14 DAY TRIAL // As you probably very well know, Apple launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus not so long ago and albeit sparking a lot of controversy (like most Apple products) they also have proven to be quite a major hit with customers.
On top of launching not one but two iPhone models, Apple is expected to bring forth new iPad models soon enough. Not to mention that according to sources familiar with the matter, the Apple Watch should go on sale starting February/March 2015.
Non-Apple products sales will falter starting Q4 2014
Given all we have mentioned above, Asian market watchers reported by DigiTimes expect to see demand for non-Apple consumer-bound notebooks and tablets to remain quite weak in the fourth quarter of 2014 throughout the second quarter of 2015.
It’s quite interesting to point out that sources familiar with the matter don’t seem to believe the holiday season will have a great impact on sales of non-Apple notebooks or tablets.
The time around the Christmas and New Year is usually considered to provide a boom in purchases, as lots of customers set out to buy gifts for their loved ones.
We shouldn’t forget Intel will be releasing the preliminary batch of Core M tablet/laptop hybrids around the same time (Q4 2014 or Q1 2015), but Asian sources don’t believe this event will make much of a difference while sales are concerned, either.
Windows 10 could be the savior
So what will put non-Apple notebooks and tablets out of their misery and make them interesting to consumers again? The advent of Microsoft’s Windows 10 in Q2 2015, that’s what. The new OS might be just the thing needed to put the spark back in the business.
Around the same period, we expect Intel Broadwell U series to start shipping out, as well as to see the commercial availability of the high-end Broadwell H family.
So products running Intel’s next-gen architecture and taking advantage of Windows 10 out of the box could be capable of making prompt enough users forget all about Apple’s new host.
The advent of Cupertino’s latest slew of devices will not only impact the notebook/tablet market but that of smartphones as well.
Important handset producers like Samsung, Sony and HTC have seen the demand for their flagship products go down the drain worldwide, as of late.
On the other side of things, Apple is looking at very strong demand for its iPhone 6 Plus model, so it has decided to take up the services of Pegatron Technology, in addition to Foxconn Electronics.