Acer: 'Netbook is not dead yet'

Taiwan's CEO confirmed that Acer continues to produce netbooks while a host of other companies are gradually leaving the product.

Acer will continue to produce netbooks in the near future. (Photo: Newtechnology).

Even when interviewed in the Wall Street Journal, JTWang, CEO of Acer, expressed his attitude that " They (netbooks) are dead. How can I die?" This move is somewhat "backwards " compared to the general trend of the computer industry.

According to PC World , the company can only sell netbooks in emerging markets instead of the global market. Figures from market research firm IDC show that US netbook sales are falling sharply from 2.3 million units in the first quarter of 2010 to 800,000 units in the fourth quarter of 2011. Meanwhile, although in markets such as Latin America, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, netbook sales have increased slightly but when combined, the number of netbooks sold worldwide is still declining.

Recently, many computer manufacturers removed netbooks from their product portfolio. Toshiba has just announced it will no longer sell netbooks in the US, and Dell will not sell netbooks to the consumer market, but will focus on business customers. Lenovo has stopped selling 10-inch netbooks on its website.

Asus, one of the pioneers with the Eee PC 5 years ago, has also announced it will stop making netbooks. Jerry Shen, the company's CEO, said netbooks "have completed their mission between 2007 and 2012".