Could one of the most influential smartphone manufacturers be about to hop on the smartbook bus?
Speaking at the launch of its Qualcomm Snapdragon powered Touch HD2 handset CNet quotes HTC head honcho Peter Chou as saying the company is extremely interested in the netbook/smartbook space. “[HTC is] carefully looking into that category and how it can be part of that” he confirmed, though he stressed any product would need to have “unique value” and not be another “me too” product.
Chou didn’t reveal whether the company was looking at an Intel-based netbook or ARM-based smartbook, but the company’s history suggests it could go either way. On the one hand, HTC consistently uses ARM-based products and Google’s Android OS in its handsets. On the other, it released the Intel A110-powered ‘Shift’ UMPC (ultra mobile PC) in 2007 with 7-in touchscreen and full Qwerty keyboard, which ran Windows Vista.
The Shift wasn’t a great success for HTC, because despite a tidy 207 x 129 x 25mm form factor and 800g weigh,t its battery life lasted just two hours. Since then, all talk of a return to the laptop sector had disappeared, but netbooks and smartbooks do now represent a compelling opportunity.
So will HTC act? I think it will, after all, it need only look at the actions of its rivals. Nokia has announced the Booklet 3G , while Acer and Samsung have already jumped into the netbook market with both feet. Then comes talk of increasing smartphone superpower Apple making a potentially low cost ‘iTablet’.
Consequently, a smartbook or netbook isn’t so much an opportunity for HTC; it’s more of a necessity…
Gordon
