Smartbooks

Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts for a New Class of Ultra-Mobile Devices

Research Report

The Ultra Mobile Device (UMD) market consists of computing devices centered on delivering Internet connectivity (and the Web) to users in a more portable manner than PCs do. In terms of size and power, UMDs, including netbooks, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and mobile consumer electronics reside between the smartphone and laptop. In 2009, semiconductor vendors using ARM processor cores and/or instruction sets began externally marketing a device concept - the smartbook - that adopts the mobility and computing capabilities of a netbook, while retaining the instant usability and battery life of a smartphone.

This study examines the smartbook concept to determine if it is a new device segment, form-factor, and/or market opportunity. It examines the opportunities -- beyond the legal and marketing hurdles ahead -- that could catapult the mobile devices segment forward with the next generation of low-power, multimedia applications processors.

Table of Contents

  • Executive Brief: Top-Line Forecast
  • Executive Brief: Drivers and Inhibitors
  • Executive Brief: Key Findings
  • Executive Brief: Summary and Strategic Recommendations
  • 1. Executive Summary
    • 1.1. Overview
    • 1.2. Market Drivers and Inhibitors
    • 1.3. Key Findings
    • 1.4. Strategic Recommendations
    • 1.5. Top-Line Forecast
  • 2. Market and Business Issues
    • 2.1. Ultra-Mobile Device and Smartphone Definitions
      • 2.1.1. Netbook
      • 2.1.2. MID
      • 2.1.3. Smartphone
    • 2.2. Defining the Smartbook
      • 2.2.1. Qualcomm
      • 2.2.2. Freescale
      • 2.2.3. Smartbook: Defined
    • 2.3. Is Smartbook a New Brand?
      • 2.3.1. Audience Consideration Sets
      • 2.3.2. Prior and Current Smartbook Brand Usage
    • 2.4. Market Opportunities
      • 2.4.1. Just Ship It
      • 2.4.2. If It Looks Like a Duck, It Must Be a Duck
      • 2.4.3. The Really Big Market Is Still to Come
  • 3. Technology Issues
    • 3.1. Processor
      • 3.1.1. Freescale i.MX51
      • 3.1.2. Marvell ARMADA
      • 3.1.3. NVIDIA Tegra
      • 3.1.4. Qualcomm Snapdragon
      • 3.1.5. Samsung Electronics S5PC100 and Hummingbird Core
      • 3.1.6. Texas Instruments OMAP
    • 3.2. Operating Systems
      • 3.2.1. Does Google Chrome OS Guide Smartbooks into Web Appliance Leadership?
      • 3.2.2. Is Microsoft Windows for Smartbooks Coming Soon?
    • 3.3. Display Technologies
      • 3.3.1. Painless User Interaction with Mobile Devices
      • 3.3.2. Touch Technology Choices
    • 3.4. What Network Connectivity Is Good Enough?
      • 3.4.1. Modem Hardware Cost
      • 3.4.2. Mobile Data Subscriptions and Service Costs
  • 4. Ecosystem Vendors and Competitive Landscape
    • 4.1. Component and Ecosystem Vendors
      • 4.1.1. Broadcom Corporation
      • 4.1.2. Foxconn Electronics
      • 4.1.3. Freescale Semiconductor
      • 4.1.4. Hardkernel Co, Ltd
      • 4.1.5. Inventec
      • 4.1.6. Marvell
      • 4.1.7. NVIDIA
      • 4.1.8. Qualcomm
      • 4.1.9. Texas Instruments
    • 4.2. System Vendors
      • 4.2.1. Always Innovating
      • 4.2.2. ASUS
      • 4.2.3. C-motech
      • 4.2.4. Elonex
      • 4.2.5. Haleron Technologies
      • 4.2.6. Lan Yu International
      • 4.2.7. Mobinnova
      • 4.2.8. Nokia
      • 4.2.9. OpenPandora Ltd
      • 4.2.10. Pegatron
      • 4.2.11. QIGI Future Technology
      • 4.2.12. Sharp Electronics
      • 4.2.13. Wistron
      • 4.2.14. WonderMedia Technologies
  • 5. Market Forecasts
    • 5.1. Methodology
      • 5.1.1. General Methodology
    • 5.2. Regional Definitions
      • 5.2.1. Asia-Pacific
      • 5.2.2. North America
      • 5.2.3. Latin America
      • 5.2.4. Western Europe
      • 5.2.5. Eastern Europe
      • 5.2.6. Middle East and Africa
    • 5.3. Assumptions
    • 5.4. Smartbook Shipments and Forecasts, 2008 to 2015
      • 5.4.1. Smartbook Shipments by Form Factor
      • 5.4.2. Smartbook ASPs by Form Factor
      • 5.4.3. Smartbook Revenue by Form Factor
      • 5.4.4. Smartbook Shipments by Region
      • 5.4.5. Smartbook Shipments by Country
      • 5.4.6. Smartbook Shipments by Customer Type, by Region
      • 5.4.7. Smartbook Shipments by Operating System
      • 5.4.8. Smartbook Wireless WAN Attach Rate
      • 5.4.9. Smartbook Shipments by WWAN Air Interface
      • 5.4.10. Smartbook Shipments with Wi-Fi
      • 5.4.11. Wi-Fi-Enabled Smartbook Shipments by Customer Type
      • 5.4.12. Smartbook Shipments by WPAN and GPS Connectivity
      • 5.4.13. Smartbook Shipments by Distribution Channel
      • 5.4.14. Smartbook Average Selling Prices
      • 5.4.15. Smartbook Revenue by Region
      • 5.4.16. Smartbook Revenue by Operating System
      • 5.4.17. Smartbook Revenue by WWAN Air Interface
      • 5.4.18. Smartbooks with Wi-Fi Revenue
      • 5.4.19. Smartbook Revenue by WPAN and GPS Connectivity
      • 5.4.20. Smartbook Revenue by Distribution Channel
      • 5.4.21. UMD Shipment Comparison by Segment
  • 6. Company Directory
  • 7. Acronyms

