The chairman said he knew what processor is used by Apple for its new model, but did not say whether he had the information from credible rumors or this was a consequence of his position as an industry leader in Taiwan. Many people believe that Apple would use a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, as good as or even better than NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 used in ASUS’ tablets. However, Shih is convinced to have the performance edge.

As Shih said, ASUS has chosen its tablet processor very carefully and, in his opinion, the NVIDIA Tegra 2 can really compete and even take Apple at a certain moment, as the manufacturer of the processor is renowned for graphics.

At the same time, the executive admitted that Apple had a good mix of services on the computer as well as on the web. to compete with Apple would be a difficult task for anyone who was not using Windows or Android, said Shih. He added that the game is more complete now, with more competition and less restrictions.

ASUS’ distance from Windows was seen in its lineup presented at CES, most of its devices being ARM-based Android tablets and not Intel-based Windows devices.

The device has an HDMI 1.3 port on its rear, which supports 7.1 audio in Dolby Digital AC3, True HD, DTS-HD and DTS 2.0+ sound. It also includes an RCA port. The O!Play Mini supports file formats such as MP4, AVI, MOV, ASF, XVID, MKV and WMV and also has FLAC files support.

The device is expected to retail for the equivalent of $90 when it will be released early next year in the United States.

The company’s new mouse will be powered by an included AA battery; moreover, the user will have the possibility to adjust its DPI setting thanks to a button press sequence. There are four buttons, as is a scroll wheel. There is still no indication of when or where the mouse will be released or what will be the price.

According to the Gartner analyst, the recent decline of the mobile PC market only reflects the general idea among buyers that netbooks are less perfect substitutes for the standard low-end laptops that it was believed.

Although researchers did not believe the iPad would so much hurt netbook sales, due to its starting price of $499, they had to acknowledge that its cost was perhaps one of the only elements that kept Apple’s tablet from having even a deeper impact. Gartner has not counted tablets having mobile operating systems as being full computers, but it is sure that a cheaper iPad and some of its clone tablets should deeply affect the market over time.

The impact could be more or less important than interpreted, but it is significant that ASUS has lowered the shipments of its Eee PC at a moment when sales should reach their peak, probably accounting for the iPad effect.

Considering computers as a whole, the estimate for growth of the group relative to the second half of 2010 has been dropped down to 15.3 percent, about two percent less, because European and American economies are still supposed to restrict spending. Intel has warned about low computer sales and this was the sign that home PC buyers at least were not eager to buy anymore. Analysts did not predict a worse situation than last year, because computers were still necessary and corporations also have no choice available but to buy.

ASUS is planning to sell the tablet with subsidies given by wireless carriers. Negotiations are ongoing, according to the company. There will probably be a built-in mobile broadband connection. The device was expected to rely only on a Wi-Fi connection. Expectations are that the price goes down if purchased from a provider and with a contract.

The screen of the device will have a 1,024×768 resolution, higher than what competitors have. It also has a much higher refresh rate, a tenth of a second, and annotation of documents will be available to users. Capturing slides subject to annotations will be possible thanks to a two-megapixel camera situated on the back.

Chimei Innolux (CMI) has made the screen, which is very precise and sharp at 1,024×768 and 2,450DPI. However, it cannot match competitors’ E Ink displays when it comes to reflective performance and contrast ratio.

There are no technical specifications available, but the phone is supposed to have a large screen (over 3.5 inches) with an 800×480 resolution meant to fit the operating system limits. What seems to be a front camera is rather a sensor for the ambient light, as Microsoft has not built-in support for video chat. Most Windows Phone 7 phones require at least an internal storage of 8GB.

ASUS, as well as many other early Microsoft partners, will have its devices shipped in October or November this year.

Hewlett Packard has consolidated its lead by rising slightly to 25.7 percent. It has sold 4.72 million PCs on the American market. Dell continued to decline and has now exactly 24 percent.

The economy has not recovered too quickly and consequently the average growth rate moved slower than it was expected and reached only 12.4 percent. This does not explain, however, the drop of Acer in market share. The company had a spectacular spring season in 2009, but new reports have shown Apple’s iPad seriously impacting on netbook sales, which was one of the core businesses for Acer. Apple also updated its MacBook as well as MacBook Pro computers, maybe some of its most important products, which have also helped the company’s growth.

Computer shipments worldwide have been up 22.4 percent. Companies like Hewlett Packard, Dell, Acer, Lenovo or Toshiba kept their positions, although a growth of 83.6 percent has been recorded for ASUS which virtually tied Toshiba on the fifth place with 4.32 million computers. Similarly to the United States, Dell and Acer have seen a small loss in their share, but Hewlett Packard also had a drop and has now 18.1 percent, which means 14.77 million PCs.

As Apple did not rank in the first five companies, IDC did not record it, but recent estimates show it on the eighth place, due to the fact that Samsung’s abrupt growth has pushed it ahead.

An important part of the continued growth has been attributed to companies replacing aging systems and also to those having more available income home, in countries that already awake of the financial crisis. There are areas on the globe with still low access to computing equipment and therefore are growing faster than do developing areas. The significant fall of Acer is probably due to its orientation towards home users. Dell would instead have benefited from focusing its efforts on business users.

There is also another reason for postponing the launch. The Atom N550 processor which is coming will cost $10 to $20 more than the currently used N455/N475 processors. Its launch is believed to make buyers neglect the Celeron-based notebooks which are comparable as price and performance.

Both companies and Toshiba as well have cut the prices for slow-selling of their ultra-thin notebooks in order to boost demand.

Researchers have attributed the growth to the success of the iPhone. This one may have created a halo effect, similar to the iPod, as Windows customers who get an iPhone are so much enjoying the experience that they immediately proceed to buy a Mac.

Southeast Asian companies, such as Acer, Lenovo, ASUS, Samsung and Toshiba have grown faster. The fastest of them was ASUS with 136.2 percent. A major factor has been the strong Chinese economy, but netbooks and low-end notebooks also contributed to this growth.

Desktops have stopped the near-constant decline of their sales and have grown one percent. The trend did not extend on portables, as this category has moved up in a year with 26.5 percent.

The statistics show a rare picture with Apple strong in the computer market, while other research firms report results which exclude Apple from the top five worldwide.

The companies’ rise was attributed mainly to notebooks, which have low prices and allow driving sheer numbers for companies that decide to sell them, despite a certain dragging down of revenues. It is worthy to mention that entry-level notebooks have been an Acer specialty.

Apple has only occasionally been in the top five in particular parts of Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, and has only rarely had the same influence it has in North America. It is notorious that Europeans have historically embraced a larger variety of brands than the United States. They also have been the first Western users to welcome PCs from Samsung and other companies that only recently penetrated the market n the United States and Canada.