Acer is not a donkey which follows any Apple and will not
be releasing anything that looks like Jobs' Mob's latest iCon.
Acer Taiwan president Scott Lin said that any idiot could
make the iPad and it represented no technology barrier to his outfit. He said such a gadget did not fit into his company's
cunning plans for the future. Instead Acer will focus on pushing ultra-thin
notebooks for 2010.
Apple is able to support the iPad through its iTunes ecosystem,
while few other makers, including Acer, have comparable experience in operating
an online store, Lin noted. Closed platforms, like the iPad are typically limited in
terms of scale and are confined to niche markets. Jobs Mob has been carving its
own niche, which means that while Apple could see success with devices like the
iPad. However others cant replicate its result simply by copying.
He didn't think the iPad was going to make any impact on
the notebook/netbook markets as the two products target completely different
consumer groups. According to Digitimes Acer expects its large-size
traditional notebooks to account for 50-60 per cent of total notebook shipments
with netbook at around 20 per cent and ultra-thin notebooks about 20-30 per
cent.
Acer will also push notebooks with a thickness of less
than 2cm as a major product for 2010, Lin noted.