Tables

  1. Smartbook Shipments by Form Factor, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  2. Smartbook Processor Vendor Comparison
  3. Marvell ARMADA Processor Family
  4. Comparison of Top Three Operating Systems for Mobile Device Shipments, 2009
  5. Comparison of Touchscreen Technologies
  6. Smartbook Shipments by Form Factor, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  7. Smartbook ASPs by Form Factor, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  8. Smartbook Revenue by Form Factor, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  9. Smartbook Shipments by Region, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  10. Smartbook Shipments by Country, North America, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  11. Smartbook Shipments by Customer Type, by Region, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  12. Smartbook Shipments by OS, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  13. Smartbook WWAN Attach Rate, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  14. Smartbook Shipments by WWAN Air Interface, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  15. Smartbook Shipments with Wi-Fi, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  16. Wi-Fi-Enabled Smartbook Shipments by Customer Type, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  17. Smartbook Shipments by WPAN and GPS Connectivity, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  18. Smartbook Shipments by Distribution Channel, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  19. Smartbook ASPs, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  20. Smartbook Revenue by Region, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  21. Smartbook Revenue by OS, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  22. Smartbook Revenue by WWAN Air Interface, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  23. Smartbook Revenue with Wi-Fi, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  24. Smartbook Revenue by WPAN and GPS Connectivity, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  25. Smartbook Revenue by Distribution Channel, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  26. UMD Shipment Comparison by Segment, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015

Charts

  1. Smartbook Shipments by Form Factor World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  2. Smartbook Shipments by Form Factor, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  3. Survey Question: Are MIDs a replacement for, or in addition to, another computing device?
  4. MID ASPs, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  5. Smartbook Shipments by Form Factor, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  6. Smartbook ASPs by Form Factor, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  7. Smartbook Revenue by Form Factor, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  8. Smartbook Shipments by Region, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  9. Smartbook Shipments by Country, North America, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  10. Smartbook Shipments by Customer Type, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  11. Smartbook Shipments by OS, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  12. Smartbook WWAN Attach Rate, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  13. Smartbook Shipments by WWAN Air Interface, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  14. Smartbook Shipments with Wi-Fi, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  15. Wi-Fi-Enabled Smartbook Shipments by Customer Type, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  16. Smartbook Shipments by WPAN and GPS Connectivity, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  17. Smartbook Shipments by Distribution Channel, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  18. Smartbook ASPs, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  19. Smartbook Revenue by Region, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  20. Smartbook Revenue by OS, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  21. Smartbook Revenue by WWAN Air Interface, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  22. Smartbook Revenue with Wi-Fi, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  23. Smartbook Revenue by WPAN and GPS Connectivity, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  24. Smartbook Revenue by Distribution Channel, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015
  25. UMD Shipment Comparison by Segment, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2015

Figures

  1. Block Diagram of Freescale Smartbook Device Platform
  2. Comparison of Smartbook Definitions
  3. ZENiD GC Smartbook from Smartbook AG
  4. V.Smile Smartbook from VTech Electronics North America
  5. Freescale Smartbook Concept Design
  6. Freescale i.MX515 Applications Processor Block Diagram
  7. Marvell ARMADA 500 Series SoC Block Diagram
  8. NVIDIA Tegra SoC Block Diagram
  9. Qualcomm Scorpion Processor Core Diagram
  10. Qualcomm Snapdragon Block Diagram
  11. Samsung S5PC100 Mobile Applications Processor Block Diagram
  12. Texas Instruments OMAP 3x30 Mobile Applications Processor Block Diagram
  13. Texas Instruments OMAP 44x Chip Block Diagram
  14. HSPA+ Embedded Modem Module
  15. Freescale Smartbook Concept Design
  16. Freescale Smartbook Concept Design
  17. Freescale Smartbook Tablet Concept Design
  18. Freescale Smartbook Concept Design
  19. ODROID Gaming Development Platform and Debug Board
  20. ODROID Smartbook Gaming Development Platform Board Image
  21. Inventec Rainbow Smartbook Motherboard
  22. Marvell ARMADA 500 Platform Block Diagram
  23. Marvell ARMADA-Powered Smartbook Prototype
  24. NVIDIA Tegra-Powered "Rainbow" Smartbook Reference Design by Inventec
  25. Texas Instruments OMAP 3x30 Mobile Applications Processor Block Diagram
  26. Always Innovating Touch Book
  27. ASUS Smartbook Prototype at COMPUTEX 2009
  28. C-motech Mangrove Smartbook
  29. Elonex Smartbook
  30. Haleron Mio Smartbook Computer
  31. Lan Yu International LY-EB01 eBook Computer
  32. Mobinnova élan Smartbook
  33. Nokia N900 Internet Tablet
  34. OpenPandora Open Source Pandora Device
  35. Pegatron Smartbook alongside a Palm Pre Smartphone
  36. NVIDIA Tegra-Powered Pegatron Smartbook Prototype
  37. QIGI U1000 Smartbook MID
  38. Sharp PC-Z1 NetWalker Mobile Internet Tool
  39. Wistron N900z Smartbook Prototype
  40. WonderMedia PRIZM Smartbook System Architecture
  41. WonderMedia Display at COMPUTEX 2009 Taiwan
  42. Regional Map of the World