Acer has their sights set on becoming the largest netbook manufacturer in the world as soon as next year. The current overall #3 computer manufacturer is expecting to take upwards of a 50% share in netbook shipments next year, which would put them in a prime position for making of 2009 their year in this growing market.
Acer shipped about 2.4 million units of their Aspire One netbook in the third quarter, with a total of 5-6 million Acer netbooks sold in 2008. If their forecast for next year is correct, the global market for netbooks would expand to up to 35 million units, with the Taiwanese manufacturer hoping to grab anything from 40-50% of the pie.
It remains to be seen how this will contribute to the bottom line and image of Acer on a global scale, but for the time being the company seems to be financially healthy with $12.8 billion in revenues so far this year which would represent a 31% increase from 2007.