In an interesting PR move (“CCID Consulting … releases its article on Ultra-Mobile PCs.” Maybe I should make similar press releases three times a day!!) CCID have published their view on the current state of the ultra mobile PC market.
Frank over at Ultra Mobile PC Tips picked up on it today and I’ve just read through it. The two usual suspects are at the top of the list again (price and battery life) along with a mention about marketing channels and maturity.
Personally I think things are moving along at the right pace. Nothing more needs to be done in 2007 with the existing platforms (except maybe a few updates here and there) while we wait for Menlow, Mobile-ITX and AMD’s Griffin. 2006 was the year of market research. 2007 was the year of product testing and 2008 will be the first time that we will see devices with dedicated UMPC-focused silicon and significant sales targets and marketing budgets. Intel are expecting to see up to 50 devices based on their ultra mobile PC platforms next year (compared to 6-10 in 2007) and I expect VIA and AMD are also looking for large numbers of design wins too. If all goes well we could be seeing a new ultra mobile PC device announced on average once per week in 2008 and I think that once that happens we could be in a better position to be able to evaluate the market.
The original press release with article details is available at SYS.com media.
