First AMD Hondo-based products expected by mid-November or later

Earlier this week AMD revealed Hondo, a new dual-core 1GHz APU with a 4.5W TDP. Now DigiTimes heard some details regarding when we can expect the first tablets based on the Hondo APU, it appears it will be mid-November, at the earliest. AMD has yet to announce its partners for Hondo APUs, and DigiTimes heard quite few vendors will adopt the platform. To be able to gain marketshare, AMD would need to offer Hondo at a more budget friendly price, the sources said.

The sources pointed out that vendors' new tablet projects are mainly focusing on ARM/Android or Intel/Windows 8 combinations; therefore, tablets with AMD platforms are unlikely to appear until a later time.

However, if AMD is able to offer Hondo at a friendly price point, there is still a chance for the company to gain share in the market, the sources added.

As for AMD's director of Global Product Marketing John Taylor's recent estimate that a Hondo-based tablet should not have a price of more than US$899, the sources pointed out that Asustek's Windows RT tablet is expected to be priced between US$599-699 and Microsoft's Surface will also put strong pressure on the pricing of Windows 8 tablets; therefore, US$899 is still not friendly enough and US$699-799 will be the best price range for Hondo-based machines.