Qualcomm: Tablets Killed 3G-Connected Netbooks

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Remember the 3G-connected netbooks? They started to surface about 18 months ago and were being offered by mobile carriers and other outlets. They were supposed to be the next big thing (you may have heard of them called something starting with smart and ending with book – but that term is trademarked by a certain German company). Well, the mobile chip people at Qualcomm say that the tablet has killed the 3G netbook niche.

Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm CEO said, at a Qualcomm conference recently, that tablets had displaced the 3G netbook niche, by filling the same role as a light, always-on, all-day internet-connected device.  Qualcomm had tried to be a leader in this space, by coming out with processors and chipsets and such that enabled more of these to be built, but they’ve been beaten to the punch by the iPad and the whole new tablet market.

Qualcomm is still a major manufacturer in ARM processors and I think it’s very likely that we’ll see ARM chips play a major role in the tablet space. Heck, the Samsung Hummingbird Apple A4 processor that’s in the iPad is an ARM processor. Jacobs reiterated after the event that Qualcomm has a 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor coming early next year, and a 1.5GHz Snapdragon coming late in 2011. While the 3G netbook market has died (and we’re seeing mobile carriers rush to offer tablets, instead of said 3G netbooks), I think you’ll find that Qualcomm’s ARM processors will be just as at home in a tablet as a netbook.