Acer Chief: Apple Products are Mutant Viruses, U.S. PC-Makers Will Quit

From DailyTech: Acer is fast gaining ground in the personal computer market thanks to its best-selling Acer Aspire One netbook. In July of 2010, Acer ousted Dell from the second place spot in the global computer shipment rankings dropping Dell in third place. However, Dell has since recovered, regaining its second place spot.

Meanwhile Acer continues to grapple with Apple -- a company that once bumped it to fourth place. Speaking with Digitimes, Acer found Stan Shih compared Apple's products to mutant viruses and remarked that a cure was incoming. The report reads:

"Acer founder Stan Shih, in a talks with reporters on September 8, commented that Apple's strong popularity is mainly due to its products such as iPad and iPhone, and these products are like mutant viruses, which are difficult to find a cure for in the short-term, but he believes that PC vendors will eventually find a way to isolate Apple and become immune."

Apple indeed seems to have a rather viral market appeal and a tendency to peter out and then come back -- as evidenced by the failure of Macs in the 1990s and the company salvation by the iPod lineup in the 2000s.

Mr. Shih also compared Apple products to the short-lived Betamax format, saying PCs are like the more popular VHS tapes. The statement is somewhat ironic, given that Apple CEO Steve Jobs often credits himself and Apple for doing away with defunct formats like floppy discs.

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