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July 11, 2010

Research In Motion says it will start offering a small BlackBerry tablet powered by a 1GHz processor near mid-October.

According to Ashok Kumar, an analyst and managing director at Rodman and Renshaw, the seven inch touch-screen tablet will be powered by a CPU from Marvell.

Marvell is working with OLPC (one laptop per child) to develop RIM's new tablet wireless device.

Research In Motion would be playing catch up with Apple's iPad, which went on sale in the spring. RIM competes with Apple in the smartphone market with its Storm and Storm 2 devices.

Marvell, which also supplies its main mobile processor for the BlackBerry Bold 9700 would supply the tablet's baseband silicon (used for 3G) according to Kumar.

One possible chip candidate is the Marvell 1 GHz Armada 610 processor, which is aimed at tablets, MIDs (mobile Internet devices) and eReaders.

The chip boasts full HD 1080p playback capability, 16-megapixel image captures and advanced 3D graphics, according to Kumar.

"RIM is trying to pull forward the launch of its new 7-inch touchscreen tablet from early next year to year end with a marginal point of differentiation being the front and back-facing cameras for videoconferencing," Kumar said in a research note.

As of late Friday, RIM declined to comment on the note, however.

Kumar says he expects Apple's iPad shipments to more than double to 27 million units next year and estimates of 70 million iPhone shipments next year comfortably exceed street estimates of low-to-mid 50 million, he wrote.

Marvell is already working with One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) to develop a next-generation mini tablet based on Marvell's mobile chips. The family of XO tablets are due sometime next year, Kumar said.

In a related commentary, he also wrote about the status of component supply for the iPhone and iPad.

Kumar said "Overall demand continues to lead supply for Apple's iPhones and iPads. In both instances, panels and touchscreens remain the supply bottleneck most of time, and that the situation appears to getting worse somewhat."

"While increased overall capacity and higher yields should improve availability of retinal screens from LG Display, it's still unlikely to satisfy global iPhone demand for the remainder of the year," added Kumar.

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Source: Rodman & Renshaw.