Acer and China Huala Group announce Blu-ray allegiance
Amidst the slew of new Blu-ray players showcased at IFA comes word that two new forces are pledging their alligiance to the BD camp. Reportedly, both Acer and China Huala Group have joined on as hardware partners, and the latter is supposedly looking to establish a "Blu-ray Disc authoring center in China." The announcements were purportedly made by the Blu-ray Disc Association while in Berlin, and while we're not exactly sure how long Acer will make us wait for more Blu-ray-equipped lappies, the more intriguing question -- you know, the one regarding concerns over piracy from a newfound authoring center in China -- has yet to be tackled by the BDA.[Thanks, AG23]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
WASD John @ Aug 31st 2007 8:49AM
OMG, they must have been paid off!
lol
Anthony @ Aug 31st 2007 9:19AM
LOL
Nice job getting Acer though.
andyg8180 @ Aug 31st 2007 10:40AM
"they must have been paid off!!!" lmao... Gotta say it since thats the trend of posts lol...
I think its a good move considering Toshiba and HP laptops have been pushing HD-DVD drives in their latest releases... I havnt seen ANY pcs or lappys with blu-ray drives... Not even the sony's...
I like the competition going on there... It's also interesting to see whats going to happen since Acer bought Gateway...
Also remember that Gateway owns E-Machines, so Acer now has control of Acer and possible E-Machines...
anthony @ Aug 31st 2007 11:22AM
Since Acer bought HP and Gateway doesn't that mean they drop there HD-DVD drive support?
Xyzzy @ Aug 31st 2007 12:24PM
Umm, Acer's been supporting HD DVD for awhile... So now they're simply neutral.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/31/acers-hd-dvd-equipped-aspire-9800-laptop-released/
Unless there was an announcement I missed between then and now where they backed out.
andyg8180 @ Aug 31st 2007 12:34PM
@Anthony... I dont believe Acer bought HP... They've had legal issues, but HP is in a much stronger position than Acer...
SimbaDogg @ Aug 31st 2007 12:47PM
@andyg8180
There are plenty of laptops and PCs available w/ blu ray drives from sony. you might have just overlooked some. Just about as many as toshiba w/ their hd dvd drives.
@anthony
lil mistake, they didn't buy hp and gateway, they're buying just the cowbrand which will make them the 3rd largest i think after dell and hp. but yes, w/ gateway you also get e-machines. so who knows, this could mean blu ray all over the place, but i doubt it since gateway, and especially acer are not really all that high end in terms of pricing
anthony @ Aug 31st 2007 2:12PM
@ Andy and Simba
Thanks for clarifying that for me.
Well I wonder if they try to provide a blu-ray player via an e-machines system and Sony could cover a portion of costs....say anywhere between 10-20%?
I don't think that's too far fetched of an idea.
SimbaDogg @ Aug 31st 2007 9:36PM
e machines will probably never have a blu ray drive unless they can get drives for under $100. E machines is the Ross of computer manufacturers, good stuff for a good price. But def not high end or really techie stuff.
Anthony @ Sep 5th 2007 10:55AM
Not sure why this hasn't been posted but Acer accounced Blu-Exclusively.
Even though thry might not make it to e-machines there will be a chance that they will make into Gateways.
Were delighted to welcome Acer to the Blu-ray Disc Association, said Victor Matsuda, chairman of the BDAs Global Promotions Committee, in a prepared statement. The addition of Acer provides one more sign of the growing momentum behind Blu-ray Disc and, more importantly, is a significant advantage for consumers, as it further expands the already broad options available to consumers in the personal computer space.
At the time of the announcement it was unclear if Acer will exclusively support Blu-ray or if the company will also support HD DVD drives throughout the company. The question gets especially interesting when it comes to Gateway, which will be acquired by Acer. Gateway so far has been offering Blu-ray and HD DVD drives and Acer's decision potentially could mean that Gateway will drop HD DVD support in the not too distant future.
We were not able to reach Acer and Gateway representatives to shed more light on the future of HD DVD drives as part of their product families.
A spokesperson for the Blu-ray Disc Association told TG Daily said that it was "her understanding" that Acer would exclusively support Blu-ray.
Acer currently is ranked at #4 in the global PC market, with a share of 7.2% and 4.3 million PCs shipped in the second quarter of this year, according to IDC. Gateway has not been listed by IDC among the world's five largest PC manufacturer; however, the firm estimated that Gateway sold about 965,000 PCs in Q2 in the U.S. which puts Acer in the global market well ahead of Lenovo (currently in #3), which shipped just under 4.9 million PCs in Q2.
Among the top 5 PC manufacturers, Dell (ranked #2 globally) also is an exclusive supporter of Blu-ray, while HP (#1) supports both Blu-ray and HD DVD at this time.