Apple's iTunes advantage keeps Acer from building iPad challenger

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Citing the strength of iTunes and the App Store, the president of PC maker Acer said his company does not have plans to launch a touchscreen tablet to compete with the Apple iPad.



Acer Taiwan President Scott Lin said Acer could technically create such a device, but it does not fit into the company's business model, according to DigiTimes. The strength of the iPad, Lin said, will lie in its connectivity to iTunes and the App Store, which now offers more than 140,000 software choices.



"Historically, closed platforms are typically limited in terms of scale and are confined to niche markets," the report said. "Apple has built is business out of carving its own niche, which means that while Apple could see success with devices like the iPad, other players are unlikely to be able to replicate its result simply by copying, Lin noted."



Apple plans to expand its online stores with the new iPad iBookstore. As part of the iBooks application, it will allow instant download of best-selling titles from major publishers that can be read on the iPad. The iBookstore will be in addition to the App Store and the iTunes Music Store.



While Acer has no experience in building an online store, and has no plans to get into that market, the company plans to continue to build thinner and lighter notebooks. Lin said his company he does not see the laptop market segment being impacted by Apple's iPad, even with its $499 starting price point.



Lin said Acer expects traditional, full-size notebooks to account for 50 percent to 60 percent of its sales in the coming year, while ultra-thin notebooks will take between 20 percent and 30 percent. Low-cost, low-power netbooks are forecast to represent about 20 percent of Acer's business.



In the fourth quarter of 2009, Acer was the second-largest PC maker in the world, capturing 12.5 percent of global sales. In the u.S., Acer was the third-largest PC manufacturer. Its 11.9 percent domestic share put it ahead of fifth-place Apple, which had 7.4 percent.



In another report, DigiTimes said computer maker MSI has an iPad competitor known as the mPad, based on the Google Android mobile operating system. That touchscreen tablet device, based on the nVidia Tegra chip, will see mass shipments "as soon as the market demands it," MSI Chairman Joseph Hsu said. The company also plans to shelve its development of e-book readers.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 89
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Acer?? Really?? LOL



    Acer builds junk. It's as if they get their ideas for body design from a landfill and then festoon their notebooks with blue lights as a distraction.



    What were they going to do? Add another generic touchscreen tablet running some full version of Windows to the pile?



    Jeez . . .
  • Reply 2 of 89
    adamwadamw Posts: 114guest
    This reminds me of the "blood on the clickwheel" series of iPod music players and online music service wannabees that fell like dominoes after the success of the iPod and iTunes.



    Is Acer the first of many hardware vendors and service providers who will "blink" and decide to not compete or stop competing with Apple, iTunes and the iPad? Looks like Amazon has also blinked, in agreeing to let books publishers set their own ebook pricing due to the iPad.
  • Reply 3 of 89
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Acer?? Really?? LOL



    Acer builds junk. It's as if they get their ideas for body design from a landfill and then festoon their notebooks with blue lights as a distraction.



    What were they going to do? Add another generic touchscreen tablet running some "full" version of Windows to the pile?



    Jeez . . .



    fixed
  • Reply 4 of 89
    @pmz:



    No, I think "awful" was the word he was groping for.
  • Reply 5 of 89
    zindakozindako Posts: 468member
    LOL is all i can say about Acer
  • Reply 6 of 89
    I agree, Acer would come our with some crap running full Windows 7 that would be open and let you install what you want. It's hard drive would also be rubbish and feature things 250 GB hard drive like their netbooks.



    Much better to have a closed system that restricts your online digital purchases to one store that attaches a premium to its pricing, and then settle for a 16 GB of space, because as we know 16GB is all the space you need if you want to follow the suggestion and use it for watching films on.
  • Reply 7 of 89
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    In another report, DigiTimes said computer maker MSI has an iPad competitor known as the mPad*, based on the Google Android mobile operating system. That touchscreen tablet device, based on the nVidia Tegra chip, will see mass shipments "as soon as the market demands it," MSI Chairman Joseph Hsu said. The company also plans to shelve its development of e-book readers.



    Obviously, one company was on the ball. Did anybody check out the mPad*?



    Perhaps we should check out MSI to see what the next creation by Apple will look like the next time.



    http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Ne...73&query=APPLE
  • Reply 8 of 89
    roos24roos24 Posts: 170member
    Acer is huge in Europe and Asia and I would not just laugh them off. But Scott Lin is a smart man who apparently understands Apple's strategy better than many a reporter or blogger here in the US. There will be (or there already are) other tablets, many of them will have better features like camera's etc. than the Pad, but none can boast the tight integration as the iPad in Apple's ecosystem.



    The story will be very similar to the iPhone.
  • Reply 9 of 89
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    At least ACER gets it, they understand why Apple dominated in the market... again other will try, waste billions of dollars trying to compete and fail.... It is going to be another ipod situation all over again.
  • Reply 10 of 89
    igeniusigenius Posts: 1,240member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Abster2core View Post




    Perhaps we should check out MSI to see what the next creation by Apple will look like the next time.



