Despite market speculation that Amazon’s entry into the tablet computer business would have a negative impact on Android tablet makers, Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday retained its full-year shipment target of 2 million to 2.5 million tablets, a company official said.
The US online retailer on Wednesday in New York unveiled its Kindle Fire tablet — a 7-inch handheld device running on Google Inc’s Android platform and selling for US$199.
With a price tag less than half of the entry-point US$499 iPad by Apple Inc, coupled with its ample content offering, Amazon has not only put pressure on Apple, but also on its Android-camp peers, none of whom are likely to compete on either price or value.
“The Kindle Fire carries such a cheap price tag that of course there will be an impact on existing players,” Simon Hwang (黃杉榕), deputy president of Acer’s Touch Business Group, told reporters on the sidelines of an awards ceremony.
Hwang said the company’s shipment target would remain intact, despite speculation that Amazon’s tablet has the potential to disrupt the existing market, forcing non-iPad tablet makers, including Acer and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), to slash prices in order to stay competitive.
Hwang said Amazon did provide a great example of the integration of software and hardware, which is a good selling point for the device, especially in North America.
As such, Acer is also exploring ways to integrate better software into its tablet offerings, Hwang said.
The company would work with content developers in various countries to offer applications with domestic flavors, he added.
Even so, many Android tablet PC makers were struggling with their profitability before the launch of the Kindle Fire, according to Citigroup Global Markets analyst Kevin Chang (張凱偉).
“With Amazon launching a tablet PC with more flavors next year, we expect to see more players exit the tablet PC business in the next four to six quarters,” Chang wrote in a report on Thursday.
As Amazon is likely to dominate the Android tablet camp, Taiwanese tablet makers such as Acer, Asustek and HTC Corp (宏達電) would be negatively impacted by the launch of the Kindle Fire, Chang and analysts at JPMorgan led by Gokul Hariharan said in separate reports on Thursday.
Acer, the world’s No. 4 PC vendor, introduced its first tablet, Iconia Tab A100, in June, after HTC unveiled its first tablet, the Flyer, in February. Asustek, the world’s No. 5 PC brand, launched its Eee Pad Transformer in March.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS