Acer: Netbooks are the future

 

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By Tim Danton in Budapest

Posted on 19 Sep 2008 at 09:26

The CEO and president of Acer, Gianranco Lanci, today set out his company's vision for the next few years - and the key message is that netbooks will become much more widespread than ever before.

"Ten years ago, the notebook was the second PC. Now we're seeing the notebook being the main PC and the netbook being a second PC," he said.

The main reason people will need these devices, symbolised by the Asus Eee PC which won PC Pro's Hardware of the Year award earlier this week, is because they need internet access on the move.

"Internet is becoming part of our life, but people need it to be mobile," Lanci said. "People in most cases prefer a full internet experience [when on the move] to a limited internet experience on a mobile device. On a netbook you can have a full experience."

What's inside doesn't count
At the same time, Lanci declared that the technology inside notebooks is becoming less important.

"The evolution of [processor] technology in the last ten years has been really big, moving from megahertz to gigahertz. If you take last year and next year, I think evolution is really slowing down," he said.

"So I think evolution will come from new devices, in terms of screen size and [the applications they're used for]."

Brand and style will arguably become the more important factors, he argued. "People are starting to look at notebooks like they look at other consumer products, like a watch."

Acer also argues that its multi-brand strategy, incorporating Gateway and Packard Bell, is a key advantage it holds over the likes of Dell and HP.

"The car industry is always an excellent example," said Lanci. "People who buy a BMW will never buy a Volkswagen, and even worse they won't buy a Skoda. I think PCs will go the same way. People with a certain personality won't go from one brand to another."