Acer founder: Tablets, Ultrabooks are passing fads
Acer founder Stan Shih isn't absolutely sold on the idea of tablet PCs and ultrabooks as the future of mobile and computing products.
DigiTimes reports that Shih argued that the "fads for ultrabooks and tablet PCs are both short-term phenomena and urged companies in the notebook supply chain to come out with more value-added products through innovation."
Commenting on Apple bringing tablet PC and smartphone products into the PC market to compete with PC players and creating a great impact on PC demand, Shih pointed out that PCs are the base of the IT industry and tablet PCs are also developed from the base; therefore, in the future, products will still need to go through the PC platform to create even more add-on value.
However, Shih did offer some credit to Apple and its "outside-the-box thinking" when developing the iPad, which is a sentiment shared by many as iSuppli recently published a report stating that tablet manufacturers have been unable to successfully compete with the iPad's design.
It's slightly surprising to see Shih make these comments as Acer is expected to deliver a new 7-inch tablet soon, but they also come across as quite bitter after the lukewarm reception for the Iconia A500.
Shih has stirred up a bit of controversy with comments in the past. For example, last year, he questioned the strength and stability of American IT brands, posing the theory that "US computer brands may disappear over the next 20 years."
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