Live from the Acer Blue Press Conference

We’re live at the IAC building in Manhattan for Acer’s Blue event, a worldwide launch. Gianpiero Morbello, corporate vice president, is on stage right now talking about why it’s a cool color and that it’s favored by both sexes. Are we about to see a blue notebook? Now here comes Gianfranco Lanci, President of Acer Inc. Here we go…

But first, Lanci wants to give us a history lesson. Did you know that Acer changed its name from Multitech to Acer in 1987? I didn’t. Gee, that’s interesting. Acer is a latin word meaning a big tree. Fascinating. Beteween 2000 and 2007 the company became the number two notebook maker. I thought Dell was number two?

Starting to talk about multibrand strategy. PC is becoming a commodity. We’d agree with that. But there are new drivers and ways to innovate. Notebooks becoming 50 percent of the market everywhere. Company sees good growth in Q1. Asia is becoming number two region after Europe. U.S. is number three. U.S. growth is 8 percent and Japan is struggling.

Now saying that Acer is number three in PC sales but number two in notebooks. Ah, there’s some clarification. Notebooks are still growing, 20 to 25 percent, in all regions. Desktop growth is flat. Now there’s less technology differentiation, and average selling prices deterioriating. Margin and profitability remain challenge for the industry.

What’s needed is new form factors, application based devices, and ultra mobile PC for generating new growing market segments. Are we going to see the new UMPC today? An Eee PC killer? Talking about Eten acquisition and how smart phones can fit into’s Acer’s portfolio of devices. Acer believes smart handheld market is growing and by 20011 will be bigger than notebook market. And Windows mobile will report the highest growth rate. Hey, how about Android? Went with Eten because they’re a strong R&D company. Eten will come third pillar of the business.

Acer did $14 billion in business last year. Not too shabby. Brand revenue was up 35 percent year of year in the fourth quarter. Some details on operating income. And operating expenses. And inventory. And key ingredients to win. Can we learn about new products soon please?

Created a $20 billion multi-branded company with acquisitons of Packard Bell and Gateway and will ship in excess of 25 million PC units per year. The power of three! In the U.S. has number three market share. Becoming more than 30 percent of revenue. Want to be number one notebook player, which would require 35 percent yearly growth. That’s a tall order. Saying thanks…”Welcome to the Blue” Cue music. I think the event is starting now!

Jim Wong, senior corporate vice president, is on stage. New Acer Aspire Gemstone blue notebook, premiering CineReal Sensation, a new trend for true multimedia enjoyment. What does this mean? We’re about to find out. Trying to enhance multimedia. New 16:9 aspect ratio. Full 108op display. 2nd Generation Dolby Home theater. First 16:9 notebook with this audio technology. 5.1 speakers on 18.4-inch notebook. Interesting sreen size choice. There will be 2.1 speaker system on 16-inch model.

CineCrystal FHD display. With 300 nit brightness on the 18.4-inch model with 90 percent color gamut and 250 nits on the 16-inch model percent color gamut, which has 6. You get 12 percent more screen size with the 18.4-inch notebook versus 17-inch model. Blu-ray playback. As if there was another choice?

Benefits of 2nd gen Dolby Home Theater. Trying to expand the soundscape while enhancing bass. Official names are Dolby Sound Space Expander and Natural Bass. New Dolby Headphone capability allows you to simulate surround sound.

New CineDash Media Console is the highlight. Touch sensitive interface, with slide-acition volume/menu selection and instant multimedia access. Graphics by Nvidia, the GeForce Go 950M GS with 512MB of video memory, which enables smooth Blu-ray playback without taxing the CPU. Full HD support with HDMI.

Summing up. Watch/Touch/Hear it. Saying thanks. Stay tuned for Q&A.

First question about why Acer is targeting consumer instead of business. Um, because the consumer market is growing and IT is saturated. Next question about battery life. Three hours for the 18.4 inch model–that’s impressive if true. Asking to clarify brand strategy. Going to keep acquired brands.

Question about availability in the U.S. Price point will be from $900 to $1,700 and available in retail in a month or so.

Vague question about mobile Internet devices. Something will be available in the second half of the year. Atom devices later. New notebooks will support interactive features of Blu-ray.

Notebooks will be running Penryn at launch and Montevina later. Starting at 1.5-GHz, which is low, but that should be offset by the powerful Graphics chips are responsible for processing all images sent to your computer?s display.
Learn Moregraphics card. This sounds very similar to Gateway’s strategy with its low-cost P-6831 gaming notebook. Some other interesting tidbits. Yes, you can output sound in 5.1. Acer did a lot of work to prevent the subwoofer from interfering with the optical drive playback. Acer wants to offer a more mobile design but company wants audio and video performance to be up to snuff. I would personally be interested in a 13.3-inch model.