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Computers
September 19, 2012
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Acer plans to ‘aggressively’ promote new Chromebook to compete with Microsoft

By on September 19, 2012 at 7:45 AM.

Acer plans to ‘aggressively’ promote new Chromebook to compete with Microsoft

Acer New Chomebook Release Date

Acer (2353) will reportedly launch a second-generation Chromebook computer in mid-October, according to a report from Digitimes. The company hopes the device will be able to replace its dying netbook line, which is expected to be phased out of the market in the coming months. Acer was initially hesitant about promoting a new Chromebook due to low sales of its earlier model, the report claims. After Microsoft (MSFT) announced the Surface tablet, however, the company was outraged and decided to “aggressively” push its new Chromebook. According to Digitimes, the 11.6-inch computer has already entered mass production and monthly shipments are expected to reach as high as 200,000 units. In addition to Acer, it has also been reported that Lenovo (0992) may be developing a Chromebook product.  More →

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mobile
August 26, 2012
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Lenovo surpasses Apple in China smartphone market

By on August 26, 2012 at 9:45 AM.

Lenovo surpasses Apple in China smartphone market

China Smartphone Sales Q2 2012

Lenovo (0992) had an explosive second quarter. The smartphone newcomer managed to jump from seventh place in the first quarter to second place in China’s mobile market. For the first time ever, shipments of smartphones in China, which reached 44.4 million units, surpassed shipments of features phones. Samsung’s market share remained unchanged at 19%, while Lenovo managed to capture 11% of all Chinese smartphone sales in the second quarter, according to IDC Research. “Lenovo had a huge second-quarter due to increased volumes through operators, and a continued push into retail, leveraging on its PC retail stores and partnerships,” Teck-Zhung Wong, a Beijing-based analyst with IDC, said in an email to Bloomberg. Due to anticipation over the iPhone 5 and increased competition from Samsung, HTC (2498) and ZTE (000063), Apple’s (AAPL) Chinese sales declined from 19% to 10%, dropping the company to No.4 in the second quarter. More →

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Business
August 18, 2012
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Lenovo plans to school Microsoft’s Surface with $300 Windows RT tablets

By on August 18, 2012 at 10:23 AM.

Lenovo plans to school Microsoft’s Surface with $300 Windows RT tablets

Lenovo Windows RT Tablet Price

Like its fellow OEM HP (HPQ), Lenovo (LNVGY) is refusing to join the Microsoft (MSFT) Surface crybaby brigade and is instead concentrating on building a competitive tablet. Bloomberg this week caught up with David Schmoock, chief of Lenovo’s North America operations, who said that Lenovo’s best opportunity to make a dent in the tablet market was to use Windows RT for all its tablets. The reason, he said, is pretty simple: Window RT devices can be priced between $300 and $400 while Windows 8 tablets will be priced in the $600 to $700 range. More →

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Tablets
August 9, 2012
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Lenovo’s first Windows 8 Pro tablet set for October release

By on August 9, 2012 at 9:40 PM.

Lenovo’s first Windows 8 Pro tablet set for October release

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2

Lenovo (0092) isn’t going to let the Microsoft (MSFT) Surface have all the Windows 8 tablet glory. The ThinkPad manufacturer on Thursday announced that its first-ever Windows 8 Pro tablet, dubbed the ThinkPad Tablet 2, will become available in October — possibly on the 26th when Microsoft officially releases the Surface. As far as features go, Lenovo has taken a page from Samsung by including an optional stylus with the device and is also offering a Surface-like keyboard dock that is sold separately. When it comes to size, the ThinkPad Tablet 2 has a 10.1-inch display, is 9.8 mm thin and weights less than 1.3 pounds. The full press release follows below. More →

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Tablets
May 3, 2012
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Kindle Fire market share tumbles in Q1 as new iPad launches

By on May 3, 2012 at 1:35 PM.

