Acer backtracks on claims it will dump netbooks

Red-faced vendor denies employee's suggestion it is "phasing out netbooks"

Systems vendor Acer has acted to squash claims made by a senior employee that it is to pull out of the netbook market.

Earlier this week Acer Taiwan's sales manager Lu Bing-hsian revealed to news site Computerworld that the vendor is to launch three new tablet devices during 2010's first half.

"They are aimed at phasing out netbooks; that's the direction of the market," he added.

But the vendor moved quickly to issue a statement stressing it is not planning to pull away from the netbook market.

"Acer recognises that the computer market is changing," said the statement. "As PCs are no longer used to only create content, but are more and more becoming consumption tools, new devices and new form factors are appearing.

"This means the range of devices available to users is getting wider and tablets are just another piece of the mosaic. Therefore they will find their space next to netbooks and notebooks, without taking over."

Acer's new stable of tablets will include 10.1in and 7in screen models running Google's Android operating system. Another 10.1in device will run on Windows. Acer claims devices built on Intel's Sandy Bridge microarchitecture "are not foreseen yet".