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Acer Rethinks the "Tablet Bubble," Launching $99 Tablet

Posted by Unknown on from the 3-2-1-*pop* dept.

retroworks writes "In August 2011, Acer Chairman JT Wang declared that the consumer affection for tablets had already begun to cool, basically labeling it a fad. What a difference a year (and a half) makes. Acer now plans to introduce a 'category killer' $99 tablet. 'In the past few months, we've made project roadmap changes in response to big changes in the tablet market,' according to a source at the Wall Street Journal. 'The launch of the Nexus 10 has changed the outlook for what makes competitive pricing.' Acer is aiming the new tablet at emerging markets, competing with Chinese 'white box' tablets (already available in Shenzhen at $45 each)."

3 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Summary implies that tablets are not a fad by chithanh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I would rather claim the reverse. Tablet sales are displacing sales of "more capable machines" at an astonishing rate. A $45 tablet already fulfills the computing needs of a whole lot of people, why should they spend more on a PC? Those high-priced PCs will be relegated to the niche of users who require functions that a tablet or smartphone cannot provide.

  2. Re:Summary implies that tablets are not a fad by houghi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They are not trowing away their PC, they are just buying a second or third or fourth one.
    Typing a letter? Big PC. Browsing in front of the TV? Tablet. When on the road? Their phone. On a holiday? Portable.
    Or mom and dad on the PC and the kids on the portable for homework and tablet for entertainment.

    We do not live in an OR/OR world. Always think AND/AND. So these people have the cake AND eat it too AND the cake is a lie.

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  3. Re:Ya no kidding by DerekLyons · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have yet to meet anyone who has gotten a tablet for any kinds of real reason other than a toy.

    Thereby demonstrating the fallacy of generalizing from your experience to the rest of the world. You can't possibly know more than an invisibly small fraction (one in millions or tens of millions) of all tablet owners well enough to know for absolute certainty they don't use them as anything but toys.
     

    However in actual practice, nobody seems to do that. They have a laptop and a tablet, and a smartphone.

    That's the grandparent's point - rather than one big desktop computer, people now own a range of computing devices the same way they own a range of screwdrivers or a range of kitchen/chef's knifes. Different tools for different uses.