Kindle Fire market share tumbles in Q1 as new iPad launches

Kindle Fire's market share tumbles

Amazon’s Kindle Fire debuted and found rapid success, recording an explosive first quarter and capturing a 14% share of the overall tablet market. The latest numbers from comScore indicate the Kindle Fire had almost doubled its share of the U.S. Android tablet market over the past two months to 54.4%. According to market research firm IDC, however, Amazon’s market share tumbled from 16.8% in the fourth quarter of 2011 to just over 4% last quarter, pushing Amazon to the No.3 spot behind Apple and Samsung. The Cupertino-based company shipped 11.8 million iPads, down from 15.4 during its holiday quarter, and increased its worldwide share from 54.7% to 68%. Samsung took advantage while Kindle Fire sales slid and regained the No.2 position while Lenovo captured the fourth spot, followed by Barnes & Noble. Read on for IDC’s press release. More →

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Computers
April 12, 2012
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Intel may launch Ivy Bridge processors on April 23rd

By on April 12, 2012 at 10:15 PM.

Intel may launch Ivy Bridge processors on April 23rd

Intel is expected to move up the announcement of its next-generation Ivy Bridge processors from the original date of April 29th to April 23rd, Digitimes reported on Thursday. ASUS, Acer, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard are all preparing to release their second generation of ultrabooks in May, with average prices expected to “rapidly” drop from $999 to $699. To promote ultrabooks, Intel has also reportedly set up a $300 million fund to assist its partners in ultrabook design as well as research and development. Earlier rumors have suggested that Apple is planning to refresh its iMac family of computers with Intel’s 22nm-based Core i5 and Core i7 Ivy Bridge processors in June or July. The Cupertino-based company is also said to be ramping up production in preparation for thinner 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro models. More →

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Tablets
March 28, 2012
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Google’s $199 Nexus tablet may pressure vendors to cut prices

By on March 28, 2012 at 9:45 AM.

Google’s $199 Nexus tablet may pressure vendors to cut prices

It is widely believed that Google will entere the tablet market in 2012 with an own-branded 7-inch Android tablet. The search giant has reportedly partnered with ASUS to build a $199 device that will compete against Amazon’s Kindle Fire. These low-cost tablets are expected to have a big impact on the entry-level tablet market and apply pressure to other vendors such as Acer, Lenovo and Samsung Electronics to cut prices, DigiTimes reported on Wednesday. The average gross margin on tablets is roughly 10% to 15% the report said, however as prices continue to drop and internal component costs increase, gross margins are expected to drop rapidly, forcing vendors and component makers to fight over narrowing profits. Google’s Nexus tablet is reportedly a “done deal” and should enter production in April and ship around June. The slate could be unveiled at Google’s annual I/O conference on June 27th if earlier rumors pan out. More →

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mobile
February 29, 2012
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Handset makers pessimistic about Windows Phone Tango’s chances in China

By on February 29, 2012 at 7:30 AM.

Handset makers pessimistic about Windows Phone Tango’s chances in China

Microsoft plans to roll out its Windows Phone “Tango” update for its mobile platform in China some time this year. While the new version of Microsoft’s OS will allow Windows Phones to hit lower price points, Chinese manufacturers are pessimistic about the plan and believe the operating system may not achieve enough success, according to DigiTimes. Android-based smartphones are believed to continue to dominate the Chinese market due to the aggressive marketing of low-end devices from local vendors such as ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad and Xiaomi Technology, and the ease of developing applications through the open-source operating system. Despite unfavorable market conditions, Nokia will lead the charge into China with devices set to launch in the first half of 2012. The publication’s sources also believe Huawei will release several Windows Phones din the second quarter, with Microsoft also looking to partner with Lenovo and ZTE to launch devices in the Chinese market. More →

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mobile
February 23, 2012
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iPad pushes Apple to 26.6% of the mobile PC market in Q4

By on February 23, 2012 at 5:05 PM.

