Facing strong competition from Apple's iPad 2, notebook brand vendors pointed out that iPad 2's low price of US$499 is leaving tablet PC models with relatively higher prices no room for survival and there are already 2-3 notebook brand vendors that plan to postpone their tablet PC model's launch schedule until after they redesign the specifications and reduce the related costs, according to sources from notebook players.
The sources pointed out that the tablet PC war that was expected in April may turn out to played only by the iPad product line, since iPad 2 is lighter and thinner than the previous generation device and is faster and has even more features at the same price level than the previous model.
As for the first-generation iPad, Apple's strategy of reducing its price to only US$399 has given its competitors strong pressure since most branded vendors do not yet have a model with such a price level that they can compete with.
Therefore, players are already working on rearrange their launch schedule and will delay the launch for another 1-2 months before they start selling; some models that were unveiled from before may even not appear in the channel.
The sources pointed out that tablet PCs will need to be priced below US$399 to have chance to enter the tablet PC battlefield, and none of the current Wintel or ARM/Android platform are capable of achieving such a price level. Therefore, the sources believe that non-iPad products achieving 20% of market share in 2011 would already be a great result for these players.
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