We're sort of loving Acer's new bad-boy vibe -- not only have company execs recently gone on record saying that US PC manufacturers will be
dead within 20 years and that they want to "
change the Microsoft-Intel environment" with
Chrome OS, but now they're standing firm while everyone else races to do a tablet. At least that's the word from Acer Taiwan president Scott Lin, who told
Digitimes that while Acer can certainly produce a tablet device, it doesn't fit into the company's business model. What's more, he doubts that other companies can simply copy Apple's hardware and succeed -- instead, Acer's going to focus on ultra-thin laptops, a category Acer expects to account for 20-30 percent of its business this year. Lin also said Acer will introduce some new models that are less then 2cm (.7 inches) thick -- assuming there's an ARM-based Chrome OS netbook in that mix, we can certainly see the super thin and light laptop category and the tablet category aligning as direct competitors in the near future.
posted February 1st 2010 7:14PM
HA! Acer isn't going to make a tablet (again) because the first ones they tried FAILED. One of the first TabletPC's I ever owned was an Acer TravelMate. Thing sucked and died within 18 months. I think it is a good idea for them to focus on something else... maybe toasters.
@kobioshi I don't think it's really a fair assessment to say a company is shitty based only on your experience with one product. I also have a TravelMate C200 (which I've installed Vista on) and it's presently running decently. So, by your logic, Acer is a great company that hasn't failed at making a (convertible) tablet pc.
In fact, I'm typing this on my Acer. I've had this for about 4 years now, and the battery finally died about a year ago, so it's not really portable anymore. At about $150 for a new battery, I'm gonna stay tethered to the wall for a while longer. :p
I'm sure this has nothing to do with the recent news of Taiwanese manufacturers in a panic because they can't undercut the iPad's price point. Nothing at all.
@DTJ
You do realize they release netbooks for $350 right? With intel processors 2gb of ram and Windows 7 included? Not to mention a keyboard and trackpad built in. All specs and performance much better than the iPutz. You think them removing components would cost more money? No it would cost them less. Exactly who do you think is making these iPutz devices for Apple anyway? Apple hasnt manufactured computers in a decade, all these computers (including apples so called 'computers') come out of china and taiwan.
@thetoad
right which is why they have such wonderful margins and aren't hurting a bit. Call it the iPutz if you like, apple will still sell millions of them. Infuriating to you, isn't it, toadie?
forget what i said
@undecidedname I'm sorry, what? I wasn't listening....
If Acer doesn't want to get into the tablet business, at the very least they should think about building "convertible" laptops (if they don't already) - the kind with a swiveling hinge that lets you fold the screen down to let you use the computer as either a conventional laptop or as a tablet.
If they are going for extremely thin laptops, then that would take away one of the problems that previous iterations of those convertible laptops had - being too bulky. I still think that a desktop OS simply does not work in a tablet, but at the very least convertible laptops give you an option of going back to the more conventional layout.
@Hazdaz Acer 1820PT and 1420P, look them up.
@Hazdaz Ditto, they already make these. If you haven't bought one of these yet, you can't complain when they don't develop the follow-on. The category isn't exactly sellling like hotcakes.
Good move I'd say, the market for ultra-thin machines is likely going to balloon in the next few years, as the amount of power companies are able to fit inside, makes them more viable as pc's for all purposes. I certainly don't see the demand for tablets overtaking that for ultra-thins anytime soon.
... which is the right direction
I agree with Acer, tablets are a failure
Acer make a tablet, it will help you make some profit. That paltry 60 million dollar profit a quarter ain't cutting it.
Fascinating that Apple can be the low price leader to the point that the Taiwan guys decide there is no money in a market.
@jwdav
They're more concerned that they can't market a tablet with just pure hardware. Who the hell wants to market a tablet with a dozen apps and five free digital books against the Library of Congress size iTMS? They also know Windows users are cheapskates who won't pay more than $300 for a netbook let alone a $500 tablet.
Eh, am I the only one who thinks ChromeOS is failure?
Why not just make Android more versatile...it has the potential to be a good netbook OS provided that Google adds support for higher resolutions, among other things.
@DoctarPeppar Dude, it hasn't even shipped yet. It doesn't come out till Q4...
@DoctarPeppar you are not the only one, but that doesn't make you right...
Can someone tell me which model is the one on the picture. I would love to get my hands on one of these.
@janito
Acer AS1410 - 11.6", ULV CPU
a'hem... does anyone remember Tablet PCs? They're still around. Microsoft threw Billions of dollars to upgrade Windows XP to "Windows XP Tablet PC Edition" and had quite a few hardware manufacturers... One of which was ACER. Some might even say that Making the Acer convertible tablet pc helped bring them full-force into the US market.
Anyway, Acer isn't going to make a Tablet because they've done it before and realize that they're not that useful (or profitable!). I can say this, becuase I was an early adopter of a tablet pc, and while I loved some of the features, I HATED others.
(BTW the Acer Travelmate Tablet PC is still for sale, here's a cnet review http://reviews.cnet.com/tablet-pcs/acer-travelmate-c314xmi-tablet/4505-3126_7-31418675.html )
Apple made a tablet? I thought that was just a big ass Iphone.
@Slvrgun ipad aint a phone
A very sensible approach for Acer. Bring on the ultra-thin laptops. That's what I want.
Which laptop is that on the photo?
I love my Asus UL30A notebook. 13.3" and it is perfect for traveling. The only thing I wish it had was a backlit keyboard. It would then be perfect in every way for me :)
Good to know. I, on the other hand, will focus elsewhere.
Old news.