Lenovo has unveiled its new tablet computer IdeaPad U1 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas, saying that it expects tablet computers to witness a strong growth this year.
Chief operating officer Rory Read, however, added that despite a good performance, these devices will constitute just a fraction – about 10 to 15% – of the personal computer market. The overall PC market is expected to cross 400 million units this year.
Tablets will manage to just fill in the netbook’s place, he told the CES. "We see it more as a third or fourth screen; additive, like a smartphone."
At the electronics trade fair, the Chinese electronics maker displayed its new Lenovo IdeaPad U1 hybrid, a laptop with a 10-inch touchscreen tablet which runs Google’s mobile Android platform.
The company described the device as "two PCs in one device – each with its own processor and operating system – that work together and independently as either a clamshell laptop or a multitouch slate tablet".
The device will be available in China in the first quarter for about $1,300, while its tablet device LePad will be sold for nearly $500.
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Read described the U1 as a differentiated "converged" device that the company hopes to bank on for future growth.
