Acer founder Stan Shih has told hacks that Apple products are like mutant viruses which are damn difficult to kill in the short-term.

He said that Apple's strong popularity was because of the iPad and iPhone. Shih added that PC vendors will eventually find a way to isolate Apple and become immune.

Apple deserved respect for running a “revolution” not “evolution” strategy that other other PC makers used. However, he said that history has proved that a market that evolves naturally will always turn out to be much stronger.

In the battle between Microsoft's Windows and OS-X, Apple always look down on Ballmer's boys claiming they lack creativity. But Windows' open platform has attracted the adoption of most PC brands, while Apple's PC market has turned out to be limited. Apple was the betamax, to Redmond's VHS, he pointed out.

Apple's biggest threat comes from open products such as Google's Android operating system which is already attracting a lot PC brands to develop related products. These will eventually isolate Apple users to a point that the outfit is no longer relevant.

On the other hand, Shih praised Job's Mob for its highly integrated hardware and software and online application store. Apple have created a strategy should be a good example for PC brands to learn from.

On another subject, he thinks that the US PC vendors will give up on the market in the long term. IBM's sale of its PC department to Lenovo was one of the first to do this as the profits from PC products will only fall lower.

He predicts that US PC brands will focus on the services industry and leave everything hardware to the Far East.