As Apple goes in the tablet space, so does the competition. Think back to when the iPad showed up. The competitors were almost a year behind playing catch up. The tablet sales, across the board have been slowing down. People mostly own one or two and there apparently hasn’t been a compelling reason to upgrade.
Apple just unveiled a new tablet, the iPad Pro. It’s big at 12.9-inches. Asus has in the past “gone big” in the tablet space with a Transformer Book. Hitting a 13-inch size is something Asus did a couple years ago. With a bigger, more expensive tablet, is this really what the market wants? Perhaps Apple can pull it off, but the Android tablet market, the premium market at that, is not exactly booming.
If we look at what Asus put out in terms of the ZenPad line-up, what matches up with an iPad Pro? Certainly from a premium standpoint, the ZenPad S Series is logical. However, the ZenPad 10 has more in common because of the stylus support and attachable keyboard. The iPad Pro does have a Microsoft Surface style attachable keyboard and it also has a stylus support. So if Asus bumped up a ZenPad 10 into a ZenPad 12 or 13, would that suffice?
Certainly from a price perspective, Asus could deliver something extremely competitive. If the resolution goes to the high end, then Asus would be moving into the flagship territory, which is what the S Series is for.
It’s entirely possible that Asus would be considering a VivoTab Pro, which would be a Windows tablet. Android may not be the most ideal OS for business purposes and a VivoTab Pro with attachable keyboard and stylus support would likely be the best option. That is, provided Asus sees the need to chase after and compete for a possible new tablet segment thanks to Apple’s path. Let’s not lose site of the old Eee Slate, which was a 12-inch Windows tablet with stylus support and keyboard accessory (Bluetooth and not attachable to the tablet itself).
So how do you think Asus will respond to the Apple iPad Pro? With they even try to go after the 12 to 13 inch tablet space again?