This is the sixth report on sizing trends in PCs below 12 inch screen size (and above 5 inch) appearing in the German market through the popular price comparison engine, Geizhals.at (*1)  The last one was done in August 2010 In this report you’ll see  a big jump in overall numbers, a reversing of the decline in 7 inch devices and a turnaround in the 10 inch segment.

Number of SKUs in the market.

Screen size distribution

The big jump in numbers is clear to see from the top graph. Total numbers jumped by 83 and this is likely to be due to the Christmas season and introduction of new model ranges following IFA 2010. Surprisingly, the 10 inch segment has grown in numbers and %. A lot of this is attributable to dual-core Atom N550 devices.

• Over 20 Intel Atom N550 devices appeared exclusively in the 10 inch category.
• 62% of the devices are running on Intel Atom. One year ago, this figure was 78%  Remember that the segment includes some devices running laptop-grade CPUs and there’s an influx of AMD and ARM devices in the top and bottom end of the 5-11 inch range.  This is not just an analysis of ‘netbooks.’
• The 7% segment had the biggest percentage growth (over 300%, from a very low starting point) and the 10% segment had the biggest numeric growth (63)
• Including Android, over 14% of the segment runs a Linux kernel. One year ago this figure was 5%.  Almost all of this growth is within the ‘tablet’ style of devices.
• Only 13% of the devices weigh 1KG or less. (up from 10% one year ago again, growth is in the tablet segment)
• 18 devices now include Nvidia ION2.  All of these are from a single manufacturer – ASUS.
• Total number of tablet form-factor devices 60 (not including 4.8 inch) which is about 10% of the total sub 12% screen size market.

The cheapest devices (based on lowest price offered) are:

• X86/Windows Laptop Samsung N145 at 228 Euro
• ARM Tablet Nexoc Pad 7 (Android 1.5) at 99 Euro
• X86/Windows Tablet Archos 9 at 402 Euros.

Also of note is the larger spread of GPU technologies, the increased us of SSDs (even in the X86/Windows segments) and a large number of dual-core CPUs. Dual core CPUs make up a 30% of the 10-11.6 inch bracket now.

In the last report I talked about a netbook freeze.  Certainly the trends for search and news seem to be heading south (see below for ‘netbook’ trend)  but the increase in numbers of 10 inch devices indicates that there is still interest from manufacturers. The increase in SKU’s, however, could be misleading as we’re seeing an increase in the number of colour options, CPU options, GPU options and screen options that use the same chassis. Acer and ASUS each have over 90 different model types in the German market in the 10-11.6 inch category.

I think most people in the netbook field would agree we’re seeing a levelling of interest and manufacturers are using offers and personalisation to attract sales in this mainstream part of the segment lifecycle.

For mobility fans though the message is clear. There are more options than ever and competition is increasing which will drive improvements in software and hardware very quickly. Certainly we will see the tablet segment grow and it will be interesting to see how the 5-9 inch segments move when we do the next analysis in about 3 months time.

Warning: Please remember that this is a single data-source analysis of what is happenning today, in the German market. This is not a complete market analysis report. You may use the data and images but please also reference this article which includes this warning.

*1 Based on SKUs, not model families. Note that Geizhals have now moved all tablets to a new category called ‘tablets.’ This category was included in the analysis. An English language (and UK market) version of Geizhals is available at Skinflint.

The price of the Galaxy Tab is gradually coming down but it’s clear that it will never reach the 250 Euro price of the Archos 70. It looks the same, comes with 8GB of storage, a similar processor, similar operating system and plays back video just like the Tab. So what’s the difference?

Balazs of Ndevil unboxes the Archos 70 in the video below and Charbax has a text/video review up. You’ll hear them talk about some of the very important differences between this and the Galaxy Tab but lets list them all here so you can compare.

Galaxy Tab Extra Features:

• Phone, 3G, SMS, MMS
• 1024×600 screen
• 3.2MP Auto-focus camera and 480p video cam
• Docking port for accessories
• Stereo Speakers
• 16GB Storage
• Samsung software suite including Samsung keyboard
• Access to Google Market and Google apps suite
• GPS

Archos 70 Extra features

• USB OTG (unconfirmed)
• Micro USB Charging and connecting
• HDMI out port
• Kickstand

Full specs for the Archos 70 here. Galaxy Tab here.

There may be others differences and in terms of software, some of the issues on the Archos 70 can be fixed through hacks but the summary is that on the Galaxy Tab, you’re paying 450 Euros for voice,3G, hi-res screen, auto-focus cam, 8GB storage, GPS and the Samsung Google software. That’s a lot of money for features that you probably don’t need when you’re lazing around at home and if the Archos 70 is as good as people are saying (I’m getting good feedback from owners so far) and if Archos push that V2.2 firmware out ASAP then the Archos 70 is definitely a better value product for sofa-surfing. When it comes to mobility though, the Tab has the edge although with the Viewpad 7 coming in at 399 Euros in the next few weeks, there’s quite a head-to-head building up on this 7 inch space. (Actually there’s at least 16 devices in our database, more to come soon!)

So how’s this 7 inch space shaping up for you?

If you’ve been thinking about an Android tablet purchase over the next 2 months, these devices are probably on your list. Galaxy Tab, Dell Streak, Notion Ink Adam, Viewpad 7, Archos 70, Archos 101 and maybe the Toshiba Folio. Only 2 of them are currently available and both the Tab and the Streak are great quality products (Streak even gets a 2.2 upgrade soon) but what if you’re looking for something a little cheaper? The Viewpad 7 might be just what you’re looking for.

We tested it extensively at IFA in Sept and were tricked by its speed into thinking it was based on a Snapdragon CPU.It’s not!  Our reports from IFA here.

