Lenovo said to release Intel and ARM Android convertibles

Lenovo will reportedly release Android-based convertibles in the first half of this year, and they'll be powered by your choice of either Intel or ARM processors.

Convertibles – clamshell laptops that can be converted to tablets – were one of the most talked about items at last week's CES 2013. Intel, for its part, sees them as the future of mobile computing.

But the devices that Intel was most effusive about during its CES 2013 press event were running Microsoft's Windows 8. According to a Monday report by DigiTimes citing those ever-helpful "industry sources", Lenovo – the world's second-largest PC maker – will add convertibles running Android to its stable of mobile PCs.

Or tablets – whichever incarnation of the convertible form factor you choose to emphasize.

According to DigiTimes' sources, Lenovo had planned to release Android-based convertibles in the third quarter of last year, but delayed the roll-out due to the market noise caused by the iPad 4 and iPad mini, Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets, "as well as a proliferation of low-priced Android tablets."

Intel has been talking about Android-on-Intel for quite some time, and soon-to-be-ex-CEO Paul Otellini said way back in October 2010 that Chipzilla would "win" in the tablet market.

Hasn't happened – and it's still to early to add "yet" to that observation.

If and when Lenovo releases Android convertibles based on both ARM and Intel chips – which will join its Core i5/i7 IdeaPad Yoga 11S convertible that was announced at CES and is scheduled to ship this June – we'll keep an eye on how the market responds to that choice. ®