Touchscreen notebook penetration to fall below expectations

Touchscreen notebooks may not be able to achieve the market penetration expected as channel retailers have placed most of their focus on clearing existing inventories of Ivy-bridge-based notebooks launched in the first half of 2013, and are delaying their promotions of Haswell-based models, which are all feature touchscreens, according to sources from channel retailers.

Most channel retailers originally expected the penetration of touchscreen notebook to grow to 30-40% in the third and fourth quarters, up from around 10% in the first and 15-20% in the second; however, the retailers are now concerned that the percentage may have trouble reaching even 15-20% in the second quarter.

Since channel retailers are offering discounts of over 30% on Ivy Bridge-based notebooks, most consumers have turned to purchasing Ivy Bridge models instead one with the latest platform.

The sources pointed out that it may take a while before touchscreen notebooks become mainstream products since prices have not yet reached the sweet spot, while consumers are still not familiar with touch controls, and there is a limited number of applications capable of supporting touch controls.

Source:    DigiTimes

31 июля 2013