The first three devices will be launched in Thailand tomorrow, setting the giant Chinese computer maker on a quest for a 10-per-cent share of the global tablet PC market within three years.

The director of Lenovo Asean's relationship segment Ronnie Lee said the first three devices in its tablet family included the ThinkPad Tablet, aimed at commercial and business users, and the sleek and stylish IdeaPad Tablet K1, with different Wi-Fi and 3G versions, designed for the consumer market. They are the company's first mobile Internet devices featuring the Android 3.1 honeycomb platform.

Lee said the ThinkPad Tablet was built to deliver a combination of mobile entertainment, security and productivity for commercial and business users. Its main features include security, reliability and manageability. It features an optional digitizer pen, a full-sized USB port, a full-sized SD-card slot, and a mini-HDMI for connecting to external projectors and displays as well as an optional ThinkPad Keyboard Folio Case with optical TrackPoint.

It also features scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass for business professionals who need an ultra-mobile device to keep up with a work-hard, play-hard lifestyle.

"This is the first time we have launched tablets for both the commercial and consumer markets. I am confident that these devices will meet our customers' requirements, because we want to gain leadership of the market. This time we have the best situation and this is the right time to launch these new tablets," Lee said.

He said that for the ThinkPad Tablets, the company would work with system integrators and service providers to customize the devices and develop applications to support commercial users, such as retail, telecom, airline and banking solutions.

"Thailand is a big and interesting market for us. Every country is important, but there are two countries on which we will focus sharply. We call them hyper-growth countries, and Thailand is one of these hyper-growth markets in this region and the other one is Indonesia. They have double-digit market growth, so we make sure we give them a bit more attention. We see a boom coming from this," Lee said.

Meanwhile, Lenovo Asean's director of consumer business Feng Jianjian said the IdeaPad Tablet K1 came with HD display, dual cameras and integrated Bluetooth and 802.11 Wi-Fi connectivity. It weighs less than 740 grams and is designed for consumers seeking a mobile-entertainment device for staying connected to family and friends, accessing social-media networks and enjoying music, movies, Android apps and surfing the Web on the go.

The new tablet is also preloaded with more than 30 applications and users can access thousands more in the Android market as well as applications tested exclusively for the IdeaPad Tablet K1 in Lenovo's App Shop.

The Wi-Fi version of the IdeaPad is priced at 699 Singapore dollars (Bt17,417), and the 3G version, S$799.

"I think that tablet PCs will replace the netbook market because netbook users are switching to use tablets. We aim to gain a 10-per-cent share of the global tablet market in three years, with double-digit market growth," Jianjian said.

Lenovo also plans to announce a new tablet with a Windows environment in the near future.

Recent reports by global market-research firm IDC have illustrated the startling size of the market for tablet computers and its explosive growth.

IDC says tablets will experience a five-year compound annual growth rate of 54 per cent in the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan region, multiplying nearly ten times from 2 million units shipped in 2010 to 21 million units. It expects more consumers to adopt media tablets to meet their mobile gaming, Web-browsing and social networking needs.

Moreover, IDC believes that some of this demand may be driven by the education sector, and mentions the Thai government's plan to distribute 800,000 Android tablets to primary-school students. Although Thailand's free-tablets-for-schoolchildren project has not yet been factored into IDC's forecasts, the firm points out that it is just one of many opportunities driving media-tablet growth.

It says mature countries like Korea, Australia and Taiwan are showing high interest in mobile devices like media tablets, while China continues to demonstrate high purchasing power for new-tech products. By contrast, emerging countries in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, like Indonesia and Malaysia, have more conservative attitudes toward media tablets, and still prefer mini notebooks with better keyboard input and a familiar user experience.

EReaders, on the other hand, will carry a lower compound annual growth rate of 18 per cent as these devices are limited to a single function, one that media tablets cover anyway. In fact, IDC says, media tablets offer a better reading experience with colour display for magazine content.

"Lack of localised content is an issue for eReaders in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan. In China, for example, some consumers are still relying on pirated Internet downloads. Online bookstores haven't been earning wide margins on content for device vendors, and they face aggressive iPad pricing, squeezing them further," says IDC Asia-Pacific's senior market analyst for client devices research, Dickie Chang.