Explosion at Apple supplier Hon Hai
An explosion ripped through a large manufacturing facility owned by key Apple supplier Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn, killing two and injuring 16, Chinese state media reported. Read more
Apple insists 2011 will be the year of its iPad 2, but plenty of rivals are launching their own tablets in the hope of stealing the technology company’s thunder. About 60m tablets will be sold in 2011, according to IMS Research, the industry analysts, and Apple is likely to be responsible for three out of four of these. Is such dominance justified? After testing the iPad 2, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and the Motorola Xoom, as well as seeing several other tablets demonstrated close-up, I believe the iPad faces strong competition in several areas. Read more
Worldwide shipments of personal computers declined in the first quarter of 2011, contrary to expectations of modest growth, due to competition from tablets, disruptions in Japan, and increased fuel and commodity prices. Read more
HP’s webOS tablets will emerge Feb. 9
We have one new fact to report and one new prediction to make about Hewlett-Packard’s webOS-based tablet computing gadget or gadgets, which will not be on display in Las Vegas. Read more
What CES? Apple passes $300bn market cap
Not content with sending Apple past Microsoft in market value last year, investors on Monday gave it a new bragging right on the first trading day of 2011: a market cap exceeding $300bn. Competition for the iPad may be just around the corner, but for now, the stock market is betting that Apple will continue to lead the field by a large margin. Read more
Toshiba unveils Android tablet, glasses-less 3D laptop
And we’re off… as the clock struck midnight in Las Vegas for the beginning of CES week, Toshiba unveiled the first of many tablet devices expected to be shown at the Consumer Electronics show.
The Toshiba Tablet is the first aimed at the US market by Toshiba and looks an advance on the Folio tablet it introduced in Europe towards the end of last year, which I saw unveiled at the IFA show in Berlin. Read more
Every time a new category of mobile device emerges, network operators have sought to grab a bigger slice of the pie by cutting out branded manufacturers and selling their own-branded gadgets. The first Android-based smartphone, for example, was manufactured by Taiwan’s HTC but was better known as the T-Mobile G1.
It was therefore only a matter of time before this dynamic was extended to tablets. Taiwan’s Vibo Telecom, a 3G operator with 1.8 million subscribers, was among the first to take that step when it launched its 7-inch, Android-based Vibo Vpad this month. Read more
Intel inside 35 tablets, no phone till H2 2011
Intel, which has made slow progress to date in tablet devices, pointed on Wednesday to a pickup in 2011 with 35 design wins with manufacturers.
But the world’s biggest chipmaker continues to struggle to break into smartphones, with Paul Otellini, chief executive, telling Barclays Capital’s Global Technology Conference in San Francisco that its first would not appear until the second half of next year. Read more
Samsung urges Galaxy Tab bundling
Samsung is urging operators to bundle sales of its new Galaxy tablet with cell phones and their data plans in order to cut the cost to consumers.
Speaking on the sidelines of the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Lee Don Joo, head of global sales and marketing for Samsung’s mobile products, said it would be a burden if consumers had to pay for a separate plan for the Galaxy Tab on top of their existing phone plan. Read more
| About this blog | Blog guide |
Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
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