Acer Hopes Inexpensive Laptops Will Win SMBs

Earlier this year, Acer's chairman made some pretty big predictions about of his company's business — so big (a possible increase in sales of 70 percent) that it seemed like wishful thinking.

Yet his wishes have been coming true. The Taiwanese manufacturer overtook rival Dell to become the in 2007's third quarter. Analysts are expecting even bigger numbers for Acer in the final quarter following its .

Acer's gains have largely been generated by its consumer business, but it will launch a renewed in the coming year.

A key product is its Extensa 4620 laptop, which comes with either an Intel Core 2 Duo or a Pentium dual-core processor, reports eWEEK. The machines are priced at $799 or $699, respectively.

Not surprisingly, considering the that Acer Chairman J.T. Wang gave to Vista this summer, the Extensa laptops will come outfitted with Windows XP?- though the machines will be capable of running Vista.

To really win the loyalty of SMBs, Acer will also and related services, a strategy already practiced by competitors HP and Lenovo.