notes.
In-Stat's research further suggests that the requirements of the UMPC will "drive a new generation of low-power x86 processors, while inviting competition from other processor architectures."
"It's ironic that the UMPC is now taking center stage close to a year and a half after Transmeta, a company focused on delivering processors for this very segment, finally had to call it quits as a processor vendor because of lack of market growth," commented In-Stat principal analyst Jim McGregor. "As Intel aggressively moves into this market, they have emphasized that the processor performance just has to be 'good enough.' However, the processing solution will have to meet increasingly stringent power requirements as improvements in battery technology are not advancing at the same pace as the requirements."
Short battery life (which may be
around three hours) was one of the concerns Gartner expressed in its
pessimistic assessment of the first generation of UMPCs. Gartner also complained about the form-factor of early UMPC arrivals, dubbing them "tweeners" -- too big for a PDA and too small to be a useful notebook. However, Gartner deemed the UMPC concept interesting long term, as a "lifestyle category, not just another hardware form factor." As such, UMPC would let users store and carry their digital "stuff," such as photos, videos and MP3 files, and would function as a real-time email client, Gartner noted.
In-Stat, meanwhile, contends that the early UMPCs, while not sporting any particularly unique features, will still have the effect of "[building] a new usage model around defined price points." Additionally, In-Stat commented that "there is no one-size-fits-all solution for all market segments," a factor that seems likely to retard the growth of the UMPC market.
In-Stat's study, "The Ultra Mobile PC Hip or Hype?," examines the market potential and assesses the new technologies and usage models that will create "market inflection points for rapid adoption rates." More information on the study is available
here.
More about UMPCsFor further information, photos, and background on Ultra Mobile PCs (previously codenamed Origami devices by Microsoft), please refer to our extensive coverage of the unveiling of the
UMPC product category by Microsoft and its partners at CeBIT last month.
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