Tablet PCs will be slow to take off in Asia because of users reluctant to change and customers loath to pay for what is seen as a high-end product, IDC Market Research said on Wednesday.Linus Lai, IDC’s senior research manager, said he expects shipment of the PC — which boasts pen-based computing as its key feature — to hit 1.2 million units, or only a quarter of the Asia-Pacific notebook market excluding Japan, in 2006.IDC expects only 500,000 units will be shipped in 2003. In Southeast Asia, Tablet PCs will sell fastest in Singapore, followed by Malaysia and Thailand, Lai said after the Malaysian launch of Microsoft Corp’s software for the new device.“We are conservative,” he said. “You’ve got a pretty high-end product and it will take time for this technology to filter through and be available on the mid-range and low-end market.”
