The iPad is expected to encounter a crush of competition in 2011. A manager at Atmel, which supplies chips to tablet makers, talks about how he thinks things will shake out in the non-Apple tablet market in 2011.

Atmel supplies the touch-screen controller chip for the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The 7-inch screen size will be popular, but large tablets will also emerge, says Atmel.

Binay Bajaj, a product marketing manager at Atmel, which makes touch-screen controller chips for the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the HTC Evo 4G and Motorola Droid phones (among other devices) talks about how tablets debuting in 2011 will come in a variety of sizes that move the tablet experience beyond today's 10-inch iPad. Atmel is slated to supply chips to a host of tablets in 2011.

Q: How many products does Atmel see coming Bajaj: We think there's going to be 10 to 15 products launching early next year.

What will make these tablets different than the iPad Bajaj: There will be all kinds of screen sizes available. You'll see 8.9-inch, 11.6-inch, 12.1-inch. Predominantly, 10.1-inch and 7-inch. But some consumers will say the resolution that I see on a 10 inch doesn't fit my video watching experience, so I'll go for an 11.6 or 12.1. Will that volume be high Probably not. But as you increase the size, you add more [chip] processing to it. You can provide better multimedia and gaming. And different display resolutions make watching high definition videos more crisp.

What else does larger screen size get you Bajaj: As the screen sizes become larger, the user can lay more things on the screen, you can easily rest your palm on the screen [without triggering a response]. There's something called "palm rejection." We support that. And unintended touches, which you can reject. We call it "grip," touching the screen from the side. We have something called "grip suppression." In spite of the grip, you can still use the device.

What will be the predominate non-Apple operating environment, in your opinion Bajaj: Google Android is clearly a very popular operating system. The application base is growing very rapidly. There will be more and more Android tablets. Android is going to be in the lead.

Do you see tablets eroding the laptop market Bajaj: Clearly, an erosion is going to happen. We are hearing that there is big erosion on the Netbook. The tablet gives you an always-on, always-connected experience connecting to the cloud. And as cloud computing becomes more prevalent, there's going to be more tablets.