2011 will be the year of PC tablets, say eMag and Pcfun

Around 20,000 Romanians have an e-reader and a tablet PC, but the market will boom over the next few years along with the development of the content offer (books, applications) and of mobile Internet networks. Local companies Allview and Evolio, which entered this market, where they compete with big names such as Samsung, after the Americans at Google launched free software platform Android, say their products do not meet the standards of the Apple tablet, but will become, thanks to the price/performance ratio “an iPad that can truly be bought by every Romanian.” The investment in launching the products has amounted to several tens of thousands of euros and the working method is similar to that used by industry giants: software research and development is done locally, while production is done in China.

eReader and tablet PC sales will see a strong increase in Romania starting in the second part of this year, once tens of other products will enter the market, and a demand peak most likely to be recorded in December. This is the forecast made yesterday at ZF’s open editorial meeting ZF Expert, by managers of IT&C retailers eMag and pcfun.ro and of local equipment producers Visual Fan (Allview) and Televoice (Evolio).
A very small number of people in Romania are currently using tablet PCs and eReaders, about 10,000 each, with the best sellers being Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Amazon Kindle.