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        MIDs face tough climb?

        Eric Brown | Date: Nov 3, 2008 | Comments: 1


        Mobile Internet devices (MIDs) face stiff challenges ahead, including lack of broadband wireless deployments, limited software, and low battery life, a new report claims.

        The devices also risk cannibalizing the PC market, warns the Hong Kong-based research firm CCID Consulting.

        Intel first began touting its MID concept in April 2007, originally with Linux -- see the launch coverage on our sister site LinuxDevices, here -- and has been showing it off at various developer forums ever since. Actual shipping MIDs have been few and far between, but include the recently announced Asus R50A (shown above and below), which runs Windows Vista, and the Aigo P8860/Gigabyte M528 (right), which ships with Linux but is also offered with Windows XP drivers.

        CCID Consulting's analysis takes a global view of the MID market, but seems to filter its analysis through issues that are of particular concern to the Chinese market. CCID Consulting released its analysis without reference to a particular study about the MID format, and does not include any market projections except to predict that most MIDs will ship with Linux.


        Look sideways, and you'll see "UMPC" written on the front panel of Asus's R50A MID!
        (Click to enlarge)

        According to the group, MID is yet another one of Intel's "horizontal" efforts to boost processor sales, many of which have faltered. "Great expectations have been laid on MID," says the report, but the "cold reactions" to Intel's previously touted UMPC format places more pressure on the format, says the research group.

        "If MID can achieve their anticipated results, it will become an important breakthrough for Intel processor products' horizontal development," says the article. "MID is not only a new product, but Intel's attempt to transform the processor business entirely."

        Major Asian vendors such as Lenovo, Samsung, Asus, and Founder have all expressed interest in supporting the MID format, says the group. However, it suggests they may be hesitant after a recent release of a MID from China-based Huaqi that "hasn't been able to carry through large-scale production and sale." (Since Aigo is a Huagi brand, this is an apparent reference to the Aigo P8860 mentioned above.)

        Challenges facing the rollout of MIDs are said by CCID to include:
        • Limited wireless broadband -- The MID format is built around the concept of broadband wireless connectivity, using WiFi, HSPA, or WiMAX. However, at least in China, the status of wireless Internet roll-outs are not "optimistic," says the group. By the end of 2007, China had less than 10,000 WiFi hotspots; and limited-bandwidth 2.5G GPRS is far more common than 3G HSPA. WiMAX deployments, meanwhile, will be "difficult to realize large-scale" in China, says CCID.

        • Lack of battery life -- As a wireless Internet device, the MID is intended to be highly portable, yet the Intel Atom's energy consumption is still prohibitively high, says CCID. MID standby time is typically less than six hours, says the group. Meanwhile, ARM-based MIDs, like mobile phones, enjoy standby times of a week or more.

        • Lack of software -- MID's software compatibility and "network content updating" still need to be improved, says CCID. Due primarily to cost considerations, most MIDs will adopt Linux and other open source OSes, says the group. However, it will take time to develop Linux software.

        • Channel pressures -- MID has more in common with notebooks and netbooks than with smartphones, says CCID, so MIDs "will feed off of the PC market." The problem with this scenario is that "PC manufacturers can't enlarge their market share against MID in the short-term, and MID will increase PC manufacturers' R&D and operation costs," says the group. "MID products' promotion runs into a dilemma with the upstream of the industry chain," it adds.
        In the long run, Intel is not the only company evaluating the basic MID format. "VIA, Nvidia and ARM are paying strategic attention to MID," says the group. The article then concludes, "If Intel's MID products don't provide new breakthroughs, Intel and its industrial partners' pre-promotion and payments will have been wasted."

        Availability

        CCID Consulting does not yet appear to offer a research report on MIDs to back up its analysis, but in time, more information may appear on its site, here.

        For a recent, detailed review of the Aigo P8860D, see the Pocketables website, here.


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