As computer makers jump on the bandwagon of low-energy consuming laptops, Acer Inc (宏碁) is focusing on notebooks running on Intel Corp’s consumer ultra-low voltage (CULV) processors.
Scott Lin (林顯郎), president of Acer’s Taiwan operations, anticipates that once all the major PC brands have released their CULV counterparts, these energy-saving notebooks will make up 20 percent of the global laptop market next year, with netbooks and traditional notebooks accounting for 20 percent and 60 percent respectively.
“Rather than completely cannibalizing the netbook and traditional laptop markets, we believe the bulk of CULV notebooks sales will come at the expense of desktop PCs,” Lin said. “Also, there is no longer the rule that one person can only have one PC.”
Acer introduced its TimeLine CULV series last month with small shipments. It has shipped more than 4,000 units in Taiwan alone this month, Lin said.
Yesterday Acer introduced seven models of its Acer TimeLine series in 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15.6- inch LCD sizes, which have an average battery life span of eight hours, proprietary ComfyTouch cooling technology to diffuse heat and a 2GB memory.
“Intel’s CULV processors consume only 5 to 10 watts of electricity, compared to traditional CPUs that waste between 25 and 35 watts,” said Sean Chang (張碩修), Acer’s notebook product manager.
The success of AsprieOne netbooks last year helped Acer become the world’s No. 2 notebook maker.
The latest market research by International Data Corp (IDC) says that for all of this year the potential worldwide total notebook volume will reach 160 million units.
IDC says 200 million units are anticipated next year and by 2011 and 2012, somewhere around 260 and 300 million units respectively can be expected.
However, there could be a shortage of display components in the near future, Lin said, citing a 30 percent increase in memory chip prices since last month as well as price hikes in panels because of increasing market demand and reduced production lines.
“The Chinese government’s home electronics ‘down to the countryside stimulus package’ will only aggravate [the problem of] tight inventories in liquid crystal display [LCD],” Lin said.
“The combination of price hikes on memory chips, panels and the new Windows 7 operating system will make it very difficult for netbooks to remain inexpensive,” Lin said.
Although Acer has not announced a price increase on its AspireOne netbooks, Lin said margins were tight and the pressure to raise prices was mounting.
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