Acer chairman sees Mac growth stalling in face of ultrabook surge
Acer chairman JT Wang expects Apple's gains in the PC industry to weaken over the next two years as a result of a future surge in sales of notebooks matching Intel's ultrabook design specifications.
Wang admitted that platforms from Apple and Google will join Microsoft and Intel, a partnership often referred to as the Wintel platform, to make up the three major platforms of the PC industry, according to a report from DigiTimes, but he believes new gains from Windows-based PC makers will erase Apple's recent market share growth.
"[Wang] expects Apple platform growth will start weakening in the next two years and the major driver will be replaced by rapid growth of Wintel," the report said. He also added a prediction that sales of devices based on Google's Android platform will flatten out in the PC industry.
The executive went on to claim that ultrabooks will spur surging Wintel growth next year when ultrabook prices drop to $699. For its part, Intel believes it will reach a 40 percent share of the notebook market next year with the ultrabook design it unveiled in May.
Though a separate report from DigiTimes recently claimed that marketing subsidies from Intel would enable as much as 10 percent in price cuts next year, it will likely be difficult for PC vendors to reach the $699 price point. Intel's partners have already had a tough time meeting the chipmaker's sub-$1,000 goal for the specifications. Earlier this year, they reportedly lobbied Intel for a 50 percent cut on ultrabook CPUs because they were struggling to cut costs, but Intel agreed to provide just a 20 percent discount for "first-tier notebook players."
As interest in netbooks have waned and all but a few non-iPad tablets have proved failures in 2011, PC makers have come to view ultrabooks as a beacon of hope. The slide in netbook demand has hit Acer, the No. 1 netbook maker, the hardest, though the company has tepidly voiced its commitment to market the low-margin laptops in emerging markets.
Acer suffered a humbling first-ever quarterly loss earlier this year in part because of competition from stiff Apple's iPad, but Wang believes that interest in tablets is merely a "fever" that will soon recede. Last year, he claimed that the iPad's share of the market will drop to 20 percent.
Meanwhile, Apple has seen sustained growth in Mac shipments in recent years, rapidly outpacing other PC makers. The Mac platform's worldwide market share reached a 15-year high last quarter after pushing past the 5 percent mark. The MacBook Air in particular has seen substantial success, rising to account for 28 percent of Apple's notebook shipments.
Wang admitted that platforms from Apple and Google will join Microsoft and Intel, a partnership often referred to as the Wintel platform, to make up the three major platforms of the PC industry, according to a report from DigiTimes, but he believes new gains from Windows-based PC makers will erase Apple's recent market share growth.
"[Wang] expects Apple platform growth will start weakening in the next two years and the major driver will be replaced by rapid growth of Wintel," the report said. He also added a prediction that sales of devices based on Google's Android platform will flatten out in the PC industry.
The executive went on to claim that ultrabooks will spur surging Wintel growth next year when ultrabook prices drop to $699. For its part, Intel believes it will reach a 40 percent share of the notebook market next year with the ultrabook design it unveiled in May.
Though a separate report from DigiTimes recently claimed that marketing subsidies from Intel would enable as much as 10 percent in price cuts next year, it will likely be difficult for PC vendors to reach the $699 price point. Intel's partners have already had a tough time meeting the chipmaker's sub-$1,000 goal for the specifications. Earlier this year, they reportedly lobbied Intel for a 50 percent cut on ultrabook CPUs because they were struggling to cut costs, but Intel agreed to provide just a 20 percent discount for "first-tier notebook players."
As interest in netbooks have waned and all but a few non-iPad tablets have proved failures in 2011, PC makers have come to view ultrabooks as a beacon of hope. The slide in netbook demand has hit Acer, the No. 1 netbook maker, the hardest, though the company has tepidly voiced its commitment to market the low-margin laptops in emerging markets.
Acer suffered a humbling first-ever quarterly loss earlier this year in part because of competition from stiff Apple's iPad, but Wang believes that interest in tablets is merely a "fever" that will soon recede. Last year, he claimed that the iPad's share of the market will drop to 20 percent.
Meanwhile, Apple has seen sustained growth in Mac shipments in recent years, rapidly outpacing other PC makers. The Mac platform's worldwide market share reached a 15-year high last quarter after pushing past the 5 percent mark. The MacBook Air in particular has seen substantial success, rising to account for 28 percent of Apple's notebook shipments.
Comments
I say they won't sell because the type of people who buy them will complain it does not have a Blu-ray Drive and a Floppy. :-P
Why do they think it is only their crappy net book that will grow into something better, and the Mac Air will be exactly the same as today? Why would they not be worrying (and predicting)a $299 13" MacBook Air with options they can only now dream of..
