Strong lightweight contender
Interest in ultra-mobile PCs is steadily growing. But where has the biggest take up been so far, and where should resellers be aiming the products in the months to come? Simon Meredith investigates in the final part of our five-part series
The concept of the ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) is something of a paradox. On the one hand, it is very easy to understand the idea: notebooks have the functionality, but they are too large and cumbersome to carry around everywhere, and their batteries run down too quickly. PDAs, on the other hand, are extremely mobile, but have small screens and keyboards, so what you can do with them is limited. The UMPC bridges the gap.
You could argue that there is already a rich variety of portable devices available, and that it is quite possible to tailor these devices to meet the specific needs of the customer. The practice of tailoring mobile solutions to meet the requirements of businesses in vertical markets is nothing new, and there have been recent examples of this with hand-held devices.
Vendor Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) and VAR Handheld Learning, for example, have been instrumental in the development of the Learning2Go project in Wolverhampton. This has involved the deployment of hundreds of specially adapted versions of the vendor’s Pocket Loox 720 device in primary schools. However, whether or not this should be called a UMPC is a matter of semantics, says Gary Fowle, marketing director at Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
“The reason the user chose this platform is because of some unique advantages, which are not necessarily applicable to UMPC, such as Instant On, super-long battery life, security and an ultra-portable, pocket format,” he said. “The requirements in this situation were very specific. In education this is often the case, as it is in other areas of the public sector such as health and in vertical commercial markets. It’s neither here nor there whether you call the adapted version of the Loox an ultra-mobile PC or something else – the important thing is that it’s what the customer wants and is perfect to get the job done.”
Why, then, do we need a UMPC? Proponents of the concept argue that it is the future of mobile computing, while admitting that it may take some time to perfect. Samsung brought out the first device that could be classified as a UMPC earlier this year, and Alan Hemson, corporate sales manager at the company’s UK operation is convinced that this is the way forward. The launch of Samsung’s Q1 has been well received and new versions are already being developed.
“The Samsung Q1 has already succeeded in bringing a new mobility concept to market, one which is delivering real benefits to real customers today,” says Hemson.
So far, however, UMPC systems have not been shipping in volumes. There is some demand from resellers for the devices, but it is mostly for specific applications deployment at the moment, says Mark Glasspool, systems business unit manager at distributor, Computer 2000.
“Realistically, it is a niche product at present. It benefits from the ‘gadget effect’ to some extent, but until it hits a certain price-performance level, I can’t see it selling in very large volumes,” Glasspool says.
Few vendors have yet felt the need to introduce a product based on Microsoft's original Origami project (see box). As well as Samsung, Taiwan’s Asustek and China’s Founder Group have also brought out UMPCs. There simply has not been a high enough level of interest to compel vendors into action yet.
Fowle says: “It is something that we have looked at certainly, but we feel that, with the Loox, some excellent tablet PCs, slates and very small laptop models in our range that we're meeting all the requirements of the wider market at the moment.
“There could be a place for a very small form-factor UMPC device, but I think we'd need to see a very significant increase in demand before we released a standard model designed for the wider market. There is certainly no real evidence of adoption or specific application for this sort of device today.”
Until some kind of mass market demand materialises, Fowle believes the most sensible approach is to adapt products to meet specific requirements, as it has with the Loox.
Rather like the Tablet PC, it seems that the first UMPCs have not managed to capture the imagination of buyers in the mainstream market. It may take a number of iterations and modifications before the product hits the right spot. Tablet PCs have taken the best part of five years to do so and it could be said that the format has still not lived up to the high expectations the industry originally set for it.
All the vendors who have committed to the UMPC format can do is press on and continue their efforts to improve their products.
Meanwhile, Samsung is moving ahead with the next stage of development. “We are already talking to customers about products on our roadmap that overcome the limitations of the first model,” says Glasspool.
“Our recently announced Q1b already offers a substantially longer battery life and enhanced communications and connectivity functions. These changes, like all product developments, are largely user-driven and based on customer insights. In the future we expect the UMPC to continue expanding the PC market to new customers and new ways of using PCs.
Initial uptake has been focused mainly on the public sector, in particular on education. UMPC makers are counting on this combined with the arrival of more finely tuned products to build up momentum and take the concept into the mainstream.
Hemson believes business users will take to the UMPC on a large scale when they become more aware of the benefits of the concept.
“The next wave will come from those users who require real mobility and anytime, anywhere access to their data. This is a huge market that ranges from the niche of C-level executives who travel widely and need a truly mobile device to the sales people, surveyors, engineers, and truck drivers,” he says.
According to Hemson, this promises to be a golden revenue opportunity for the channel, but to take full advantage resellers will need to find specific ways in which they can add value.
“This could be through a vertically aligned software package, ruggedisation or added-value service offerings such as advance replacement of faulty units,” he says.
In a way this is what FSC and Handheld Learning have done with the Loox education project. The drawback is that it takes time, investment and real expertise to develop specialised versions of portable devices in this way, so resellers and their partners need to be a very sure that the opportunity is there and that the need will be met by the adapted product. The customer has to be committed and involved from the outset and that almost certainly means that projects will be confined to vertical and public sector applications most of the time.
However, Hemson believes that, with imagination, resellers can broaden the potential for UMPCs.
