台北的《电子时报》（DigiTimes）历来就是亚洲电子元件产业种种传言的源头，它的记者们打字有多快，传言生成的速度就有多快。上周四，这家媒体报道称，来自上游供应链的匿名业内人士认为，惠普（Hewlett-Packard）、戴尔（Dell）、宏碁（Acer）和华硕电脑（Asustek）等PC企业最终将逐步退出平板电脑市场。

    《电子时报》的报道称：

    亚马逊（Amazon）的Kindle Fire售价199美元，巴诺（Barnes & Noble）即将上市的Nook Simple Touch售价99美元，纯硬件生产商不太可能通过价格竞争在这个市场上赚取利润。

    鉴于亚马逊和Barnes & Noble主要靠内容平台（而非硬件）赚取利润，业界认为这些硬件设备最终将免费提供给消费者。

    这篇报道的这部分还算言之有理。但最后一部分，就不那么令人信服了：

    业者指出，虽然iPad 2消费需求强劲，但销量不如iPad一代，说明消费者对平板电脑的狂热追捧已竟开始降温。

    苹果（Apple）是2011年第二财季末推出的iPad 2，正如上图所示，iPad 2产量一上去，销量很快就超过了iPad一代。

    Taipei-based DigiTimes, which has been churning out rumors from Asian electronics parts suppliers as fast as its correspondents can type, reported Thursday that unnamed "sources from upstream supply chain" believe that PC makers such as Hewlett-Packard (HPC), Dell (DELL), Acer and Asustek will "gradually phase out" of the tablet market.

    According to DigiTimes:

    With Amazon offering its Kindle Fire at US$199 and Barnes & Noble to provide its upcoming Nook Simple Touch at a price of US$99, the pure hardware players are unlikely to profit from the market through price competition.

    Since Amazon and Barnes & Noble are mainly profiting from their content platforms, not the hardware, the sources believe these hardware devices will eventually be offered for free.

    This part of the DigiTimes' report makes sense. The last part, not so much:

    The sources pointed out that although iPad 2 is also seeing strong demand from consumers, sales were lower than those of iPad, indicating that consumers' strong enthusiasm for tablet PCs has already disappeared.

    As the chart above shows, once Apple (AAPL) got production ramped up after the iPad 2's release at the end of fiscal Q2 2011, its sales quickly eclipsed those for the original iPad.