Interviewing corporate representatives is a gamble with little chance of success. Most often, the interlocutors answer in the style of corporate press releases, where they will not forget to mention the word unique 20 times and emphasize the exclusivity of their product 50 more. However, it was different with Massimiliano Rossi, Vice President of Acer Europe. We talked about the AI boom and how it is changing the world of consumer electronics, new lines of Windows laptops based on Snapdragon processors, and the dying (not really) desktop segment. Read below to find out what happened.
Show me your work laptop, what do you use every day?
I have a Travelmate P. It’s a series of laptops that we inherited from Texas Instruments after we acquired them, and it’s perfect for corporate work. And the best way to sell a product to others is to be a user yourself.
Do you remember your first car?
ZX Spectrum, which I used mostly for gaming. This was in the years when I didn’t know anything about Acer. I was not yet ten years old.
I had something similar, only made in Ukraine. It was called «Search», but you’ve hardly heard of it. And I kind of miss the days when desktop PCs dominated, and we assembled our own devices, chose our own components. Don’t you think that everything has become too simplified now, and we can hardly tell one device from another?
The laptop category has become as commoditized as possible (in the original — commodity, that is, the products in this category have become very similar to each other and do not differ much in their characteristics. This means that competition is more focused on price and availability than on unique features or innovations. In such a situation, products in the category are perceived as substitutable, and consumers can easily switch between different brands because there are no significant differences between them, — author’s note).
Components are less and less important, and the entire ecosystem, from processor manufacturers to OSes, is geared toward user experience, not the stuffing. That is, it is not what is inside that matters, but what I can offer the customer and how my device will fit their needs. With the advent of AI, there will be even more scenarios and usage models.
What about desktop PCs, are they dying?
The share of desktops is declining, but I wouldn’t talk about their death. They are more stable than laptops, they break down less often, you can connect more devices to them, etc. The life cycle of a desktop computer is 5-10 years on average, and it is updated mainly after the old OS stops supporting it, or when it is necessary to upgrade the processor architecture for work tasks.
So, if we take call centers or other similar businesses, this is still the best solution for them in terms of total cost of ownership over the entire life of the device. That’s why, despite the decline in the consumer segment, their share is relatively stable in the government and commercial sectors.
At the end of the year, Intel promises a new line of processors with a powerful NPU. Is this the time when we all need to upgrade?
In the coming months, we will all see a new processor architecture. Both energy efficiency and computing power will increase. Our Qualcomm-based engineering samples are already breaking battery life records. And most importantly, with the new releases, AI will become truly massive in all areas. So yes, it will be a good decision to upgrade your hardware at the end of the year.
Will we use AI differently? What will change for the average user?
I already ask AI to transcribe my work meetings, and it prepares a general summary of the meeting and prescribes further steps.
I do all this too, but why do I need new equipment for this? After all, it is already available?
This works on a phone, but it won’t work with content on a laptop. With deeper AI integration, we will be able to search local files, email, quickly extract the essence from large documents, and so on. When I can perform twice as many tasks with AI in my business, it is already a competitive advantage. And all this opens up great opportunities for us.
On my laptop, I mainly use AI in the form of a chat in the browser with Chat GPT. What could deeper integration look like?
On Windows, it will definitely be Copilot, and we are likely to see many similar solutions from other companies.
I can’t say that I’m thrilled with Copilot right now. There is still room for improvement.
It’s just the beginning, and like any new technology, it needs improvements on both the hardware and software sides. But I am confident that in the coming years it will transform our world.
Just before our conversation, your colleagues showed me an engineering sample on a Snapdragon chip. What is the main purpose of using the new ARM architecture in a Windows laptop?
Like every architecture, ARM has its advantages. Nowadays, everything revolves around AI, and I think Microsoft is interested to see if Qualcomm’s solution can be as good as AMD or Intel in the Windows environment. Moreover, the ARM architecture is great for processing AI processes and is more energy efficient than competitors.
It can’t be all good. What are the problematic aspects?
It’s too early to say, we still don’t have the final version of the product. Preliminary tests have shown super results, but we are waiting for the final patch from Microsoft, and then we will conduct full-fledged testing.
Can you share any figures on energy efficiency or productivity?
We need to wait a little bit, everything will be ready soon.
Do you have any predictions about how popular this line will be? What if it becomes the fate of a few thousand enthusiasts?
The new devices will compete in a niche where the cost of the product is about 1000 euros (the cost of Acer ARM laptops will tentatively start at 1300 euros, — author’s note). But I think there will be enough people who will be willing to spend 200-300 euros more and get a more advanced device with excellent battery life and deep AI integration.
There are not many truly mass-market laptop manufacturers in the world. At the beginning of the conversation, we touched upon the fact that devices are becoming more and more similar to each other. How do you compete with each other then, and how do you try to stand out?
By innovating and listening to customers. For example, in educational products, we have added Acer Sense. This is a sensor that detects how far you are from your laptop. We also have a huge partner network and high-quality service. Additional features, design, service — all this makes our brand stand out from the rest.
What is the most popular line of Acer laptops?
Aspire has the highest sales figures, and TravelMate is the largest in the commercial segment.
I have a feeling that the new annual device lines from all brands are more about marketing and beautiful packaging than about real innovation.
I thoroughly agree. If you look at the commercial segment, the average lifespan of a device in a corporation is — seven years. Because in the commercial segment, there are no emotional decisions, and if the device works, why change it? Some of our employees still use 5th generation Intel-based machines. Yes, we make quality products.
Is AI a revolution?
Yes, AI is changing everything. It makes our lives easier, saves us time, and helps us not to waste it on trivial things. And this is a great reason to buy a new device.
If we look back in time, what technologies changed the world in the way AI is changing it today?
The first is definitely Intel’s Centrino. It made Wi-Fi fast, ubiquitous, and allowed devices to stay connected to the network at all times. This was an incredible change from what we had seen before. Second — clouds. The third one is already starting, and that’s AI.
How do you personally use AI?
Mostly in integration with Office 365 and Copilot, and for image generation.
Have you been affected by the semiconductor crisis and the reduction in chip production?
I don’t think we have any problems with this. Neither we nor the industry as a whole. Yes, there was some shortage during COVID, but the global economy is changing rapidly, and all major manufacturers are moving production outside of China to be more resilient. Now everything is back to normal. Perhaps, if the AI topic takes off, there may be some shortage, but nothing more.
The problem is more that COVID was a great time for Google and Facebook, as well as for online retailers. At that time, there was a huge demand for everything, and we did not have time to ship devices. For the next two years, we were paying bills because we sold too many during the pandemic. But now the good news is that after two years of falling demand, we have finally seen growth again.