Digitimes is reporting that “pure PC hardware players” such as Hewlett-Packard, Acer, Asustek and Dell will all exit the tablet market in 2012. Citing “sources from upstream supply chain,” it attributes the decision to the fact that they do not have the same content support as competitors such as Apple and Amazon. The report adds that companies with strong content services will eventually be able to offer their hardware for free, making it harder on those without such services to compete.
Not surprisingly, statements denying the rumours are already circulating. ASUS spokesman told CNET, “As usual, the rumors and reports from Digitimes are incorrect. Asus is not exiting the Android tablet business.” Dell followed up with a similar statement.
What is a more likely scenario is that these companies are slowing their investment in Android tablets in favour of Winodws 8 tablets which are expected next year.