Acer: Tablets, ultrabooks a Short-Term Phenomena

By Kevin Parrish
published

Acer is calling on fellow notebook manufacturers to take Apple's "outside-of-the-box" approach to innovation. Tablets are nothing more than a fad, too.

Friday Acer founder Stan Shih described the current excitement over both Ultrabooks and tablets as "fads" and "short-term phenomena," and urged fellow notebook manufacturers to produce more value-added products through innovation. This means possibly taking Apple's approach when it came to designing the original iPad: using an "outside-of-the-box" approach.

According to DigiTimes, someone during a news conference commented that by bringing the iPhone and iPad into the PC sector, Apple is essentially competing with other PC manufacturers and creating a great impact on the overall demand for PCs. Shih responded by saying that PCs are still the base of the IT industry, and that tablets are developed from this base. That said, future products will still need to go through the PC platform "to create even more add-on value."

Despite a call to arms, Acer still intends to ride the tablet wave. Shih admitted that consumers want products with low prices and tons of convenience, and each player in the tablet sector needs to accept this fact. He said that current competition within the tablet market is "still on track for positive development."

Back in June, Acer reportedly slashed its full-year shipment target for tablets by almost 60-percent. Chairman J.T. Wang told reporters after a shareholder meeting that the new target for tablet shipments this year was 2.5 to 3 million units – originally Acer planned for 5 to 7 million units at the beginning of the year. 800,000 tablets are expected to be sold in each of the second and third quarters.

Back in April Acer said that it will "aggressively yet cautiously develop data-consumption products, tablet PCs and smartphones based on the solid foundation of the main PC business." The news arrived after Acer's board of directors appointed Jim Wong as corporate president.

Kevin Parrish
22 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Parrdacc
    Maybe. I can see ultrabooks fading away but I think the tablets are here to stay. Personally I do not own one yet, cause I really have no use for one and think they need to become something more than a overgrown smartphone. Yes, yes I know they can do more than a smartphone, but except for a few things here and there they are for the most part a big smartphone. I can see the PC and tablets being with us for a good long time.
    Reply
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    Lol, Acer is pissed off because their tablet doesn't sell as good as even the Galaxy Tab?

    Though, seriously, I hope he's right. Hate it when people say that tablets and ultrabooks are the future.
    Reply
  • scuba dave
    ParrdaccMaybe. I can see ultrabooks fading away but I think the tablets are here to stay. Personally I do not own one yet, cause I really have no use for one and think they need to become something more than a overgrown smartphone. Yes, yes I know they can do more than a smartphone, but except for a few things here and there they are for the most part a big smartphone. I can see the PC and tablets being with us for a good long time.
    I agree to a point. I think Ultrabooks "might" take the seat of netbooks, but tablets I believe are here to stay. Tablets might be just amp'd up smartphones, but if the business and consumer markets start to develop a cloud/onlive type approach to using them for even big tasks(where all the processing and etc, are done in the cloud) and the end results are then pumped to the device(which, as far as I can tell would be mostly limited on latency, signal strength, and bandwidth.) Provided those were all at acceptable levels.. Alot of people would no longer need much of anything else.

    Played right, and with the right technological steps in invention and innovation.. This could be awesome, and Acer dead wrong.

    However.. the current Lawyer/Patent problem will probably cripple any progress down to a trickle.. I'd be surprised to see any amount of "significant" change for the better for years to come... :/
    Reply
  • stingray71
    Tablets are not a fad, reason Acer cut 60% of its shipment estimates is because everyone and their mother is putting out an Android Tablet.

    One OS for both phone and tablets (Ice Cream Sandwich) will help app development. I expect Tablets to slowly but steadily make it into homes. Once you've used one for a while, you realize how versatile these little suckers are, and this is only the first generation. Since most seem to be settling into the sub $500 price point now, more people will start looking at them.
    Reply
  • Remember when laptops +2" thick? I don't see why "ultrabooks" won't be permanent, although I'd just continue to call them notebooks.
    Reply
  • zzz_b
    I think we really need a unified device. I liked the idea of Lenovo with the pop-out screen (only 10.1", a little small for a real laptop), and the idea from Asus Transformer.
    Why not make a laptop that has an i7 processor with all the bells and whistles in the keboard part, even if it is a little bulkier, and attach a 12.1 inch android tablet to it. The screen would be also protected, no need for jackets.
    This way you have all your data with you, can do real work too. Also have the convenience of using only the tablet part when reading, surfing or emailing.
    Reply
  • slabbo
    Actually, I think something like the Wii U might be the future of home PC desktops, it's sort of a mini cloud device that you have at home. Have a very powerful graphics, large HDD space, and CPU "core" that just streams things to the tablet. The tablet in this case would just be the interface and all the calculations and storage would be done on the "core."

    and it then make it so you can run multiple tablets at your home, instead of 1 PC per person. I have two monitors set up for my PC and I wished i can add another mouse and keyboard so me and nephew could use the same PC at the same time. Why don't they make something like this possible?

    Damn, I should patent this idea!
    Reply
  • do people really care what acer has to say? really?
    Reply
  • cold fire
    slabbo"and it then make it so you can run multiple tablets at your home, instead of 1 PC per person. I have two monitors set up for my PC and I wished i can add another mouse and keyboard so me and nephew could use the same PC at the same time. Why don't they make something like this possible?Damn, I should patent this idea!
    There's a tool that let you do that though I don't remember the name (Anyone?) Or if your PC is powerful enough just use a VM with its own K/M and monitor for the other person.
    Reply
  • dalethepcman
    With windows 8, tablets will become mainstream. They won't be replacing PC's for anyone that does work on a PC, but they will replace the PC for most home users. The only thing holding most tablets back is software compatibility. I own an Acer windows 7 tablet and its awesome, I use for everything except gaming. I don't know why Acer thinks the tablet is dead...
    Reply