iPad pushes Apple to 26.6% of the mobile PC market in Q4

Apple’s shipments of iPads and MacBooks in the fourth quarter combined to give the Cupertino-based company a 26.6% percent share of the mobile PC market, according to a report from DisplaySearch released on Thursday. Apple shipped a total of 23.4 million units, nearly three times the amount of No.2 HP. The iPad accounted for 18.7 million units and captured 59.1% of the tablet market. Amazon shipped 5.3 million Kindle Fire’s for 16.7% of the market, with Samsung shipping 2.1 million and controlling 6.7% of the market. ASUS shipped 1.5 million units for a 4.6% market share and Barnes & Noble shipped 1.1 million units for a 3.5% share. Apple’s fourth quarter notebook shipments came in at 4.6 million units for an 8.3% share of the market. Ranking ahead of the Cupertino-based company was HP (15%), Dell (11.8%), Acer (11.8%) and Lenovo (10.8%). Read on for DisplaySearch’s press release. More →

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Business
February 7, 2012
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Acer sues former CEO for violating non-compete agreement

By on February 7, 2012 at 11:30 PM.

Acer sues former CEO for violating non-compete agreement

Acer has filed a lawsuit against its former chief executive officer Gianfranco Lanci for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement. Lanci left Acer last March after the company hit a rough patch and was recently named head of Lenovo’s operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. “We believe Mr. Lanci has clearly breached the terms of the non-compete agreement he entered into willingly . . . we believe we have a very robust case,” Acer said in a statement given to the Financial Times. The Financial Times notes that Acer has fallen from the second to the fourth largest computer maker in the world while Lenovo has seen recent success and has risen to the No.2 spot. More →

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Business
January 30, 2012
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Canalys: Apple blazes past HP to dominate global PC market in Q4

By on January 30, 2012 at 5:45 PM.

Canalys: Apple blazes past HP to dominate global PC market in Q4

Apple pulled ahead of HP in the fourth quarter to become the largest player in the client PC market, a new report suggested Monday. The Cupertino-based company shipped more than 15 million iPads and 5 million Mac computers last quarter, and those figures represented 17% of all PCs shipped around the world during the fourth quarter. The report, which comes from market research firm Canalys, said PC shipments grew 16% annually to reach 120 million during the quarter, and the firm’s categorization of “PC” includes desktops, notebooks, netbooks and tablets in its figures. Tablets drove PC growth, however, and Canalys said the market would have declined by 0.4% without taking tablets into consideration. Read on for more. More →

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Business
January 24, 2012
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Apple is now the largest buyer of semiconductors in the world

By on January 24, 2012 at 4:00 PM.

Apple is now the largest buyer of semiconductors in the world

Apple is now the largest buyer of semiconductors in the world, according to market research firm Gartner. The Cupertino-based company trailed both Samsung and HP in 2010, however Apple’s spending is estimated to have jumped 34.6% in 2011. The company spent $17.3 billion on semiconductors in 2011, or 5.7% of the total share of chip purchases. Coming in second was Samsung, which spent $16.7 billion or 5.5% of all chip purchases, and HP came in third with $16.6 billion. Leading electronics manufacturers spent a total of $105.6 billion on semiconductor purchases last year, representing a year-over-year increase of $1.8 billion. ”The major growth drivers in 2011 were smartphones, media tablets and solid-state drives (SSDs),” said Masatsune Yamaji, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Those companies that gained share in the smartphone market, such as Apple, Samsung Electronics and HTC, increased their semiconductor demand, while those who lost market share in this segment, such as Nokia and LG Electronics, decreased their semiconductor demand. Media tablets were also a growth driver for the semiconductor market throughout 2011.” Gartner’s press release follows below. More →

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Rumor
January 20, 2012
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Acer, Asus and Lenovo to equip ultrabooks with Thunderbolt ports in Q2

By on January 20, 2012 at 7:30 PM.

Acer, Asus and Lenovo to equip ultrabooks with Thunderbolt ports in Q2

Acer, Asus and Lenovo will reportedly begin selling ultrabooks equipped with Intel’s fast and versatile Thunderbolt I/O port, which combines DisplayPort and PCI Express, during the second quarter of 2012. DigiTimes said mostly high-end computers will adopt Thunderbolt this year since it now costs more than $20 to add Thunderbolt connectivity to a computer. Apple was one of the first companies to adopt Thunderbolt and it currently equips a number of its computers and displays with the technology. A recent patent filing also suggested Apple may begin using Thunderbolt in iOS devices, too. More →

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