While the me-too rush for the tablets is expected to hit the hardware industry soon (we already have Lenovo Ideapad U1 and Asus EEE Pad confirmed), Acer is apparently steering away from the iPad style concept. Acer Taiwan president Scott Lin has made it clear that while its no challenge for Acer to build an iPad like device, they do not see it as a fit for their business model. Instead Acer is concentrating on rolling out its own ultrathin notebooks in 2010. Lin does make a valid point saying that Apple has carved its own niche with a business model around it and other players are unlikely to replicate the same result by copying Apple. However you know what Apple did to the smartphone industry!
Being the current leader in the netbooks market, Acer surely is at the risk of losing business if the Apple iPad really takes off. However Lin feels that both these products target a different usergroup. Fundamentally if you see what the netbook is, I feel the iPad is a direct competition to the concept of netbooks.
