Consumers do not know what they want, according to Jim Wong, president of Acer.He believes that it is the supplier's responsibility to figure that out.Judging by the range of products unveiled at this week's giant Computex PC show in Taipei, the industry is not very sure either.
按照宏基(Acer)总裁翁建仁(Jim Wong)的说法，消费者并不知道自己要什么。他相信解决该问题是供应商的责任。从本周规模巨大的台北国际电脑展(Computex)亮相的产品范围看，行业也不太确定。
Acer too is hedging its bets. Not only did it present the world's thinnest ultrabook, but also hybrid tablet-laptops.Perhaps after the past year management can be forgiven for caution.In short order the former world number two shipper of PCs (now fourth, just behind Dell) parted company with its chief executive over strategy disagreements, took a $150m charge for "questionable" accounting,saw sales drop by a quarter, and suffered its first operating loss in a decade.
宏基本身也在两面下注。它不仅推出了世界上最薄的"超级本"(ultrabook)笔记本电脑，还推出混合平板/笔记本。也许在经历过去一年的遭遇后，管理层的谨慎情有可原。在短短的一年内，这家前世界第二大个人电脑(PC)供应商（现在排第四，仅次于戴尔）因战略分歧与首席执行官分手；为"有问题"的会计操作记账1.5亿美元；销售下滑四分之一；还遭遇了十年来首次营业亏损。
This is Acer's fightback year, as it is for other PC makers who have struggled to catch up with the popularity of tablets.They are betting on Microsoft's Windows 8,due for release later this year.They are also taking the battle to Apple with laptops that become tablets, and new ultrabooks–Acer's Aspire S7 ultrabook is 12mm thick compared with the MacBook's 17mm.
今年将是宏基奋起反击的一年，其它正竭力追赶平板电脑潮流的PC生产商也是如此。他们正押注于微软Windows 8，该操作系统将于今年晚些时候发布。他们也正与苹果(Apple)展开竞争——借助平板/笔记本电脑，以及新的"超级本"：宏基的Aspire S7超级本厚12毫米，而苹果MacBook则厚17毫米。
Consumers should benefit,but makers may struggle to profit as they wait for users to decide what they want.Acer has not released pricing details for the new Aspire, but it will be in the high-margin premium category dominated by Apple.This is a risky departure for a company more familiar with the wafer-thin margins of the cheaper end of the mass market.Acer has at least already stanched the financial bleeding, producing operating profits in the last two quarters (albeit with a margin of 0.1 per cent).Its new products were among the hits of Computex, but they will not ship until later this year. Between now and then,expect more heavily promoted unveilings across the industry,but little action.Investors have some time to make up their own minds about who to back.
消费者应能受益，但在等待用户决定到底要什么之际，生产商可能很难获利。宏基还没有公布新款Aspire系列的定价细节，但它将属于苹果主导的高利润的高端品类。这对一个更熟悉微薄利润的低端大众市场的公司来说，是一个冒险的新方向。至少宏基已为财务创伤成功止血，在上两个季度实现营运利润（尽管利润率只有1%）。它的新产品在电脑展上很吸引眼球，但要在今年晚些时候才会发货。在那之前，预期业内会有更多隆重发布的新产品，但不会有很多产品真正投入市场。投资者还有时间来决定到底支持谁。