Can Acer's New Strategy Help It Make a Comeback?

What's This?

Image: Mashable, Will Fenstermaker

By Christina Warren2014-04-30 16:40:20 UTC

Acer is struggling. The Taiwanese hardware giant isn't alone; as the PC industry continues to contract, traditional PC makers such as Acer, HP and Dell are having trouble making an impact on the burgeoning tablet and smartphone space.

At a press event Tuesday, Jason Chen — who joined the Acer as CEO in January — was honest about the state of the company, and the challenges it faces. "I call it a reality check," Chen said, addressing the difficulties Acer has had over the last few quarters.

See also: The Problem With Windows 8

Now it's time for the company to focus. To do that, Chen said the company had to address two key questions, "What are we good at? What are our strengths?"

Based on its new back-to-school lineup of laptops and tablets, Acer's strength is value: providing a high-quality experience at a low price.

The strategy isn't all that different from what made Acer a powerhouse in the mid to late 1990s. Chen noted the similarities between the PC market of 20 years ago and the tablet market today.

Back then, the PC space was largely defined by the high-priced premium options and no-name white box machines. Acer was able to make a name for itself by playing somewhere in the middle. Offering a better experience with better quality, but at a price not much higher than the no-name brands that flooded store shelves.

The company is hoping to take that same approach to its new products, notably the Iconia One 7 tablet and the Aspire Switch 10 hybrid.

Iconia One 7

Priced at $129, the Iconia One 7 is Acer's latest attempt to attract millennials.

Image: Mashable, Will Fenstermaker

From the outside, the Iconia One 7 is your standard 7-inch tablet. It looks very similar to the original Nexus 7 (made by Asus) and the original Kindle Fire.

It has a 1,280 x 800 resolution screen (which Acer calls "full HD" — but at this size, we'll let slide) and an IPS display. It's powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor.

It runs Android 4.2, but an update to Android 4.4 KitKat should be available soon after launch.

The device is available in 10 colors and will be available worldwide.

All of this is pretty standard stuff. The unique aspect? The price. Priced at just $129 — which includes 16GB of storage — the Iconia One 7 is priced below much of its competition.

Yes, the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD can be had for just over $200, but getting at the near $100 price point for this kind of device is actually quite impressive.

Maverick Shih, Acer's president of cloud and tablet group, told me the company is focusing on millennials with this product (hence the colors). He further said that the idea was to get the price/performance ratio to such a place that can gain market share.

"Lots of customers who bought a $100 tablet a few years ago may have had a bad experience," he said, noting that many of those products didn't perform to the standard its users were expecting. Rather than try again with a less-expensive tablet, many of those consumers simply opted to upgrade to a more premium Samsung or Apple product.

Acer is hoping to offer them another solution. Moreover, the company says that as time goes on, it expects to continue to bring more premium features to a more modest price point.

"Acer has always been about bridging the gap between people and tech," Shih said. Shih should know. His father, Stan Shih, founded Acer back in 1976.

I've spent some time with the Iconia One 7 and am impressed with what the tablet offers — especially at its price point. For education and emerging markets, it could be a winner.

Hybrid Strategy

At $379, the Aspire Switch 10 is a low-cost hybrid with solid build quality.

Image: Mashable, Will Fenstermaker

The other big notable release Acer announced Tuesday was the Aspire Switch 10 hybrid. At just $379, including keyboard dock, the Aspire Switch 10 is a hybrid with a more affordable price.

The specs of the Aspire Switch 10 don't look demonstrably different from what Asus offers with its Transformer Book T100. Both run Intel Bay Trail-T processors and have capacitive 10.1-inch displays. Both also run Windows 8.1.

What makes the Aspire Switch 10 a bit different are its multiple usage modes — similar to what Lenovo does with its Yoga line.

The Aspire Switch 10 can be used in notebook mode, with the keyboard in its normal position. It can also be used with the screen detached as a traditional tablet.

There's also a reversible mode (with the display turned around) and a tent mode.

All these modes are enabled by the magnetic hinge inside the laptop. Acer spent a lot of time talking about the hinge and its special properties. It's not magic, but it certainly feels high-quality and offers a better fit than most other hybrids in this price range.

The Aspire Switch 10 is aimed at the entry-level market. No pen input here, and the specs are far from cutting-edge.

That doesn't mean the company doesn't have plans to bring this type of design to more powerful products. "Expect to see more of this with our higher-end line for our Christmas lineup," Acer told me.

The Aspire Switch 10 is a well-designed, low-cost hybrid. Again, this is notable because the hybrid space generally exists in two planes: High-end and entry-level. Acer is hoping to fit somewhere in the middle.

Is This Enough?

Will this return to roots be enough to revitalize Acer? Only time will tell, but this more focused strategy is certainly more palatable than trying to be everything to every type of user.

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Topics: Acer, acer aspire switch 10, acer iconia one 7, Gadgets, hybrids, Mobile, Tech