14 DAY TRIAL // Information leaks happen all the time on the IT market, sometimes from the strangest or most unexpected of sources. Convertible tablets and laptops are the subject of the latest unlikely leak.
Most people don't really look in the direction of small hardware component makers when trying to find out things about the objects that interest them.
There are some who do though. Digitimes, for example, has published a report with information coming from hinge makers.
And by hinge we mean the swinging and/or rotary mechanisms that all notebooks and tablets, convertible or otherwise, use.
Though some may not have noticed, many portable computing and entertainment devices have begun to incorporate special hinges.
While notebooks are all well and good, they don't really deserve to be called uncanny anymore.
Convertible tablets/laptops still have that allure though, especially now that Windows 8 puts such emphasis on touch input and, thus, adds another reason for laptops to be capable of transforming into tablets at will.
The information gathered by Digitimes through inquiries with hinge makers suggests that 2013 will, indeed, see a rise in demand for convertible systems.
To elaborate, notebooks and tablet makers are anticipating something of the sort, and, thus, have placed larger orders for mixed hinges.
It is a trend similar to how Haswell-based ultrabooks will all have touch panels, as Intel was all too eager to decree the other day.
And since touchscreens get extra brownie points when they can fold flat on the back of the laptops, or slide on top of the keyboard, the less-than-ordinary hinge design can only get more popular.
We don't have any sales numbers, unfortunately, or exact financial estimates about what this all means for component suppliers, only that it will be good for them, because customers have shown that convertible designs are appreciated.