The top 5 UMPCs on UMPCPortal look more like a line-up of notebook PC’s than of the UMPC tablet style of 2006. 4 of them are notebook form-factor devices, 4 of them are running the Intel UMP 2007 (McCaslin) platform. Only the Nanobook is missing from this list of ultra mobile notebooks and it looks like this is where potential customers feel most comfortable. In fact, in the top 13 viewed devices on the portal (at the time of writing) only two don’t have keyboards and they are both variants of the ever-popular ASUS R2H UMPC. Keyboards are in and notebook style UMPCs pique the most interest it seems. As for sales figures, well, that’s a different matter. Only 3 of the top 5 are for sale and in fact, only one is widely available.
The HTC Shift is the one we’re all waiting for though isn’t it. Its holding up everything and I’m sure the HTC marketing people know exactly what they are doing, the cunning devils. But they can’t hold on too long as the summer break is nearly over and the jostling for Christmas positioning will start soon. If the Shift comes in at $1200 without HSDPA (as I guess it will) then I think it will wipe out the Fujitsu. The Fujitsu is sitting rather uncomfortably with its 1024×600 5.6″ screen and the Shift’s extra productivity (I’m assuming the keyboard is good, the screen is 1024×600 and the battery life is over 3 hours) will tip the balance away from the U1010. If Kohjinsha sort out the battery life on the SH6 then I think it still has a good chance of survival as a low-end productivity solution with some price cuts at around $1000. The If the HTC Shift comes in at $1500 or less with HSDPA then the OQO and Sony UX have a problem and I think the Shift could set a new quality standard. But it won’t affect the sub-$1000 traditional UMPC market and if devices like the Q1b, T770 and Everun continue to drive prices down below $800 then people might start looking closer at them. The Shift could attract eyes into the UMPC market which is a good thing.
As for the EeePC well I think its just an attractive sideshow at the moment. Its will have a different customer profile than the typical UMPC customer and its only the price that is attracting attention. When people realise how much it will cost to increase storage and battery life then it won’t be as attractive after all. Again though, its good to have it in the market as it brings eyes towards the ultra mobile device segment.
The UMPC charts change daily on UMPCPortal and are only a reflection of popularity within the portal so don’t place bets based on figures here but as site numbers go up (the product pages get way over 100,000 page views per month) its becoming an interesting barometer of UMPC interest. If only we had sales figures too!
The UMPC product portal is here and currently lists nearly 70 different UMPC models. In addition, we have the Sub-UMPC list here.
