Competition in the large-size tablet segment is heating up as more and more vendors roll out devices with bigger screens in hopes to drive growth for the tablet market.

　　Sony's joint venture for its VAIO PC and Acer are two of the vendors ready to jump on the large-size tablet bandwagon. They are both said to be planning to release tablets with 11.6-inch and bigger displays targeting the sub-US$300 market in the near future, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

　　As demand for tablets has started weakening with vendors resorting to pricing trying to shore up demand, the large-size segment is being looked upon as a driver for growth in the table market, the sources said.

　　Acer will launch its 11.6-inch tablet made by Pegatron Technology in the third quarter with mass shipments to begin in July, the sources noted.

　　Asustek has also unveiled its new 11.6-inch T200 and 12.5-inch T300 tablets at Computex 2014, while Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 launched recently also features a 12-inch display.

　　With shipments of Android-based tablets already hitting a bottleneck for further growth, Windows 8-based tablets' low market penetration may still provide vendors business opportunities if the pricing is friendly enough, the sources analyzed.

　　The sources pointed out that the Surface Pro 3's specifications and design are both suitable for enterprise users, but its pricing may deter demand.

　　The US$200-300 segment is currently consumers' most acceptable price range for a tablet, noted the sources, adding that demand for Samsung's 12-inch Android-based Galaxy Note Pro tablet - released in early 2014 and priced at US$650 - has been sluggish.