Forget Apple Inc. (AAPL) & Samsung, Here Come the Convertibles: Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ)

I’ve been following the consumer electronics industry for about six years now, and what Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and its partners have been preparing for the last six months or so is sure to change the game with tablets and laptops alike. You better get ready for it.

Tablets and laptops seem, to some, like apples and oranges, and it’s actually why Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was criticized left and right for its Windows 8 operating system back in October. Let’s face it, it was an OS made for touchscreens – something that most laptops and PCs at the time plainly lacked. However, it’s been four months since Windows 8 hit the shelves, and if you’ve been so much as glancing at the major manufacturers, namely Lenovo (NASDAQOTH: LNVGY) and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), then you’d have noticed they’re finally starting to catch up with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s innovations – and Apple and Samsung alike should be worried. What we’re finally seeing hit the shelves are what Windows 8 should have launched with: convertible tablet PCs.

Convertible tablet PCs come in a lot of names, shapes, and sizes, but as far as you should be concerned, they’re the future of all consumer electronics. I’m not kidding either; CES was chock-full of convertible tablet PCs, ranging from laptops with detachable screens to desktop computers you lie on the table and play board games with. In this case, all the top manufacturers have begun to roll out Windows 8 and Windows RT devices that double as both laptops and tablets, featuring a seamless Windows experience along the way. As a result, the convertibles, ranging from $400 to $1200 in price, can satisfy the needs of just about any customer. Whether you want serious gaming, serious portability, or serious business tools, a convertible tablet PC of some kind will exist to suit your needs. For example, if you’re looking for serious portability, Lenovo isn’t new to the world of convertible tablet pcs with its ThinkPad line, and it’s already saying the future of all its new laptops will very likely be convertible tablet PCs. Lenovo’s new ideaTab Lynx PC is already getting rave reviews as not only being a “shockingly light” tablet, but also an impressive one with a battery built into the keyboard. Right away the Lenovo ideaTab Lynx is throwing into the ring a powerful tablet PC with a superb battery life, and price tag identical to an iPad.

This reality however is the same with HP, Dell, Acer, and a consortium of other PC manufacturers, and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is orchestrating it all to ensure they stay reelvant. If the reality of Dell going private, or HP’s recent 16% income decline are any clue as to how desparate these manufacturers have become, then it’s easy to see how much they’re setting their eyes on the tablet market. Thanks to Windows 8, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is giving them all the tools they need to accomplish it too. Instead of playing a war of attrition with Android, Windows 8 gives them an ace in the hole.