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Acer CEO Declares a Tablets Bubble
retroworks writes "According to a story in Digitimes, Acer chairman JT Wang is predicting the end of 'tablet fever.' 'Commenting on tablet PC's impact on the notebook industry, [Acer chairman JT Wang] pointed out that tablet PC fever is already starting to cool down and consumers are also being attracted by notebooks again with Intel's Ultrabooks and Microsoft's Windows 8 the major attractions.' Back to the old model then... PC and laptop sales, driven by Windows upgrades?"
That tablet PC fever is already starting to cool down because, let's face it, the tablet PC is actually a pretty dumb idea. How can we improve the friendliness of computers? I know! Let's take away the keyboard! What next? Take away the screen? That would look cool! I mean, seriously, once you have impressed all of your friends with your new trendy gadget, you have to go back to writing emails, articles, software, books, and good luck with that if you don't even have a keyboard. I have said it many times and let me say it once more: There is no "tablet fever". There never was. There is only "apple fever" and it is not going to cool down any time soon. Hardware vendors were trying to sell tablet PCs literally for decades but there never was any demand, partly because the whole idea is just a notebook without a keyboard. It looks cool but that's it. Using a phone without physical keyboard is hard enough, why anyone would want a computer that is equally hard to use? The only reason people are buying tablet PCs today is either because it's apple or it's like apple so having one somehow makes you cool and that is much more impotant than being productive. Sad but true.
Karma: Positive (probably because of superiour intellect)
One company just had the highest quarterly sales in their entire history.
The other company just lost a few million dollars.
Which company do you think has a better clue about what consumers want?
Were I a significant shareholder of Acer, I would be calling for the replacement of JT Wang. His comments have consistently shown a disconnect from reality and that is not the sort of person one should want directing a corporation. Closing your eyes and pretending things are the way you want them to be rather than how they are isn't a sound business strategy.
I realize that he shouldn't be a cheerleader for the competition but he's gone beyond that and is well into the realm of ignoring facts that are clear to anyone paying even a cursory attention to the market.
In its most recent quarter, Acer lost $234 million. Acer has no competitive tablet offering among the dozens of competing Android tablets. And of course the iPad is selling like mad with an expectation of 22 million units sold during the upcoming holiday quarter.
The Acer CEO is a dimwit who's talking smack because there's nothing else he can do to stem the tide of abject failure coming out of his factories. He is basically berating the customers for buying "hot" tablets, particularly the iPad, instead of buying the tried-and-true plastic Wintel units that Acer vomits up. His company bet big on low-margin netbooks and lost, and now he's betting on Intel "ultrabooks".
HP just bailed out of the entire PC business (echoing IBM's decision in 2004), and among the reasons was that the tablet effect is real.
The Acer CEO's effort is better focused on coming up with better products, not whining.
Before last weekend, I would say it's a fad and will eventually die out within a few years. Then I saw my grandfather using a iPad, that was eye opening. He's 90, been partial paralyzed for 15 years after a stroke so he can only use his left hand. He's never really use a computer and doesn't understand the concept of the Internet. My uncle had brought the iPad to show my cousin's white coat ceremony photos. After showing my grandfather how to open the Photo App (it's the sunflower icon), selecting which album he wanted to see (Graduation, Family Photos, etc.), moving the next picture by swiping your finger, and zooming in and out with pinching, under 5 minutes he was able to do all that and had a blast. I haven't seen him amazed by technology, ever. We've try to get him to use a computer, that didn't work.
There's something here in tablets, not as a computing platform. It's a communication medium for the other 5 billion unconnected humans. It should be a seamless experience with the absolutely the lowest learning curve possible.
Tablets were never going to sell like they were forever. We're approaching the point where most people who want them, already have them. That doesn't mean they were a fad or a bubble. Without looking at sales figures, I would guess that all major inventions, from the Model T to the microwave oven to the MP3 player have gone through a similar cycle. They will continue to sell as people upgrade or replace aging units, but not at the rate they once did. It's a huge win for Apple that they got in at the ground floor. All the "me too!" companies now have an uphill fight on their hands. The Acer CEO likely knows this, and so is declaring the grapes to be sour.
The thing is convertaibles have been around for a decade.
it took apple to show the world that tablets had to have a different GUI from desktop computer. MSFT has been making tablet based OS's for a decade directly, however only a couple of dedicated touch applications where ever created for it, with Office being one of the big one.
when apple shipped the ipad it included a stripped down(and broken depending on your view) version of their office applications. straight out of the box. The email client gui was re written to take advantage of touch interfaces, unlike outlook which is still the same(with a shiny new ribbon)
tablets may become more powerful, but the interface requires them to have simplier UI's. Just like cars engines might get more powerful but you still control it with pedals and a wheel.
We are entering computation age where raw power isn't needed. directed computation power is. for those like you stuck in the past you will struggle with this change.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
I'm no fan of Apple, but to compare the very small tablet computing market that existed prior to the iPad with the market that exists now is absurd.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
I agree that tablets cannot replace computers. But ask yourself two questions:
Are people expecting them to replace computers?
How many people actually need computers?
Computers were wonderful for a while since they enabled rapid technological innovations and people wanted access to those innovations, but I think we're eventually going to see people ditch computers for devices that are more suited to their needs.
(Yes, I know that tablets are computers. But I would also suggest that a lot of people don't see them as computers.)