Microsoft's research and strategy boss expressed doubt on the long term prospects of tablet computers.
Speaking at a an economic development event in Sydney yesterday, Microsoft executive Craig Mundie said that there was an "important distinction" between mobile and portable.
"Mobile is something that you want to use while you're moving, and portable is something that you move and then use," Mundie said according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.
The Microsoft research boss said that the categories were set to "bump into one another" and that the tablet category sat somewhere between the two categories.
"Personally I don't know whether that space will be a persistent one or not," he said.
Mundie also predicted that the desktop computer would be replaced with a "room computer" with users interacting via mechanisms such as motion detection.