Seriously, are 10% cuts really going to undermine Apple's long history in this area and economics of scale. If we are only seeing crappy Acer ultrabooks come in at $899 can they really shave another $200 off the price and still turn a profit? Even if they can, will it matter? Apple has owned the 'PC' market profits for years, and does even better in the notebook and >$1000 market segments, so I would expect them to continue to dominate the future of the ultrabook market.
They could even re-release the MacBook as a not as thin, but ODD-less machines that comes in at $799-899 while still turning a good profit. Or even cheaper running Cortex-A15-base chips with 4 or more cores. What would they do then?
I wonder why there is no company say "our products will sell because it's great and it's innovative, no matter how our competitors are doing". Probably they are really not innovating.
That leads me to fear now that an operations guy is in charge of Apple instead of an innovative, creative product guy. I fear that even Apple will lose its creative ability and stop innovating. Then we are really entering 1984. Hopefully I am wrong. Prove me wrong, Tim.
Acer chairman JT Wang expects Apple's gains in the PC industry to weaken over the next two years as a result of a future surge in sales of notebooks matching Intel's ultrabook design specifications.
Is this really newsworthy? Here's an example of his fantastic track record: "Acer exec says Apple's 'closed' iPad will drop to 20% market share." He's pulling predictions out of his
I guess I could sort of see how ultrabooks might have an effect if they reach the $699 price point he mentioned. But that would be a game of numbers (quantity sold) instead of actual profits. Unless his company has some miracle up their sleeve I assume the low price point is going to come at the expense of quality. And then it starts all over again: the commoditization of this new segment of the market and the "race-to-the-bottom" with razor thin margins that these manufacturers all seem to be blindly pursuing.
I don't get it. Don't they see the pattern? There's a saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
It's funny, "Apple's going down because we're about to flood the market with copies of their proven and successful designs!"
Just FYI:
2009 Wang: Netbook shipment will reach 50 million in 2010 and Acer to take 40-50% of it
2010 Wang: iPad a fad; market share will drop to 20%
2011 Wang: Android 3.0 will "enhance" tablet experience, Acer to get 15-20% market share by end of 2011.
Time for him to make his 2012 false claim!
It's funny how all these companies are talking about Apple all the time. They, in part, created the hype for Apple.
I wonder why there is no company say "our products will sell because it's great and it's innovative, no matter how our competitors are doing". Probably they are really not innovating.
That leads me to fear now that an operations guy is in charge of Apple instead of an innovative, creative product guy. I fear that even Apple will lose its creative ability and stop innovating. Then we are really entering 1984. Hopefully I am wrong. Prove me wrong, Tim.
The difference is this: Tim knows what he is, and is not, good at. And he knows who to look to on the Apple bench for what he's not. He knows that the Apple DNA requires innovation and that he is not the creative genius.
Tim is not going to F up. He's a 100 times smarter than Ballmer, and unlike Ballmer, he knows where his weaknesses are. Perfect.
If I can't have Steve Jobs, I would take Tim Cook as CEO over anybody else in America.
Thompson
And one more thingy about INTEL aren't they price fixing by telling every grandfather grandmother PeeCee manufacturer "to stick" to this price for Ultrabook? Is any USofA politician looking into their books? I might be totally wrong so don't stick a barrel to my head ....
Maybe he is just trying to convince himself.
But has this guy never heard of the Wayne Gretsky puck metaphor?!
If you're going to talk the talk, you better walk the walk, JT.
The biggest issue is profitability at PC-level price points. The margins are razor thin. As an investor, it is worth it to put money into something that returns so little?
Can Intel sell CPUs to Wintel makers cheaper than they sell them to Apple? I am not sure they would want to go down that road and risk angering Apple who could switch to AMD or put A6 or A7 CPUs into MacBook Airs. Apple is not going to start losing market share. The satisfaction rating is too high. People really do not want to go back to MS. I can see their rate of growth slowing a little, but I think the incursion into the enterprise plus growth in emerging markets will keep up the growth rate.
Because once you switch to Mac, you can't wait to switch back.
Oh, puh-leeezzze!!! I cannot believe how deluded Mr. Wang is!!! I just don't understand how he can possibly believe that!
Deluded, Mr Wang? Exactly!
Saying it, doesn't make it so Chairman Wang, and paupers won?t soon be riding horses. Tis doubtful Apple will suddenly take to sitting on its haunches, as Acer and others choose to do, while Apple was innovating its slim line of Air books and then began cutting pricing. I can see Apple dropping the price on the 11 inch Air as it introduces a 15 inch cousin and it is predicted the iPad 2 will be kept to compete with the cheap wares when the iPad 3 is released.
The iPad and the Air shall continue their reign as TKO couple.