Via to flood the US market with five sub-$150 Android tablets by year's end
Via’s upcoming tablets are of course in response to the iPad and is a classic CE move. Instead of producing a quality product, a company, in this case Via, is outing a whole range of low-cost (and likely cheap) alternatives.
This move hopefully won’t earn 2010 the title of year of the tablet alone. In fact there’s a chance that it could harm the consumer’s interest in the slate form factor. The iPad isn’t perfect by any means, but it is showing the entire consumer electronic market that they want and need a tablet computer with its slick user experience. However, it’s still an elite-type device with the $500+ price tag and obviously a low-cost Via model will capture some sales of those looking to be part of the cool crowd. However if these tablets fail to provide a good experience, it might turn off an entire market segment to tablets in general.