Mobile matters
Lanci also provided an overview of Acer's business in general. "We saw the light at the end of the tunnel in Q3 and in Q4 we're out of it," he said. "Most of the growth in 2009 came from netbooks, which are already 20 percent of the mobile market."
Acer has done well out of deciding to embrace the netbook market, albeit belatedly. Lanci offered some clues about where he thinks the mobile market might be headed. "Windows 7 has been a good driver of growth, but we need to keep an eye on Android and Chrome in the future. We need to get to 12 hours battery life without compromising on performance."
Android? Chrome? 12 hours batter life? Sounds like a smartbook to us. And let's not forget how many relationships Acer is developing through its smartphone push. There was no announcement about smartbooks, but we'd be very surprised if Acer didn't get involved, possibly as soon as CES.
We were able to have a quick conversation with Acer marketing boss Gianpiero Morbello and asked him when we were going to see an Acer smartbook. "We have a very good relationship with Qualcomm," was all he would say. Shall we take that as a yes?
But before we get too carried away with all that, let's not forget that Acer's success so far has been primarily a wintel thing. As if to emphasise that, Acer has specially filmed video clips from Steve Ballmer and Paul Otellini, congratulating Acer on its new offering.
