Acer: mobile PC market to grow up to 12% this year

Acer, the world's second-largest PC vendor, expects the market for mobile PCs to grow between 10 and 12 percent in 2011. As before, it will be driven by emerging markets, according to Gianfranco Lanci, the company's President and CEO.

"The economy is coming back. Consumers are still spending," Lanci told Reuters in an interview. "In the last 12 to 18 months technological evolution has probably slowed down a bit. A lot of customers have delayed replacements. Tablets will be big in 2011. For us tablets are a natural continuation of the PC. Will we keep all three [operating systems]? I don't think so, but to choose today would be risky, without any real benefit tomorrow. More choice is always better."

The Taiwanese computer maker has recently seen very rapid growth and profitability mostly thanks to its various netbook offerings. As the market shifts towards tablets, however, the company believes that they will not replace netbooks. Despite rumors, the OEM will not phase out netbooks in favor of tablets. The company merely believes that as PCs become consumption tools more so than creation tools, new devices and new form factors will appear. Tablets will find their space next to netbooks and notebooks.