Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s No. 4 PC brand, is banking on its upcoming “ultrabook” to regain lost market share.
The company is set to ship one of the market’s first ultrabooks, the Aspire S3, at the end of the month, with shipments to pick up in bulk next month, Acer chief marketing officer Scott Lin (林顯郎) said.
There will be various specifications for the 13.3-inch Aspire S3.
Acer has no immediate plans to debut 11.6-inch models as its rivals are doing, because the company’s surveys found that the 13.3-inch model is most sought after by consumers, he said.
“It was hard to imagine 13.3-inch notebooks could weigh less than 1.4kg in the past,” Lin said, adding that that was achieved by using thinner components, such as solid state drive.
Ultrabooks are the latest Intel Corp-backed notebooks that are super slim, powerful and that offer some tablet-like features, such as “instant on.”
The Aspire S3 comes with a 13.3-inch LED screen, measures 1.3cm in thickness and weighs less than 1.4kg. Its battery can last up to seven hours.
At the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin last week, Acer said the Aspire S3 would be priced between 799 euros (US$1,124) and 1,199 euros, depending on such specifications as Core i3, i5 or i7 chips, solid-state or conventional hard disks.
The product will be priced at about NT$35,000 in Taiwan, Lin said.
He said the price tag of US$1,000 touted by Intel would be hard to achieve, given the high prices of the metal casings, solid state drives and processors.
“The US$1,000 price tag didn’t specify which components were to be used. It is hard to achieve,” Lin said.
Rival Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) has also said it was difficult to sell ultrabooks for less than US$1,000 given the high component costs.
However, Asustek aims to start selling its ultrabooks, called the UX series, this month with a price range of US$799 to US$1,999.
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