Will Mobile internet Devices Sell To Yunger

A Mobile Internet device (MID) is a blend between a tablet computer and a smart phone. At first thought, that doesn't seem that interesting. And, in truth, it might not be to many. However, there is still a market for this type of device, and the question is who is that market?

Well, the industry is betting heavily that consumers under the age of 30 are going to be the ones investing in MIDs.

From 30,000 sales in 2008 to over 1 million in 2009, MIDs are quickly growing in popularity. Yet, even as impressive as that growth is, only 15 percent of all MIDs make it to a consumer's home in North America. On the flip side, however, the Asia-Pacific region snatches up around 44 percent of all worldwide sales.

Is there room for improvement? Yes, there is. But this is good news — many companies are hoping to cash in on the potential for growth: Archos, BenQ, Dell, Samsung, Sharm, UMID, Viliv, Apple, Microsoft, and a few others are investing to bring in market share.



Armed with the latest in processor and graphics technology — courtesy of the Intel's Moorestown and Nvidia's Tegra 2 chips — these manufacturers are likely going to be strive for performance. They want to give users something more than a device that can only barely run a Web browser.

While many companies are expected to release some impressive MIDs with the power to back it up, others will attempt to win market share by waging price wars, and this is also good for consumers who are looking to purchase MIDs in the near future.



So is 2010 the year of the MID?

I think it is safe to assume this will be the breakout year for these types of devices. People are starting to realize that it is okay to have a device that isn't a laptop or a smart phone, and an MID can fill that void, offering convenience over form. But it is still a young market, and no company has stepped up to the plate and created a knock-out MID yet.

Interestingly, many will be looking towards Apple's iPad Tablet to see if there is interest in this general type of device. Unfortunately, when considering the negative reviews and less-than-brilliant sales numbers of Apple's tablet computer, I remain hesitant about the long-term future of MIDs.

But, again, this year will surely be a breakout year for these devices.

However, I also wonder if this year will also be the peak for these devices as well. As previously mentioned, the iPad is leading a rejuvenated market for tablet-based computers, and that type of device is what is receiving all the media attention.

With as many people that are developing MIDs, there are sure to be far more tossing their hats into the tablet arena.

That said, with so much focus being put into this broad category of device (a non-computer device that can browse the Web and view media) by the tech industry, a person would be silly to doubt that at least one a few of these companies will not get it right.

People will buy them, if even to simply keep up with the Joneses.