Look for the Consumer Electronics Show opening later this week to be all about 4G devices and tabs, but not the much-anticipated iPhone for Verizon.
Sascha Segan reports in PCMag.com: “This is going to be a huge show for 4G.” He said Verizon Wireless (VZ) may introduce a half-dozen LTE phones and tablets. There also is chatter about 4G devices from Samsung, LG and HTC. T-Mobile likely will show off its HSPA+ phones and tablets.
“Certainly the Number One trend [at CES] will be tablets,” said NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker in article by Glen Chapman at AFP. “I think every smartphone and PC (personal computer) company will either have one on their show floor; be showing them behind closed doors, or announcing things.”
Anywhere from 40 to 80 tabs are expected to debut at CES, which starts on Thursday with over 2,000 exhibitors at the event in Las Vegas.
Expect a CES demo of Motorola’s (MOT) 10-inch tablet using Android Honeycomb from Google (GOOG). “We’re going to see a lot more of the Island of Misfit Tablets—low-cost tablets of questionable quality based on Android Froyo software, which may end up on convenience store shelves or sold at a discount through computer retailers,” according to Segan.
Analyst Rob Enderle said: “We are going to be up to our armpits in crappy tablets, and I do mean crappy.”
Buzz has been building about the iPhone 4 coming to Verizon, ending the AT&T (T) monopoly. But don’t look for the announcement at CES, which is not a favored Apple (AAPL) venue.
Segan said, “Verizon is sinking a lot of time and effort into promoting LTE devices at CES. For Apple to step in and steal the stage would be getting that relationship off to a really bad start.”
The rumors have it that the iPhone for Verizon could be announced on or before Valentine’s Day.
