Personal computer makers, trying to beat back a tablet mania that's
eating into their sales, are making what may be a last-ditch attempt to
sway customers by mimicking the competition.
Many of the laptops to be
unveiled around the world in coming months will be hybrids or
"convertibles" - morphing easily between portable tablets and
full-powered laptops with a keyboard, industry analysts say.
The
wave of hybrids comes as Intel Corp and Microsoft Corp, long the twin
leaders of the PC industry, prepare to report results this week and
next. Wall Street is predicting flat to sluggish quarterly revenue
growth for both, underscoring the plight of an industry that has
struggled to innovate.
In 2013, some are hoping that will change.
With
the release of Microsoft's touch-centric, re-imagined Windows 8
platform in October and more power-efficient chips from Intel, PC makers
are trying to spark growth by focusing on creating slim laptops with
touchscreens that convert to tablets and vice versa.
Microsoft,
expanding beyond its traditional business of selling software, is
expected this month to roll out a "Surface Pro" tablet compatible with
legacy PC software developed over decades.
That's a major selling
point for corporate customers like German business software maker SAP,
which plans to buy Surface Pros for employees that want it, said SAP
Chief Information Officer Oliver Bussmann.
"The hybrid model is
very compelling for a lot of users," Bussmann told Reuters last week.
"The iPad is not replacing the laptop. It's hard to create content.
That's the niche that Microsoft is going after. The Surface can fill
that gap."
Apple's iPad began chipping away at demand for laptops
in 2010, an assault that accelerated with the launch of Amazon.com Inc's
Kindle Fire and other Google Android devices like Samsung Electronics'
Note.
With sales of PCs falling last year for the first time since
2001, this year may usher in a renaissance in design and innovation
from manufacturers who previously focused on reducing costs instead of
adding new features to entice consumers.
"People used to be able
to just show up at the party and do well just because the market was
going up," Lisa Su, a senior vice president at Advanced Micro Devices,
which competes against Intel. "It's harder now. You can't just show up
at the party. You have to innovate and have something special."
At
last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, devices on display
from Intel and others underscored the PC industry's plan to bet more on
convertible laptops.
Lenovo's North America
President Gerry Smith told Reuters last week that over the holidays he
sold out of the company's "Yoga", a laptop with a screen that flips back
behind its keyboard, and the "ThinkPad Twist", another lightweight
laptop with a swiveling screen.
Intel itself showed off a hybrid
prototype laptop dubbed "North Cape", housed in a thin tablet screen
that attaches magnetically to a low-profile keyboard. And Asus showed a
hefty 18-inch, all-in-one Windows 8 PC that converts to a tablet running
Google's Android operating system.
Lenovo and Asus, which have
both won positive reviews for their devices in recent months, increased
their PC shipments by 14 percent and 17 percent respectively last year,
according to Gartner.
"The number of unique systems that our
partners have developed for Windows has almost doubled since launch.
That gives an indication of how much innovation is going into the PC
market," Tami Reller, chief financial officer of Microsoft's Windows
unit, told Reuters.
Finger pointing
To be sure, hybrids with
detachable or twistable screens do not yet account for a significant
proportion of global PC sales, and consumers still need to be sold on
their benefits.
Previous attempts by PC makers to reinvigorate the
market have had limited success. Pushed by Intel, manufacturers
launched a series of slimmed down laptops early last year with features
popular on tablets, like solid-state memory.
They were too expensive, often at more than $1,000 apiece, and failed to arrest the PC decline.
Microsoft's
Windows 8 launch in October brought touchscreen features but failed to
spark a resurgence in PC sales many manufacturers had hoped for. A round
of finger-pointing ensued, with PC and chip executives blaming a
shortage of touchscreen components and others saying it was the
manufacturers that sharply underestimated consumer demand for touch
devices.
Regardless, the entire PC ecosystem is onboard for 2013.
Almost half of the Windows laptops rolled out this year may have touch
screens. Of those, most will be in convertible form, according to IDC
analyst David Daoud.
Further blurring the distinction between
kinds of devices, about a quarter of upcoming Windows 8 gadgets will be
tablets that can easily act as laptops with the help of keyboard
accessories, he added.
But buyers may have to wait until the second half of the year to see many of them.
"The most likely scenario today is for the industry to have these products ready for the back-to-school season," Daoud said.
© Thomson Reuters 2012