Slate Tablets Create New Opportunities for Wireless Chip Vendors

According to iSuppli Corporation, the emergence of new consumer electronics devices with wireless communication capabilities will create new growth opportunities for semiconductor suppliers, which will stimulate the rapid growth of shipments of embedded wireless wide area network (WWAN) chipsets for slate tablet PCs.

iSuppli Corporation predicts that by 2014, the embedded WWAN chipset shipments in the Slate Tablet PC market will reach 20.7 million, which was almost zero in 2009. At the same time, the number of embedded WWAN modules shipped to the Slate market will reach 2.1 million by 2014, and shipments in 2009 will be almost zero, with a compound annual growth rate of 498.4% during this period. The so-called slate tablet includes Apple's iPad.

Figure 1 shows iSuppli's forecast for embedded WWAN modules and embedded WWAN chipset shipments for the 2009-2014 Slate tablet market.

Although the mobile phone market is undoubtedly the dominant force in the wireless industry, a series of new wireless consumer electronic devices such as Slate, netbooks, e-books and portable media players (PMP) have opened up a neighboring market for semiconductors in this area. Suppliers create new opportunities. In the next 10 years since the beginning of 2010, the goal of the wireless industry is no longer just to achieve full coverage, but to make wireless-powered devices ubiquitous in every corner of life. As a result, many manufacturers are exploring markets other than traditional mobile phones to achieve future growth.

Since many devices use communication elements similar to those used in cell phones and in many cases are identical, all nodes in the wireless value chain have the opportunity to expand the overall effective market, with only minor changes to existing products. All new products provide WWAN connectivity, using the same methods as current mobile phones and laptops, all using USB dongle or embedded modules and chipsets. Although some products are expanding the overall wireless semiconductor market, the re-emergence of the slate field, including Apple's iPad, has already excited chip makers. Products similar to the Apple iPad are also rushing to market.

By then, it is clear why the wireless semiconductor market is extremely excited.

Tablet PCs will be considered by iSuppli today that the adoption of slate-style content/multimedia consumer devices will be the main and most important factor in promoting the use of embedded WWAN functionality over the next five years. As these devices use operating systems and chips similar to some smartphones, some wireless device manufacturers are adopting new strategies to use their ecosystem on multiple platforms. As a result, these vendors will be able to interact with the two types of devices, and consumers can choose the appropriate interaction method based on the specific business model.

This may mean that one device reuses the data and content of another device, or transfers data and content from one device to another, or seamlessly transitions from using a device to handle another task. iSuppli sees this interaction or strategy as a key factor for OEMs' success in this market. Nokia is also using this strategy to cooperate with Intel; Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Palm, is also using this strategy. iSuppli believes that other OEMs are expected to follow suit.

E-Book Faces Competition Four years after the e-book went public, the market is still dominated by Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook. However, as the market continues to mature and various business models have been validated, other devices with more functions have begun to rush into this market. The competition comes mainly from slate tablets and smartphones, but it is conceivable that the competition can also come from any handheld device that can load third-party applications. Such multi-functional devices, such as the Apple iPad and its own e-book store, will pose serious challenges to the original manufacturers. As more slate tablets enter the market, competition is bound to intensify. Although a single-function e-book will continue to be a winner in satisfying readers' needs, and the compound annual growth rate for 2009-2014 will reach about 40%, iSuppli believes that multi-function devices will be in a large area due to their stronger adaptability. It is more widely adopted within.