The Galaxy Tab is almost like-for-like in specs (although it is fair to say that it will be a higher-quality device in terms overall ‘product’) and it is retailing for £529 at Amazon.co.uk today [affiliate link]  The Viewsonic Viewpad 7 is available by pre-order now for £399. We think that price might come down a little soon too, just like the price of the Tab did. Admittedly, the price is 50 pounds more than we were promised at IFA  – “no more that £350 inch was heard a number of times but retailers are obviously free to charge what they think is right and with the Tab price ranging up to over £600, £399 sounds fair as a starting point.

Availability is set for the 15th November (confirmed with Viewsonic) and we also heard that there’s a press event on Thursday 28th so expect a number of hands-on reports to go out from the .co.uk tech press. We’ll try to get there.

Availability in the UK will be through Maplin, Scan, Misco and Expansys. Only Misco is showing pre-order details at the moment although you can find the Viewpad 10 up for pre-order on Maplin (£499.99)

My advise is to wait just a week. After the press event you’re likely to see a scramble to get the Viewpad into online retail channels / price comparison engines and the price will find its place.

We had a chat with Viewsonic yesterday and it look like we’ll get a Viewpad 7 in early November so keep an eye our for news about the live testing session. We also heard that Germany is also on the list. MediaMarkt will be the partner according to some emails that have gone out.

In Mondays post I outlined the 1K challenge:

1000 Words written on a mobile PC setup weighing less than 1KG, costing less than €1000

I’ll be taking four rigs on the road over the weekend (Starting Saturday) and testing them to see what works best. We’ve got four sets of kit lined up for the test:

• Exclusive! Tega V2 Tablet PC arrives in Europe on Friday
• Toshiba AC100 ‘Smart Book’
• Viliv X70 7 inch Windows Tablet Winner of our 2009 awards.
• TBA

Call for help

As you can see, I’ve got one position open at the moment. I’m aiming for a lightweight 7 inch Android Tablet although the options aren’t too good at the moment. The Viewpad 7 and Camangi FM600 and Archos 70 aren’t available. The SmartQ T7 3G is here but the OTG option for attaching a keyboard isn’t working. I’m also looking at the ultra low cost Archos 7 HT, the Smartbook Surfer, WITS A81 and a few others includiong the Galaxy Tab which is available in Germany now. If anyone in Germany has got a 7 inch Android tablet they can loan me for the weekend (one that works with a USB keyboard) I’d be interested to hear from you.

Or should I just order a Galaxy Tab from Amazon? Anyone care to sponsor that ;-)

If I don’t manage to get a 7 inch Android tablet I have the Viliv S7 ready for action it’s still one of the best mini laptops around.

Dynamism is gearing up to sell Archos’ latest Android tablets. They’ll be offering the top three models (check out the tracking page for full specs):

• Archos 43: starting at $199, available with 8GB or 16GB flash drive [tracking page]
• Archos 70: starting at $249, available with 8GB flash drive, or 250GB HDD [tracking page]
• Archos 101: starting at $299, available with 8GB or 16GB flash drive [tracking page]

Pre-orders are not yet available but you can sign up for availability notifications from Dynamism on their Purchase page. We’ll hopefully see these tablets start to become available in mid-October, but Archos hasn’t said anything official just yet.

Dynamism is gearing up to sell Archos’ latest Android tablets. They’ll be offering the top three models (check out the tracking page for full specs):

• Archos 43: starting at $199, available with 8GB or 16GB flash drive [tracking page]
• Archos 70: starting at $249, available with 8GB flash drive, or 250GB HDD [tracking page]
• Archos 101: starting at $299, available with 8GB or 16GB flash drive [tracking page]

Pre-orders are not yet available but you can sign up for availability notifications from Dynamism on their Purchase page. We’ll hopefully see these tablets start to become available in mid-October, but Archos hasn’t said anything official just yet.

I’ve had a lot of hands-on with the Archos 43 [specifications] today and I’m impressed. Somehow that small form factor and low price makes the speed and capability all that more impressive. I’m working on a few other videos but I wanted to show you this one first.

Update: Hands-on thoughts, gallery, videos now available.

IF (and it’s a big IF) you’re able to side-load applications and IF they work on the Archos firmware, you’ve got yourself a great value little entertainment device.

Two more videos coming up soon.

10 inch consumer tablets don’t seem to make much sense to me. I can’t think of any scenarios that need that much space apart from newspaper and magazine typesetting. Sure, a netbook running a multi-windowing OS could use a whole lot more space but when I look at Android tablets that show one window at a time through apps that were created for a maximum 5 inch screen I have a problem. Having said that, there’s a special feeling one gets when touching and moving huge web pages smoothly across such an area when the screen is only 50cm from your face. Video becomes more immersive too, especially when it’s good quality. The challenge is to create a large screen at a very low weight. A low price always helps too!

The Archos 101 [specifications and details] does 10 inch in 480gm. That’s an impressive size/weight ratio and when you add in a price of just $300 you have to agree that Archos have set out in the right direction with the 101.

Its almost no surprise that the Archos 101 doesn’t include Google Applications but there’s a lot more to get excited about. A full range of codec support, USB host (with full-size USB port) and a good level of processing power. It looks good too which is important when you’re aiming for as many coffee tables as possible.

Personally I still think that 7 inch makes more sense for a single-window experience but if you’re looking for an impressive gift for yourself, big is always better right?

Full specifications are in the database, a Chippy hands-on is shown below and we hope to be testing this out further as soon as we can. Note that the test devices at IFA were all running Android 2.1 Android 2.2 will, without a doubt, speed this up to very acceptable levels.