PC vendors may be readying to abandon tablets

This is definitely news that we never expected to see. Apparently, there are rumors that some tablet makers are going to bow out of the race because they don't believe they can compete in a market with the Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle Fire, and Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet. 

Today, the DigiTimes reported that anonymous sources in the component supply chain are saying that HP, Acer, Asustek and Dell may give up on tablets next year. Supposedly, a big reason is that both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are bringing very inexpensive options to market, although even before those tablets hit the market HP, Acer and Dell hadn't been able to gain much market share. We're surprised to see Asus on the list though, because the Transformer was the best selling Android tablet for a time. 

There is also talk that the slowdown in iPad demand is proving that the tablet market as a whole is slowing down, but we're not sure the PC market is the solution to that lag. More likely, all of these devices are finding their niches (and all devices are niche devices now, even traditional laptops,) and the markets are settling. Some manufacturers are also waiting on Windows 8 before making a real run at the tablet game, because Windows 8 is expected to be something of a game-changer. Especially given that it is expected to offer the same apps across tablets and PCs. 

Obviously, time will tell, but what do you guys think: has the tablet market already peaked?