08 Jan 2012

?Worlds first“ Asustek says - - the company will become the first to sell a tablet using a new version of the Android operating system, a move that could see sales hit 6 million units.

Taiwan PC brand Asustek said yesterday that it expects it's tablet computer sales to increase from 1.8million last year to 6 million this year of their early adoption of Google's latest Android operating system.

Android version 4.0, dubbed ?Ice Cream Sandwich“ will be released later this week for users of Asustek's Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet, making Asustek the the world's first tablet PC maker to adopt this open platform.

The Taipei-based manufacturer will unveil a 7-inch Android-powered tablet and a10 inch model enabling a higher screen resolution at the CES next week, with another two 10 inch Androids products to be launched in the first half of this year.

Asustek also plans to introduce a tablet featuring Microsoft Windows 8 system and a chipset from ARM Holdings PLC in the se.cond half of this year, but shipments will be limited this year because of hte product's late launch

Meanwhile, the company expects to start exporting the 3G version of the Tansformer Prime in March, whic will offer better GPS connectivity than the Wi-Fi version.

To deal with the increasing numbers of tabloid products, Asustek plans to expand the staff of researchers working on Android software from 300 to 400 engineers.

Other Taiwan electronic makers will also present new tablet computers at the CES presently taking place in Las Vegas. CES organizers announced that up to 40 new ultrabooks would be introduced at their show.