The reveal of the iPad has created much excitement in the tech world, even before anyone has had the chance to hold the much hyped product in their hands. So it only follows that tablet technology would be picked up and replicated by other computing giants. It seems consumers should expect an explosion of tablet devices on the market, with an ARM executive predicting that up to 50 tablets will debut in 2010.

Roy Chen, ARM's worldwide mobile computing ODM manager made the prediction during a press meeting in Taipei. ARM, one of the worlds leading microprocessor makers, is often aware of the products its chips are used in due to their partnership programs and the engineering support they offer - a fact that only lends weight to Chen's prediction.

ARM was in Taipei showcasing two tablets running the Google Android mobile operating system. One was produced by Compal Electronics and has a 7-inch screen and Nvidia Tegra 2 chips, while the second is a smaller device called the Armadillo. Both rely on ARM cores in their chips, similar to Apple's iPad.

ARM believes consumers will see many of the devices released in Asia initially, with most connected to 3G mobile contracts.

Competition intensifies

HP has already announced their plans to launch a range of "slate devices" in direct competition to Apple's iPad. The HP slates will run using Windows 7 and show content using Adobe Flash.

Chen's prediction is of concern to some, as a flood of slate devices may mean that sales of netbooks will plummet, spelling trouble for companies like Intel. The Intel Atom chip is currently being used in hundreds of netbook computers.