In the once-proud netbook market, PC giants are now suffering.
Recently, Acer announced that it will be based in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa product inventory, operating expenses of $ 150 million. In addition, Acer plans to lay off 300 people in Europe to cut operating costs by $ 30 million a year.
This year, Acer can be described as bearish news constantly. In March, Acer CEO Jiang panko lanai” and the board of directors have a disagreement on the direction of future development " lightning left; in April, the company issued a bad first quarter of this year's performance report: net profit of only 1.2 billion NTD (about $ 42 million), a significant decline of 64%.
According to the latest data of IDC, Acer global PC shipments in the first quarter as a whole fell far beyond the industry average, only 898.9 million units, down 16.3%; market share fell to 10.9%, only the fourth leading Lenovo 1 percentage point.
Acer shares have plummeted 40 percent this year, a two-year record low. Industry analysts say it is unlikely to win back the trust of capital markets unless business goals are met in the next few quarters.
Acer has relied on netbooks made a lot of money, at the peak period even leading the PC industry boss HP, ranking first in the global notebook market. But with the netbook market shrinking rapidly, Acer did not react in time, before the gains of market share are also quickly lost.
In fact, Acer's predicament is the epitome of the PC industry.
The scenery is no longer On June 8, market research firm Gartner lowered its forecast for growth in the global PC market in 2011, saying that consumers in developed markets choose tablets such as Apple's iPad, rather than small laptops. It expects the PC market to grow 9.3 percent this year, down from its previous forecast of 10.5 percent. This year, they have several times downgraded the Industry Development estimates.
Gartner research director Ranjit two said netbook shipments had dropped significantly in the past few quarters, which has driven down overall mobile PC market growth. Acer and other netbook manufacturers in recent quarters by this market trend change.
The internet market downturn, so that the internet pioneer Asus also feel hurt. The company reported first-quarter revenue of 58.3 billion new Taiwan dollars ($2 billion), down 27 percent from a year earlier, and Net Profit of 34.2 billion new Taiwan dollars ($1.2 billion), down 31 percent year-on-year.
In June 2007, Asus was the first in the industry to launch the first netbook EeePC, a time swept the world. Since then, the netbook market has grown rapidly, according to IDC statistics, 2009 global netbook sales from the previous year 11.6 million units jumped to 34.4 million units, nearly tripled. But in 2010, sales of netbooks increased by only 1.3 million units.
Today, the netbook sale scene has disappeared. Market research company Suppli analyst Matthew * Wilkins said, all the attention around the tablet computer, PC consumption led to weak demand in the first quarter, the surge in demand for Apple's iPad and other tablets have a negative impact on PC sales, but the impact is mainly concentrated in the field of low-end netbook.
In the face of lost territory, pushing through the net these industry chiefs are not willing.
Acer believes that netbooks still have a chance, including in the US market, and they will not quit this area. The company spokeswoman Lisa * Imad recently told the media, the netbook has died is purely exaggerated, may not see once the explosive growth, but the price is still the netbook most favorable killer.
Earlier this year, Asus CEO Shen Zhenlai also claimed that will adhere to the core business of the netbook, " netbook growth rate will not immediately significantly reduced, although in the United States market underperform, in the European market demand is very stable. He believes that the internet market will continue to grow this year.
At this year's computer exhibition in Taipei (Computex2011), Asus released a new generation of flagship EeePC netbook, thinner body, equipped with Intel Atom processor and MeeGo operating system, starting at only $ 199, is expected to be sold in July. Shen Zhenlai hopes this low-cost netbook can restore a little face.
Lower prices may help reignite interest in netbooks, but the practice of netbook vendors trading for market share at the expense of corporate profits has not worked, and Acer is mired in the quagmire of high inventory on netbooks. This is also believed to be one of the main reasons that the franchise left.
Agonizing, Acer finally decided to get rid of the over-reliance on the netbook. Acer founder Shi Zhenrong publicly announced that they will shift the focus of business from PC to tablet and smartphone. More recently, Acer has taken IconiaTab into the fray.IconiaTab is Acer's first tablet to run Google's Android operating system.
However, for those early PC manufacturers rely on netbooks, now enter the tablet facing more uncertainty. According to IDC's calculations, in the fourth quarter of 2010, Apple in the global tablet market share of 73%; South Korea, although Samsung in second place, but the market share is only 17%.IDC expects Apple's 2011 tablet market share of about 70% to 80%, the global total sales will reach 50 million units.
A different scene. According to Microsoft, in the first quarter of 2011, the global netbook sales fell by 40%, while the entire PC industry quarterly decline of only 5.4%. However, the processor manufacturers are confident compared to the PC manufacturers who are struggling with the internet swamp.
Recently, the world's leading chip design companies ARM is trying to enter the netbook market. The company's global president, Todd Brown, said Microsoft mentioned the new generation of Windows operating system will increase support for ARM processors, which means the future netbooks may adopt ARM products.
Mr. Brown said that iPads can be used to surf the internet, send and receive messages, and play games, but that's not enough for business people, who need thinner, cheaper, longer-term laptops. He said he wanted to capture 40 percent of the market in 2015.
This is not good news for Intel, which has helped to popularize netbooks and dominate the market for large-scale netbook processors.ARM has basically monopolized the chip supply on the market of smartphones and tablets, Intel is helpless. If the other party into the netbook market, then, Intel only PC and traditional notebook market can keep.
Intel, of course, will not stand by, the company plans to release the next generation of Atom processor platform in September this year, and its single price cut, more than 30%, a move that will help the netbook price down to $ 200 (about 1300 yuan) or less. In response, Intel mobile platform general manager Eric Reid said, We absolutely rely on the netbook market.
Another processor maker, AMD, said that its Fusion chip series since late last year launched has been popular, has shipped 5 million pieces, and is still in short supply. A product manager at AMD mobile said demand for Fusion chips had soared in the most recent financial quarter. The goal of Fusion chips is also to include the netbook market, a competitor to Intel Atom processors.
Not only are these processors bigwigs, but the internet giant Google has also recently been intent on grabbing the netbook domain and trying to change the way consumers use computers.
In May, Google launched its Chromebook, which is manufactured by Samsung and Acer, and was launched in the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy on June 15. This new network-centric netbook has a battery life of up to 8 hours, no hard drive design, no backup or even an update, and can be powered on in seconds.
Analysts point out that Google's entry into the internet market is not as smooth as its Android into the smartphone market, and it will take a while to get the favor of mainstream users, but for those cloud computing operating system fans, Google Chromebook may be a good choice.
"The netbook manufacturer still has reason to remain optimistic. According to the Wall Street Journal, the tablet's main sales area is still limited to cities in the United States and other industrialized countries, and for high-income families in these places. Fewer than 5 percent of respondents own a tablet, according to a Nielsen Survey. This means that in emerging economies, cheap netbooks have broad market prospects.