QOTW: Who will win the Windows 8 tablet/hybrid war?

by Tarinder Sandhu on 28 September 2012, 16:27

Tags: ARM, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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The imminent arrival of Windows 8 in both x86 and ARM-compatible versions brings the technology behind tablets and hybrid tablet-notebooks into sharper focus.

ARM-based processors scale nicely to fit the needs of tablet-makers. NVIDIA's Tegra 3, the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 and Samsung's Exynos 5 SoCs are absolutely ready for prime-time tablet action.

Intel, however, wants in on this Windows-on-tablet play and has just announced the Atom Z2760 chip, designed to meet the ARM threat head-on. It's already secured the services of Dell, HP and Samsung into releasing said tablets and hybrids.

Murkying these waters further, Microsoft itself is building the Surface - an Intel-powered, Windows 8-toting tablet - and it'll go up against the best of Intel and ARM.

This week's question, then, is multi-faceted, and it centres on three themes. Who will have the best Windows 8 tablet/hybrid experience? Do you care if it's based on ARM, Intel or Microsoft-engineered technology? And is there enough room in the market, other than incumbent Apple and Google, to support a raft of Windows 8 tablets/hybrids?



HEXUS Forums :: 16 Comments

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I think it'd be a mighty task for Intel to dislodge ARM based chips just yet, with ASUS and Surface RT (which I think will sell the best) on ARM, I think it'd be near impossible to get the sales to secure future investment in it.

This is Intel however, and they probably won't give up that easily :)
AMD, with brazos 2 and their Android AppNickerZone. At least, that's what I'd like to see, although I doubt they'll hit enough major OEMs to get a good slice of the market. Shame though, they almost certainly have the best tech for Win 8 x86 tablets…
From a consumer point of view, rather than a winner a level and competitive playing field is better. From a dominant position one company can drip feed advancements and charge what they like for products, strong and competitive rivals particularly if its a little different is only good all round for the technology market.
Such a niche market I'm not sure it overly matters, but competition is healthy!
jimbouk
Such a niche market I'm not sure it overly matters, but competition is healthy!

niche market? I'm sure you saw the recent news that one set of stats suggests tablet sales (unit wise) matched notebooks in the UK in August? http://www.reghardware.com/2012/09/28/brits_bought_as_many_tablets_as_laptops_in_august/

So tablets are a very important market for all involved! How large Windows will be in there, I'm not sure… but I imagine they might be able to make a pretty big dent, depending on Windows RT pricing!