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Acer founder says US PCs will go in 20 years
US COMPUTER BRANDS will go the way of the dodo in 20 years because the land of the free is not the home of the save, according to the founder of Taiwanese PC maker Acer.
Speaking to the Commercial Times, Acer's founder Stan Shih said that the US has not got the knack of producing the low-priced PCs the market demands.
Shih said that the trend for low-priced computers will last for years, but the US computer makers just don't know how to put such products on the market.
He said that US computer brands may disappear over the next 20 years, just like what happened to US television brands.
Acer has been a high flier in the computer world, knocking the socks off hardware maker Dell and is likely to replace HP as the number one vendor in 2011, Shih claimed.
However the US market is a little strange. For example Apple has been able to do quite well selling expensive PCs with a huge mark-up. We are sure that other US hardware makers could follow suit and leave the cheap and cheerful market to the Asian importers. µ
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I'm calling the police... someone's kidnapped Nick Farrell or he's been body snatched by a spirit - (the spirit of st. jobs perhaps???
Hi,
The difference between US/Europe manufacturers and those in Asian I was told was this.
US/European manufacturers when assembling a motherboard will test each functional area separately before testing an entire motherboard. This is time consuming and expensive but allows faults to be detected early.
Conversely the Asian manufacturers assemble the motherboard and then test the complete motherboard which is quicker but can fail to detect areas of marginal operation which are likely to fail.
Ultimately you get what you pay for, however if you plan to replace your motherboard regularly then it is not an issue.
Perhaps is good that Apple fights against clones, on the other hand their hardware is alredy produced in the East.
Acer laptops may be selling like gangbusters but product quality is beginning to show in quite a few complaints on forums, often about wireless.
I was surprised to see a friend's Acer laptop which was a few month old was showing bald spots where the apparent metallic finish was wearing through to black plastic below.
I too am an Acer Laptop user who bought an inexpensive Acer laptop at Walmart in the fall of 2008. A year later, the painted finish showed bald spots, the batter wouldn't charge to 100% and I had to replace the AC adapter just to keep it running. That will be the last Acer Laptop I buy at any price.
The difference with Apple is that they use PC parts from the same Chinese vendors that everyone else uses but they design cases that are made of Aluminum that look stylish. They have reliability issues of their own, although not as unreliable as others. US manufacturer's could attempt jacking up prices but they will find fewer customers than they already don't have in this economy. Consumers have smartened up and realized that it's not necessary to replace a PC every two years just because Intel and Microsoft want to keep getting rich. This trend isn't going to change for the PC industry, accept where Apple is concerned. They are the only ones reaping profits in this economy.
I NEVER SAW SUCH EXPENSUV COMPUTERS AS SONY VAIO. NOT EVEN APPLE MAC BOOK ARE SO PRICEY!
SONY IS JAPANESE ASIAN THAT'S HOW I KNOW.
Mobile devices (cell phone, e-readers), embedded computers (web and streaming capable TV's) and cloud computing will converge within 20 years to make dedicated PC's an item only for hobbyists and IT professionals the same as 30 years ago (which will probably prefer quality brands). The cheap brands will disappear from the developed world because their functions will be absorbed by other devices.
I'm sorry everyone feels that way about Acer. I have had two laptops, one being a netbook, both from Wal*Mart. I have been extremely happy with them, the performance for the price is very hard to beat. I also know at least half a dozen other people with Acer computers that are very happy. Yes, they have cosmetic issues, but they are negligable for the price they sell for.
I have had my ACER 5315 for over 2 years now, and am quite happy. it does show it's age, just as any laptop or PC would, but it has yet to let me down.
I would HAPPILY buy another ACER. :)
Sam
... seems to have dropped a bit lately
I agree with the poster above who stated that American consumers have gotten smart and now hold on to their computers for a lot longer. Let's face it, to the average user (85% of us out there) will Microsoft Word open significantly faster on a Core2 machine as opposed to a Pentium 4? Acrobat? Browsers? Light Photoshop usage?
A 3Ghz Pentium 4 was the sweet spot for world + dog. I have been happy with my IBM 3.2Ghz socket 478 Prescott and have absolutely no plans to upgrade anytime soon. The computer is approaching 5 years old now. Yearly reimages restore the speed and get rid of the bloat. Many newer computers have already bitten the dust, given the decline in quality of manufacturing.
I work as a senior tech at a repair center for a wide variaty of laptops. I can tell you from personal experience that Acers as well as Gateway machines are junk.
To top that off, their customer service is also about as pathetic as you can get in the PC industry. If you end up having issues with that laptop you have to pay for example to ship it out to them, where as HP, Sony, etc will send you prepaid boxes so there is no cost to you.
In this industry you generally get what you pay for both in terms of the product as well as customer service once the purchase has been made.
I never EVER bought or will ever buy a desktop. Price of windows is too much for me to absorb.
Laptops though... My sister has a 3 year and 3 months old Acer Aspire 5100. Just replaced the fan for her, installed linux, and it works like new, my sister's happy. My Acer Aspire One, the 1-st AAO to be produced, is still kicking well with linux. Heck, it can even do some 3D that it ain't supposed to (Intel Graphics Decelerator 945). I am fairly sure that the next netbook I buy will be Acer. Unless ASUS can pull of something good for less.