Robert Pogson

“We have shifted towards Linux because of Microsoft,” he said. “Microsoft has a lot of power and it is going to be difficult, but we will be working hard to develop the Linux market.”

ACER was a bit tentative, just starting a bit in the pacific region last year, but now this.

see http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2218172/acer-pushes-linux-hard

That is not equivocal to say the least. All the OEMs had a great ride with M$ but they do not want to miss out on emerging markets which are going to accept GNU/Linux widely because it works for them. The emerging markets can be as large as the established market in seats but the uptake will be slow unless inexpensive and easy to maintain boxes are sold. Hence, GNU/Linux on small things.

Update:

At the recent Computex 2008 in Taipei, the world’s second biggest computer trade show, Acer debuted its new low-cost computer Aspire one, which the company claims as an all-new communication device designed to provide a true mobile and wireless experience through continuous access to the Internet no matter where you are.

During the product’s launching held at the Far Eastern Hotel said, Acer chairman Jeng-tang Wang said that after a long and comprehensive study of the market trend, Acer’s findings confirmed that a product like the Aspire one would be welcomed by customers ranging from professional users to beginners, predicting that this segment will become one of the main-stream segments of the PC market in the coming few years.

The chairman of the world’s third largest vendor in the global PC market is optimistic that this new form factor design may be the long-awaited element that will hit the sweet spot needed to reboost the growth of the whole PC market in terms of revenue, which has shown very little growth in recent years because of limited growth in new users.

Wang expects about 15 to 20 percent of notebook shipments worldwide next year would be low-cost notebooks, if the key component suppliers are willing to give a strong support to the few serious players. “A notebook with optimized specification may lower the end user’s price to the turning point that attracts a huge number of first time buyers,” Wang said.

Currently there are one billion PC users in the world and he anticipates this to grow to another billion via a commercial approach that he is proposing, and if industrial leaders and market leaders change their from the current strategy.

“From now on, Wang said,” I call on all key component suppliers to fully support the requirement of all segments, instead of trying to keep certain predefined average selling prices of notebook PCs.” “It’s time to listen to the requirements and demands of the market instead of controlling it.”

http://www.mb.com.ph/INFO20080609126833.html

Boy, does ACER get it. They are predicting 45 million such boxed to ship in 2009 and they want half! They want to ship 7 million this year… If half of those go to GNU/Linux (easy) on top of migrations going to regular desktops and laptops, 2009 will be another big year for GNU/Linux on the desktop.