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An HP exec says that his company's upcoming TouchPad will overtake the current tablet-market dominator, Apple's iPad.

"In the tablet world we're going to become better than number one. We call it number one plus," HP's EMEA personal systems group headman Eric Cador told a press conference in Cannes, according to The Telegraph.

Cador's reasoning for this rather optimistic prognostication is that HP became number one in the PC market, where there are "fewer ways of differentiating HP’s products from our competitors," so in the tablet market it should be able to out-innovate all other offerings.

Presumably, Cador believes that the TouchPad's webOS operating system, which the company acquired when it bought Palm, will be its prime differentiator.

But there's more to HP's advantage than that, he said, noting that there is "only one company plays in both the consumer and business and [sic] world" – meaning, of course, HP.

RIM, of course, plays in the business world, and that positioning hasn't exactly rocketed its PlayBook to the summit of success.

Cador also noted that there are differences between the business and consumer markets, saying that "the way the user is going to look at tablets means it's about experience. The way the corporate is going to look at it is to say that its employees, who are also consumers, have got to like it and it's got to be secure. We're going to deliver that."

The TouchPad is set for delivery this summer, at which time the "business and world" will learn whether HP has managed to deliver both that consumer-friendly experience and business-required security.

"Beyond that," Cador added, "it's about marketing and branding." And although HP has put more focus on design and branding in its new business laptop and consumer desktop lines, it's up against the world leader in brand establishment, Apple.

Good luck, Mr. Cador – and allow us to remind you that in the fast-growing tablet market, landing the number two spot wouldn't be an insigniicant achievement, either. ®

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