Acer to Apple: Don’t Mind Us. We’ll Just Keep Making These “Cheap Laptops.”
“Netbooks aren’t better than anything. They’re just cheap laptops.”
Come summer, Acer will enter the arena for e-book readers, releasing a device with a six-inch monochrome screen. The company will also debut an online applications store from which it will peddle apps for Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows and Windows Mobile operating systems and for Google’s (GOOG) Android platform.
But Acer has no plans to launch a touchscreen tablet to compete with Apple’s (AAPL) new iPad, despite the fact that Chairman J.T. Wang recently told Bloomberg his company was “developing something” along those lines.
Why the sudden change of tack? Acer President Scott Lin says that while the company is entirely capable of building a tablet device, it wouldn’t be worthwhile because it lacks a software ecosystem like Apple’s iTunes App Store. A tablet, Lin, told DigiTimes, does not fit into Acer’s business model.
“Historically, closed platforms are typically limited in terms of scale and are confined to niche markets,” Lin said. “Apple has built its business out of carving its own niche, which means that while Apple could see success with devices like the iPad, other players are unlikely to be able to replicate its result simply by copying.”
An interesting admission, particularly since it seems to openly contradict what Wang said just about a week ago. Of course, at this point, with the iPad not yet released and the tablet market as nascent as it is, Acer’s tentative view of things is understandable. Why mess around with an unestablished, unproven market when the company is doing just fine peddling netbooks and other portables? Better to throw its full weight behind the broad spectrum of notebooks–traditional, ultrathin and netbook–where it’s already quite strong (Lin notes that Acer shipped about 31 million notebooks in 2009).
That said, Acer would do well to keep an eye trained on Apple. Because according to Deutsche Bank (DB), the iPad will give it claim to about seven percent of the low-end computer market by 2011. Said Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore: “We expect the iPad to compete very well against existing low-end notebooks and netbooks, particularly in the segment of the market where surfing, reading, game playing and emailing dominate the usage model.”
Comments
Actually, Acer already has a *great* tablet in the Acer 1420P. I got one like the one Microsoft gave away at their PDC09 conference a few months ago, and it rocks! Convertable tablet, beautiful 11.6 in multitouch screen, ~3 lbs, dedicated graphics + core 2 duo chip, 6GB RAM (this is not a netbook), and 7 hours of batterly life (someone forgot to tell the battery).
Posted by johnmullinax at February 1st, 2010 at 7:31 pmAcer is a pile of junk – no one cares because if you own one it's disposed of in a year. I'll pay more so I'm not throwing my money away each year. Write about something we don't know.
Posted by SawmillDust at February 1st, 2010 at 7:55 pmWhat choice does Acer, or any clone company, have? All they can do is keep buying generic components, slapping them together and shoving Windoze on it. There is no other option for them.
It's big of him to admit that Apple's infrastructure at this point is a very wide moat. Kudos for that.
I also think the iPad will sell incredibly well. Finally, a computer as easy to use as an iPod. Sure, lots of us still need a full fledged computer, but a huge majority of people really only want to email, surf, write short documents, and presentations, etc… and the iPad will absolutely excel (no pun intended) at this. And there are no MSFT barriers (office, outllook) left that Apple hasn't completely sidestepped.
Even the old 'game' issue is moot now. There are more casual games and incredibly affordable ones at that, for the iPhone, iPod, iPad than for windows.
Posted by macbrewer at February 1st, 2010 at 8:11 pmI doubt Deutsche Bank's projections. The economy overall is not healthy when people are purchasing they are looking at price and value. Acer sells a acceptable product (not junk) at a lower price point, and the fact is the people who actually buy books and read is not huge. This is not the music business.
Posted by geek at February 2nd, 2010 at 12:36 amAcer should continue to make cheap netbooks because that's what Windows users want. Acer is a business and there is no reason for Acer to start building tablets for a group of netbook users that only want cheap computers with physical keyboards. Acer knows it has a willing netbook market. It's been said that Apple has built a tablet hammer in search of a nail. I'm not sure if it means there's no killer apps or there's no consumer tablet market. I'm fairly confident there is a consumer market for the Apple tablet even if there isn't any for a Windows tablet. I think that Acer would rather sit back, take no risks and just see how well the Apple tablet sells before jumping into the tablet market. I'd say that is the wisest move for Acer. Acer is certainly aware that every Windows tablet in the past has been a steaming pile of failure for the consumer market, so Acer realizes the odds are stacked against their tablet succeeding.
Posted by constableodo at February 2nd, 2010 at 2:30 pm