Acer has gone from a relatively unheard underdog to an upcoming formidable force in the PC world. It started several years ago with the company making headroom in the LCD market. But not too long after that they surprised everyone by moving into the #3, and according to some sources, the #2 vendor of laptops worldwide, sharing the glory with Dell and HP.

They won't let all the good news halt their momentum though. With the recent acquisition of Packard Bell, Acer has outlined new strategies to boost themselves even further. The company is looking to compete with Asus in the low-cost laptop market, with cheaper notebooks planned for this year. It'll be interesting to see what they have to offer, and what low price points we will see on the mobile PC market towards the end of 2008.