Ultra-thin notebooks are the future but are being hampered by Dell, HP and even Intel itself, Acer chairman JT Wang said on Wednesday. He fully expects these systems, combined with longer battery life, to become a major trend but believes Dell and HP have ‘spoiled’ the segment by dropping the prices of regular notebooks to $399, discouraging shoppers from picking up the more portable systems. They also do little to promote the slimmer notebooks themselves.
The executive also partly blames Intel as its emphasis on full-size notebook processors next year may hurt the low-power chips needed for thinner computers. Simultaneously, though, Wang believes Intel may be unfairly influenced by Dell and HP as their preferences for larger notebooks distort the actual demand from others.
Acer has a vested interest in promoting the category as its Timeline series and related Gateway models form a significant part of its business: about 30 percent of its systems shipped next year will fit into the category. Currenly, only a handful of major companies currently design systems that fit the criteria; Apple’s MacBook Air and Lenovo’s ThinkPad X301 represent the high end of the group, but most use Intel’s much less expensive CULV processors and cost under $1,000.