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Not only customers in the U.S. are skeptical about mobile Internet devices (MIDs), but also hardware makers from Taiwan do not appear to have any optimistic feelings about the future of MIDs.
Citing unnamed Taiwan-based hardware manufacturers, DigiTimes web-site reported that amid increasing popularity of inexpensive notebooks with 7” – 10” screens there will be virtually no demand towards MIDs before mid-2009, which is a completely different scenario that Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp., the biggest backers of mobile Internet devices, would like to see.
MIDs are handheld gadgets with main purpose of browsing the Internet. Due to relatively high heat dissipation and power consumption they are relatively big these days, hence, customers are not really interested in them right now and prefer smartphones instead.
The clear winner in survey of U.S. consumers by In-Stat market research company is the smartphone, either alone or with a mobile companion. Nearly 50% of respondents chose the benefits and capabilities associated with smartphones, whereas fewer than 10% indicated a preference for the capabilities of MIDs.
