Acer Android Tablets To Replace Netbooks

Taiwan-based computer giant Acer has revealed plans to introduce two or three tablet PCs this year, in a move that could see the company eventually phase out netbooks altogether.

Acer’s tablets will reportedly use Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors – unlike the majority of Android tablets currently on the market that use ARM processors. The devices will range between 7 inches and 10 inches, and will run Google’s Android operating system.

According to Taiwan sales manager Lu Bing-hsian, the tablet launches will begin a gradual replacement of Acer’s small netbook computers, for which it is well known. “That’s the direction of the market,” he told IDG News Service.

The company will continue to make netbooks, but will stick to simple models and manufacture fewer than in previous years. The forthcoming tablets will reportedly be faster than laptops with Windows operating systems, but Acer declined to give any further product or pricing details.

A competitive market

Acer will be hoping that this latest foray into the tablet market is more successful than its previous attempt. The company was forced to discontinue an earlier 12-inch device in July 2010, after it sold less than 300 units in a month.

However, in October 2010, Acer’s CEO Gianfranco Lanci confirmed that a family of tablet computers were on the way, some running Microsoft’s Windows platform and others running Android.

“We won’t imitate Google or Apple. We are in a good position to penetrate into other customer electronics markets including smartphones and tablet PCs,” said Acer Chairman J.T. Wang at the time.

IMS Research recently predicted that tablet computers based on Google’s Android operating system will comprise 15 percent of the worldwide market in 2011, going up to 28 percent by 2015. However, analyst Anna Hunt said that Android will owe its rise to the iPad, which may command as much as 75 percent of the market or more by the end of the year.