Acer still holds faith in the netbook market

It is now widely known that Acer has been facing declining sales and revenues due to a weakening netbook market. Still, Acer remains committed to netbooks as they are still one of the top manufacturers in the category.

“The death of netbooks is overstated,” says Acer spokesperson Lisa Emard to Forbes. “We may not see the same explosive growth as before, but the netbook price point is the killer.” Emard is likely comparing the low prices of netbooks to current tablets. While tablets are north of $500, netbooks can be found for well under that price point. In fact, the average price of the current 10 best-selling netbooks on Amazon is $305, according to Forbes. The lower price point could be the major contributing factor for Acer’s dedication to continue fighting in the netbook market.

Additionally, Acer will be banking on the ever-rising performance levels of netbooks as an incentive to buyers. With netbooks, Acer product manager John Karabian claims that “You’re really getting closer to notebook performance,” while at the same time believes in physical keyboards as a necessity for productive consumers.

Regardless, The Taiwan-based computer manufacturer has not been ignoring the affects that the tablet industry has brought to netbooks. Predictions earlier this year hinted at falling netbook sales as tablets climb, while a recent Google study proved that many tablet users are finding themselves utilizing their laptops much less as a direct consequence of owning a tablet. Acer has somewhat acknowledged the tablet trend by recently increasing its tablet orders at the cost of netbook production, and will continue to launch its own line of Iconia tablets throughout this year and presumably the next.

Source(s)