Tablet PCs: Stuck In A Niche

摘要

Three years after their introduction, tablet PCs have settled into a small niche serving people who regularly take notes or fill out forms while on the job. Now Microsoft and system vendors are working to improve the machines, making them more useful in their current markets and perhaps expanding their use into new ones. Sales of the pen-based computers, which let users write text or issue commands with an electronic stylus, are set to increase 88% this year to 1.2 million units, according to market researcher IDC. Yet they'll remain just 2% of the overall notebook market. Use has been limited to markets such as health care, pharmaceutical sales, manufacturing, and education. Consumers, mean- while, have shown little interest in tablet PCs. The devices run a version of Windows and are expensive (often costing $2,000 and up), bulky, and heavy compared with traditional notebooks, and their software can be hard to use.