Actors like HP, Dell and Acer are all making investments in their own R&D (Research & Development) before 2012, since the market is about to change from a PC centric environment to a more mobile version where smartphones, tablets and other devices interact.
HP, Dell and Acer have all attempted to get into tablets and smartphones, but never really made it. In 2012 we expect major changes in the market and to make sure they are not left behind they will spend more resources than before on R&D.
HP will make investments in R&D-related resources, and it has changed a company policy when it comes to research. The head of research Prith Banerjee, will be reporting directly to the new VP Meg Whitman.
Dell plans to spend 1 billion dollar on R&D in 2012, which is 51.28 percent more than 2010 when it only spent 661 million dollar. Dell says it will acquire new companies in the future, and that it will spend more money on integrating their operations into Dell.
Acer’s Research & Development center currently has 600 employees and from the middle of next year it will expand to up to 1000 by the end of 2012. Acer plans to headhunt people at other manufacturers and ODMs, and the hunt has already started.
You will need more than PCs to compete in the future
Acer also notes an interesting piece that ASUS mentioned a few months ago. The PC industry is heading for a major shift, where Wintel ecosystems (Windows and Intel – or x86) will lose their dominant position. There will be several platforms next year that can compete with the old ecosystem next year. Therefore it is a must to be able to develop and sell platforms based on e.g. Google Android and ARM – even more so when Windows 8 arrives.
Source: Digitimes