    From http://www.thefirstreporter.com/tech...#axzz0eIGYbduY



    "MSI?s prototype was unveiled at CES 2010 which featured Nvidia?s Tegra line of ARM system-on-chip processor packages loaded with 1 Ghz dual-core ARM Cortex A9 MPCore processor making the device to multitask and play videos at 1080p on the Android platform."



    Android, 1080p, better screen proportions, dual core processor, multitasking, open access to codecs and formats.



    It seems to solve most of the problem designed into the iPad. Sweet.
  • Reply 11 of 89
    mactrippermactripper Posts: 1,328member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by timgriff84 View Post


    I agree, Acer would come our with some crap running full Windows 7 that would be open and let you install what you want. It's hard drive would also be rubbish and feature things 250 GB hard drive like their netbooks.



    Much better to have a closed system that restricts your online digital purchases to one store that attaches a premium to its pricing, and then settle for a 16 GB of space, because as we know 16GB is all the space you need if you want to follow the suggestion and use it for watching films on.





    Apple will of course offer a wonderful paid solution to the low storage issue with their MobileMe and AT&T per month charges. Then when your eyes get sore reading e-books and watching movies for long hours on the iPad there are $30-$40 third party anti-glare/reflection films that you can buy and apply, rinse and repeat every few months as they yellow, peal at the edges and collect dirt.



    But despite all those wonderful things there will no option to rent all books for under $6, which would have people running to Apple Store and handing over the cash. :P
  • Reply 12 of 89
    "The company also plans to shelve its development of e-book readers."



    lol
  • Reply 13 of 89
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by andyapple View Post


    @pmz:



    No, I think "awful" was the word he was groping for.



    No, the word he was looking for was "fool"
  • Reply 14 of 89
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    I said it 3 or 4 years ago. I'll say it again. iTunes is the secret sauce in Apple's world domination recipe. Someday we will all be running our whole lives through iTunes. Not saying if that's good or bad.
  • Reply 15 of 89
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zindako View Post


    LOL is all i can say about Acer





    actually I will give them a small bit of props here. They are showing some brains with this whole thing. They could do something but the only reason would be to wage war on Apple's ipad. NOT because it fits with what they want to do as a company. It would be akin to Apple slamming out a $200 netbook 2 years ago 'because everyone else has one'.



    Acer knows that they would lose based on name/brand alone so why break out of their game plan to make something just cause
  • Reply 16 of 89
    igeniusigenius Posts: 1,240member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tundraboy View Post


    Someday we will all be running our whole lives through iTunes.



    Who is 'we"?



    The rest of us like choice.
  • Reply 17 of 89
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iGenius View Post


    From http://www.thefirstreporter.com/tech...#axzz0eIGYbduY



    "MSI?s prototype was unveiled at CES 2010 which featured Nvidia?s Tegra line of ARM system-on-chip processor packages loaded with 1 Ghz dual-core ARM Cortex A9 MPCore processor making the device to multitask and play videos at 1080p on the Android platform."



    Android, 1080p, better screen proportions, dual core processor, multitasking, open access to codecs and formats.



    It seems to solve most of the problem designed into the iPad. Sweet.



    You are in for Future Shock. And like Joseph Hsu, you will wait. Unlike you, he will know why.



    http://speirs.org/blog/2010/1/29/future-shock.html
  • Reply 18 of 89
    ilogicilogic Posts: 298member
    Acer makes good PCs - I've used them and they were solid performers. I think it's smart that they know when to back down, not like some other manufacturers that shall remain unnamed...
  • Reply 19 of 89
    jasenj1jasenj1 Posts: 923member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Maestro64 View Post


    At least ACER gets it, they understand why Apple dominated in the market... again other will try, waste billions of dollars trying to compete and fail.... It is going to be another ipod situation all over again.



    Agreed. Unlike their competition, Apple doesn't just sell hardware or software. They sell both - tightly integrated in a dance of total user experience. And with iTunes and the App store, they've added content to the... dance floor?



    Microsoft makes an OS, but it is so generic and not targeted well to a specific form-factor. PC makers make varied hardware, but the OS & user experience aren't tailored enough to make the products simple & friendly. And neither MS nor the hardware makers have the agreements with content producers to provide compelling stores (MS probably does with the Zune, but I haven't seen them making the level of effort that Apple has done with iTunes.) And the few folks who do make compelling custom devices - like maybe Archos - are so small they can't muster the marketing clout to stand out.



    At some point, I expect Apple will get big enough that the anti-trust folks will come snooping around and try to split them up. But until then, we'll get under-featured, locked down devices that work & sell great.



    - Jasen.
  • Reply 20 of 89
    At least he gets it, no windows 7 or windows mobile... But he wasn't completely honest, acer lack the r and d, the custom cpu, the capacitive screen experience, the great deals with lg for lcds and other for flash rom, 3g chips, that drive the price down, and if apple can offer this for $500, guess what no one is going to buy acer junk that sell for $600. That's got everyone on their toes, that they were expecting apple premium prices and actually apple did leverage their large market dominance and expertise to drive the ipads prices way down leaving little room for someone to go on about the apple tax, whilst selling inferior hardware and software cheaper. Which was pretty much their only selling point, the cheapo effect.
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