“If resellers actively market the device with some form of solution attached, they will receive a positive response from customers,” he says. “The level of enquiries we are receiving at Samsung is enormous. Every customer we speak to wants to hear about the Q1. They want to understand whether the product is appropriate for their business, whether it will work with their software build and whether it is sufficiently robust.”
The enquiries starting to come in from the commercial world are from corporate companies in particular. These potential buyers are attracted chiefly by the superior flexibility that the UMPC delivers, says Hemson.
“The mobility of the device is the key driver. We are talking to a number of large organisations that want to equip their sales forces. The major appeal is the mobility of the device and the easy access to their data it provides,” he says.
Growth in vertical sectors is continuing as well. One market with very big potential for the UMPC is in warehousing and distribution, an area in which hand-held data capture is already used extensively. Samsung says it is talking to a number of transport companies that want to issue the devices to drivers for satellite navigation and vehicle tracking and even for watching DVDs out of hours.
There are signs that the momentum is building up, as the word about the UMPC option spreads. Emergency services such as paramedics and fire services, which presently use ruggedised notebooks when they are on the road, are looking seriously at UMPC as a possible replacement. The main attraction for them, as it is for the corporate firms, is the portability of these devices.
If this is the key driver, there is nothing to stop organisations swapping their current notebook estate for UMPCs the next time they undergo a refresh as there are no difficulties with the software. The UMPC is essentially a smaller PC so all applications will run without changes. This might make it harder for resellers to add value unless they already have a vertical specialisation.
Indeed, most of the initial applications that are finding their way onto the platform do have specialist use. Resellers have reported that there are significant developments afoot in the areas of field sales, material requirements planning systems, point-of-sale systems, warehousing, restaurant and hotel management. There are also, as you might expect, a number of specialist connectivity and communications developments, which will be truly horizontal. Ultimately, the UMPC will have a very broad appeal, says Hemson.
“It is important to remember that while the UMPC is a PC alternative for non-PC users, it is not a replacement for a traditional PC. Therefore selling it as a mobile communication tool is an upsell opportunity in itself. For instance, many people have identified that simply combining a UMPC with a projector creates a highly portable presentation solution.”
There will also be traditional add-on sales potential for maintenance, upgrades, integration, service, development, Wi-Fi, connectivity subscriptions and so on. And as more applications arrive, the potential will become even bigger, says Hemson.
“New devices on any network create clear integration opportunities for resellers. Right now we believe we are seeing just the tip of the iceberg in terms of application development. As we progress through our future product roadmap, further opportunities will arise for partners to capitalise on the platform.”
However, Mark Blowers, senior analyst at Butler Group, is unconvinced. “My view of UMPCs is that I’m unsure there is actually a market for them. If you require portability and reasonable battery life, then you would use a smartphone or a PDA. Otherwise, if you are a power user or require a keyboard, then a laptop or tablet PC would be what you need. There could be a few business applications where a larger screen and portability are required, but battery life of only three hours is a major constraint.”
Even the involvement and apparent enthusiasm of Microsoft, through the Origami project, can’t convince Blowers that the UMPC will be a success in the long-term.
Glasspool says that it will probably need more major manufacturers to come in with products that have a much lower price-tag and offer performance and functionality that is significantly better than on the current crop of products on the market before wider uptake can be expected.
“Other major vendors have talked about coming into the UMPC market at some stage, but there is no real sign of that happening at the moment,” he says. “At present, most users prefer to play it safe. You can buy a truly portable 12in laptop today for only slightly more than a UMPC, and most of the time, that’s the option people take. But certainly watch this space. We all remember the early days of the tablet PC.”
What the UMPC is all about at the moment, Hemson argues, is inspiration. It is not always apparent to people when they first see the device exactly how they will use it.
“A lot of people see it only as an entertainment or education device at first. However, it is also something people get excited about and as a result new business uses for the product are being continually identified. We think most future users of the product will be in the business-to-business market.”
It is still early days for the UMPC. Today notebooks seem to be ubiquitous, but there is still further potential for growth in the market and these smaller, more versatile PCs, could bring many more people into the market. It needs to be sold.
“But selling the UMPC today is not dissimilar from selling the PC 20 years ago,” says Hemson. “We often find that simply showing the product to a customer stimulates lively discussion about its potential uses within their organisation. One of the main selling points of the product is that it can bring many of the benefits of PCs to employees who are not currently classified as PC users.”
In the end, the UMPC will have a place both in the wider market and as a specialist device that can be adapted for vertical applications, says Hemson. You can, he notes, buy them off the shelf and start using them instantly. At the same time, a great deal of work is being done to create UMPC-based solutions that are suited to particular groups of users.
Where the devices are deployed on any kind of scale, there will be a considerable amount of pre-installation and integration work and plenty of potential to generate service business for the reseller. In this sense, the UMPC is no different from any other piece of kit.
“Today’s channel has a mature attitude to hardware margins and understands how solutions and services fit into their sales portfolio. It is this knowledge that will enable the product to evolve,” Hemson concludes.
While there are some very strong advocates for the UMPC, there are also many sceptics. But the ultra-mobile concept could in the end find mass markets, or it might be be confined to niche areas, or perhaps even find a place in both.
CONTACTS:
Butler Group (01482) 586149
Computer 2000 (0870) 060 3344
Fujitsu Siemens Computers (01344) 475 134
Gartner (01784) 431 611
Handheld Learning (020) 7511 8773
IDC (020) 8987 7100
Microsoft (0870) 60 10 100
Samsung (01932) 455 100