Taiwanese computer makers Acer Inc and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) were the biggest winners this Christmas, after six of their low-cost netbooks entered Amazon.com’s top 10 laptop bestselling list in the US, local media reported yesterday.
Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, is reported to have defied the global economic downturn by registering its best-ever year-end holiday sales this year. During the Christmas shopping period, Taiwanese netbook, or mini-laptop brands, nearly dominated Amazon’s latest list of best-selling laptops, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday.
Among the 15 bestselling laptops, Asustek’s Eee PC and Acer’s Aspire One models took up eight spots. The Eee PC 1000 HA 10-inch netbook was the top seller, while two other models — the Eee PC, 900 HA and the 904 HA — ranked No. 3 and No. 13 respectively, the report said.
Acer, the world’s third-largest PC vendor, was also outperforming. Its Aspire One 8.9-inch netbook, which comes in five colors, also made the top 15 bestselling list.
Amazon’s list proves the popularity of netbooks among US customers. Excluding three Apple notebooks, the remaining best sellers were all priced below US$500, compared to the ultra-thin MacBook, which costs more than US$1,200.
Recent market research showed that Acer, which launched the Aspire One model in the third quarter, has begun to surpass netbook pioneer Asustek in the low-cost PC market in terms of market shares.
Asustek was therefore forced to cut its prices sharply to maintain its leading position.
To boost Christmas sales, Asustek cut the cost of its bestselling 10-inch Eee PC model by more than US$40 to US$389, making it the cheapest 10-inch model on the market. The price of its 8.9-inch model was trimmed to US$329, making it almost US$40 cheaper than the Acer Aspire One.
Following hot sales of netbooks worldwide, Asustek expects to become the world’s No. 5 notebook brand next year, while Acer projects to surpass Hewlett-Packard Co to become the No. 1 notebook vendor in the world.
On the low-cost PC shipment targets for next year, Asustek and Acer set a goal of 10 million units and 15 million units respectively, for a value of NT$7.2 million (US$219,000) and NT$9 million, the report said.
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