From the "Did he really say that!?!" files - Acer CEO unhappy by Vista

Seems that Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci is disappointed by Windows Vista, maybe because it's not giving his company the sales boost he expected.  However, he goes on to say some things that might come back and haunt him.

Here are some quotes that should go into the "Did he really say that!?!" files (from Financial Times Deutschland):

"The whole industry is disappointed with Windows Vista."

"Stability is certainly a problem."

Now, let's put the two quotes into context.  Lanci is trying to be the voice of the industry when he says that "the whole industry is disappointed with Windows Vista" (maybe trying to play up Acer's #4 spot when it comes to PC vendors), but market data doesn't hold this out since PC sales are up 12% compared to the same quarter last year.  Yes, vendors are surprised that the demand for XP is as strong as it is but I've not seen or heard any other company speak of being disappointed with Vista.

When it comes to the stability quote, maybe this says more about Acer PCs than it does about the industry as a whole - I'm certainly not seeing CEOs from other PC vendors coming out with complaints relating to stability.  Maybe Lanci needs to take a closer look at the quality of Acer's software and drivers before making broad statements like that.  Sure, there are compatibility issues in integrating Vista into existing hardware and software ecosystems, but this shouldn't be an issue when looking at a new stand-alone PC with Vista installed on it.

I'm getting the feeling that the other vendors will make Lanci eat his own words over the coming weeks.

Maybe he's just smarting because he didn't see many glowing reviews of the Vista-powered Acer notebooks that Microsoft gave away to select bloggers.

Thoughts?