by digitpedia
Disruptive failure: How Acer Took Aim at Dell and HP and missed
[Via asymco]
Two years ago:
With new netbooks, laptops, desktops, and, yes, a smartphone, Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci explains why he expects to soon overtake No. 2 PC maker Dell
via Acer Boss Lanci Takes Aim at Dell and HP – BusinessWeek.
Today Acer CEO and President Gianfranco Lanci resigned with immediate effect. Acer is in trouble. You can read more on Acer’s current problems in the wake of the downward revision of its sales targets for two quarters here: Acer Should Overhaul Its Operation: Stan Shih | CENS.com – The Taiwan Economic News
In a nutshell, whereas Acer under Lanci took aim at Dell and HP, it seems that Apple took aim at Acer. And whereas Lanci missed, Apple’s aim was true.
What is interesting here is that Acer had a very disruptive approach. They used the low end “netbook” concept to take share from incumbents motivated to move up-market.
[More]
The Innovator’s Dilemma examines real disruptive technologies. They almost always enter the market at the low end. As time goes on, the disruptive company begins to move up market, allowing a new disruption to occur.
Acer thought that its netbooks would be such a disruption. By repackaging components to create a cheap, light weight, mostly usable laptop. It was disruptive at the low end and a lot of people took notice.
But it was really hampered by operating systems that did not take advantage of some of the compromises the netbook required. IN many ways, the Macbook Air is Apple’s take on the netbook. Disruptive. Not on price but on weight and power. And it included an operating system that made the light laptop s powerful as people needed.
By doing this, Apple made sure that the netbook would never be able to move up market and never be able to gain the profit margins that could make netbooks anything but commodities.
Then Apple did the real disruptive thing – it did not simply repackage components into a slightly different version of what was already out there. It completely altered the entire system.
The iPad will be seen as a demarcation line, just as the original Apple II was.There will be machines before that line and machines after but twice now Apple has set the line in the sand that will be remembered historically – first with the idea that computers could be personal and usable; second that the shape of our computers can be molded to fit our needs, not that our needs have to be molded to the computer shape.
I expect in 5 years we will interacting with our computers in ways not even imagined today. And it will be because of Apple, not Acer.
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