Forbesreports that Asus plans to launch tablets to compete with the iPad. Asus is one of the manufacturers that made netbooks popular.
Shih, who is widely credited with introducing the masses to netbooks, said he is still enthusiastic about the lightweight, low-cost portable computers that helped propel Asus' growth over the past two-and-a-half years. But he also sees a market for an iPad-like device from Asus. "Netbooks are the best combination of personal computing and cloud computing," Shih said. "But between netbooks and smartphones and e-readers, we think there will be a space for something like a tablet or slate PC."
Apple has to be concerned about cheap iPad alternatives from competitors. The risk for Apple is that they create enormous demand for tablet computers only to have the iPad outsold by competing products. The Forbes article says Asus will create one tablet that will run on Google's Android platform and another tablet that will run Windows 7. Forbes says the Computex trade show in June could be when Asus launches two new tablets.
Forbes 
