the Tablet-Mania hit the market.

With companies rushing into the tablet market after the launch and success of iPad, the questions that come to my mind are — what is the duration of this success? Is the rush justified? And with computing devices becoming smaller and sleeker, what would be the ideal size for such a device?

For me, a tablet device is moreover a fusion of a few features of a laptop and that of a smartphone into a single odd sized device. With majority of people around the world switching to smartphones from their regular phones and a necessity of a desktop or a laptop for heavy computing needs would affect the growth of the upcoming tablets.

Moreover tablet computers are a fad and the booming sales figures are bound to plunge gradually. However, Forrester research predicts that tablets will be taking over desktop sales by 2015i; on the contrary, I believe that it would be Laptops taking over Desktop sales. 

The target segment for Tablet users presumably own a laptop at work and/or home and a smartphone for communication needs, therefore it is difficult for me to accept that one would spend over $500 or INR 20,000 for a device that would pretty much do the same that is already being done by the devices one already has.

(The author is  senior research analyst with Brand Strategy Consultancy, Beyond )