IBM Remains Cool to Tablet PCs

LAS VEGAS -- Despite the buzz here over the potential of Tablet PCs, IBM is "not interested" in going forward with the development of an IBM-branded Tablet PC anytime soon, says Leo Suarez, the vice president of worldwide product marketing for personal computing devices at IBM.

Suarez said on Monday that in light of the current economic slowdown and other related conditions, IBM sees Tablet PCs as "an experiment" that simply does not fit in to what he called Big Blue's current "back-to-basics" approach to selling IT services and related hardware.

Of cutting-edge computer systems like Tablet PC and other devices with unique features such as detachable keyboards, Suarez said, "there are enough companies out there to sell them in the millions right now, but I don't see it being IBM."

"I've yet to find a customer that has asked for a Tablet PC," Suarez said.

The sluggish economic conditions that have forced many an IT shop to tighten its budget, conditions that have in turn driven IBM's back-to-basics approach, could last as long as a year and a half, Suarez predicted.

He also suggested that IBM may not be interested in getting into the personal digital assistant market with an IBM-branded PDA and may consider just re-selling PDA devices like Dell.

Suarez strongly cautioned not to confuse IBM's posture toward Tablet PCs and PDAs as a lack of desire to innovate.

"Getting back to basics doesn't mean you can't innovate," he said, citing recent technology innovations from IBM such as Big Blue's ImageUltra PC system image management program and system recovery tools such as Instant Restore.

"What you are hearing from [IBM] is not a purr. We are aggressive. But what you want to do is sell a customer piece of mind, not just a Tablet PC. You want to sell a total solution, not just the cheapest [desktop] PC," he said.

"Ten years down the road I do want to see a lot of PDAs with the IBM brand on it, just not in the next 18 months," he said.