Taiwan-based notebook brand vendor Asustek Computer is set to announce its Android 3.0-based 10.1-inch tablet PC on March 25 with Acer, Samsung Electronics and High Tech Computer (HTC) all set to announce their models in the near future; however, since Android 3.0 operating system (OS) still has a few drawbacks need to be improved, while Google has moved its support focus to Chrome OS, the vendors are concerned that their tablet PCs may turn out to hurt them instead, according to sources from notebook players.

The sources pointed out that Android 3.0 currently still has a few issues over operating applications and battery longevity, while number of applications that support tablet PC under the Android Market is also much less than those in Apple's App Store.

The sources also noted that there will not be any iPad-like tablet PC having capability of challenging iPad in the first half of 2011. As for smartphone players, since Motorola's Xoom did not achieve a performance as expected, iPad series products are likely to account for 70-80% of tablet PC market in 2011 with the remaining shares to be distributed among iPad-like tablet PC players.

Asustek's Android 3.0 tablet PC, the Eee Pad Transformer features a Nvidia dual-core Tegra 2 processor with a 10.1-inch panel; however, Asustek will only sell the 10.1-inch tablet PC in Taiwan initially and skip the US and Europe markets. The market watchers believe Asustek's motive is to avoid direct competition against Apple and the smartphone makers, which have strong market share in those markets.