Tech Watch: Tablets Getting A Lot Of Love From Consumers

(KCBS) - Tablet computers are proving to be a hot item with new sales figures showing a 300 percent jump from a year ago. The popularity of tablets are definitely taking a chunk out of notebook sales, however.

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley explains that awareness of tablets in general is way up from four months ago. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, he heard that there were going to be 78 new tablets there but there are actually 96 new ones.

"There's a lot more out there to buy and there's a lot more awareness to drive folks to do so."

A notebook is essentially a computer. It folds up like a laptop, and has a keyboard, hard drive, and operating system. A tablet doesn't have a hard drive, a physical keyboard, or a discernible file system like folders and directories. Cooley said he calls it a "media consumption device."

In terms of the market, here's the shift: tablets were taking the place of desktop sales; now we're seeing a big hit in notebooks, netbooks, and laptops, Cooley explains. People are shifting where they're moving their dollars because they can afford only one of these at a time.

"The tablet is getting a lot of love," Cooley said.

Apple is seeing their share of the tablet market drop from a little over 94 percent to 60.

You can hear his Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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