iPad Crowded By Competitors in Indonesian Market

With the biggest market among the South East Asia nations, Indonesia has become the target for many hardware makers. In the tablet space, Apple’s iPad is always the popular choice although it’s seeing more intense competition from other manufacturers recently. This is especially true in Indonesia.

Realizing the value of that market, Lenovo has set a target that 25% of its overseas sales will be from Indonesia. The Chinese maker has already launched four low priced mobile phones, and will continue its push launching five devices this month, all priced below 1 million IDR (US$ 115). Among these will be an Android-based touch smartphone called LePhone. Lenovo’s hybrid tablet, LePad, is a 10-inch tablet that can run either both Android OS or Windows.

Acer, well known for its notebook and netbook products here in Indonesia, has also turned its focus to tablets. The company launched the Iconia Touchbook last week, which features as i5 processor, two 14-inches screens made of Gorilla Glass, multi-touch, and movement reflect. Acer Iconia sports a new ‘ring’ interface on top of a Windows 7 OS. A user can choose between the items on the ring with a swipe of the finger. Iconia Touchbook can be purchased for around US$1,200.

While Dell is making a strong push in China, they are also rumored to launch the Dell Streak in Indonesia around April or May. Running Android 2.2, and featuring an NVIDIA 2 mobile processor, it will be tagged with at around $500 to $700 (US) price point. With a 7-inch WVGA screen, Dell Streak can access email, IM, and video conferencing. There will be a 3G version too, so users can text and send MMS on the go. The device is equipped with a 5 megapixel front-facing camera and 1.3 megapixel camera around back.

Huawei, another Chinese IT brand, will challenge for the tablet crown along with the Huawei Ideos S7. Running on Android 2.1, with a 7-inches WVGA screen, it has HD video and Hi-speed web browsing. Priced at US$350, Huawei is targeting a lower market. By working together with XL Axiata (one of the biggest local telcos), Huawei hopes to make the task of marketing this tablet a little easier.

For me, Apple with iPad and iPad 2 will still hold the upper hand because of its branding and wide selection of apps. While Apple is the clear favorite in the race, it still remains to be seen who will take the lower section of the market among the Android tablets.

Image Credit