By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Months of hype and speculation were finally put to an end Thursday (KST) when Apple unveiled its iPad tablet device ― a handheld, slate-like computer that intends to bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops.
The iPad, expected to be available in Korea in March, is likely to change the way people use computers and consume media.
But there also is speculation that it could fizzle as an "in-betweener" that struggles for relevance alongside existing portable devices.
It remains to be seen whether Apple will get serious competition from its Korean consumer electronics rivals, who rarely shy away from announcing themselves as potential "Apple killers," but appear relatively mum when the talk turns to tablet-style computers.
It is still questionable whether tablets could establish themselves as mainstream mobile Internet devices with smartphones and laptops. Although Apple seems confident that the iPad will devour the market generated by "netbooks," or mini-notebooks, the iPad is pricier and underpowered compared to popular netbook models currently available.
Nonetheless, no one would dispute that iPad is destined to become the most popular tablet computer ever - the bar is set extremely low. The technology industry has been dabbling with tablets since the 1990s, but so far only managed to pile up a massive mound of dead products, which includes the Newton, a clunky Apple creation that Steve Jobs was quick to pull the plug on.
The market for tablet computers is less than 2 million a year and has been experiencing stunted growth.
Jobs could be dreaming bigger. Although Apple didn't reveal detailed sales targets for iPad at the San Francisco news conference, former Google China President Lee Kai-fu wrote a post on his Web site in December that Apple is expecting to ship 10 million tablet computers in the first year of the device's release.
Despite the underwhelming history of tablet computers, industry watchers appear reluctant to bet against Apple's track record for any product that starts with an "i."
"Apple's tablet computer will emerge as a next-generation media device, which will allow people to enjoy video, games, news and books, and also music and radio," said Kim Chang-jin, an analyst from Hanwha Securities. He expects the world's tablet market to reach 7 million this year.
"The Apple tablet will likely replace the market for e-books, handheld game machines, multimedia players and may eventually challenge televisions with its video capabilities."
The iPad is essentially an oversized version of the iPhone, Apple's iconic handset that is the world's hottest gadget at the moment. The tablet will allow users to watch video, play games, browse the Web and read e-books.
The smoothly-cut iPad has a 9.7-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) touch-screen and is powered by an Apple-designed gigahertz-class microprocessor and operating system.
The display supports multi-touch - the technology that allows the use of two fingers in actions such as changing the size of photos - and gives users the choice of typing directly on the screen on its virtual keyboard or plugging in an external one.
Apple seeks to make content a distinctive strength of the iPad, which may give the Amazon Kindle and other e-readers problems.
Apple revealed deals with major publishers Penguin, Macmillan and Harper Collins to allow e-books to be downloaded directly to the device through Apple's new iBook Store, which the company hopes to build up as the e-book equivalent of iTunes.
The iPad will also support applications that currently work on iPhones, according to the company.
The first models, which will support Wi-Fi, will reach the shelves here in March, and Apple will release another version of the device that connects to third-generation (3G) cellular networks.
Although the Wi-Fi-based iPad models are expected to be available on Korean shelves, whether the 3G version will be is less certain.
Local mobile-phone carriers KT and SK Telecom, operators of the country's 3G networks, said they haven't talked with Apple about the possible release of the 3G version of the iPad yet.
KT, the local provider of theiPhone, is beaming after selling nearly 300,000 of Apple's do-it-all smartphone in just the first two months since its release here. The company also has e-book aspirations, linked in a partnership with Kyobo Book, the countrylargest book retailer, so an iPad release looks to be a real possibility.
SK Telecom, the country's biggest wireless carrier, is also tapping the emerging e-book market and may consider the iPad as a potential weapon.
The success of the iPad and other tablet computers will excite Korean electronics makers in Korea.
LG Display, the world's second-largest LCD maker, is known to be providing iPad's screen, while Samsung Electronics fabricated the device's microprocessor chip.
Less is certain whether consumer electronics makers will be eager to produce devices to directly compete with the iPads, when local demand for tablet computers looks uncertain beyond the government's project to replace textbooks with e-books in schools.
Samsung has been coy about its intentions for the tablet computer market, though it has not denied its interest.
Samsung would gain from a growth in the global tablet market with or without its own product. The company is also investing heavily in its new e-book readers to gain an early lead in the market, and some analysts believe that the company is concerned about cannibalizing its own market with a tablet release.
Ahn Seung-kwon, president of LG's mobile products division, said that the company expects to compete in the nascent market.
It is widely expected that LG will release its first tablet computer during the first half of this year, along with its new e-book reader.
Trigem Computer, which had previously dabbled with the government project to provide e-book readers and electronic textbooks to schools, is another potential candidate in the market.