Tablets will become more “fun” and “portable” and prices will come down as well.
Motorola (MMI) CEO Sanjay Jha told investors today that the company will expand its webtop device lineup to include all high-end Google (GOOG) Android smartphones by the end of the year. Motorola is one of the few companies that has put all of their efforts into Android. “Webtop” is a new class of device that refers to phones that can be docked in a laptop or desktop shell and become the brains of a full computer, saving users the money and extra space required by two separate devices.
The Motorola Atrix on AT&T (T) was the first phone to show off these capabilities (I reviewed: amazing phone, webtop needs work) and was released earlier this month. From my reading of the call notes, Jha was saying that all Motorola dual core smartphones will have this capability and, by June, all of Motorola’s high end phones will be dual core.
Motorola’s Bionic, an upcoming dual core smartphone, which will be carried on the Verizon (VZ) network, won’t have the Webtop capability at launch, said Jha. It will likely be given Webtop capabilities later on.
Regarding tablets, Jha mentioned the 7-inch form factor on a number of occasions and said that this size was more “fun and (obviously) portable.” He also said that tablet prices should be heading south over the year (also obvious), on account of decreases in component prices and manufacturing efficiencies. Many, including me, think that can’t happen soon enough on ol’ Mr. $800 XOOM.
Speaking of XOOM, he said that “sales have started relatively well.” I’d hold off until Motorola publishes numbers to believe that.