Windows 7 fails to boost PC profits

Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system has increased the company's earnings, but has failed to increase the profits of PC manufacturers such as HP and Dell, reports The Wall Street Journal.

While consumers purchased more than 90 million new PCs during the holiday quarter, when Microsoft released Windows 7, up 22% from a year earlier, PC revenue grew at just a single-digit rate, according to analysts.

Market research firm NPD Group says this is largely because laptop prices posted a record year-over-year drop, falling 23% to an average of $581 last quarter from a year ago.

Acer Taiwan president Scott Lin revealed the IT giant will focus on ultra-thin notebooks for 2010, but has no plans to release a similar device to Apple's new iPad, states DigiTimes.

Lin pointed out that designing an iPad-like device would not pose any technical challenges for Acer, but says PC tablets do not fit into Acer's business model.

For 2010, Acer expects its large traditional notebooks to account for 50% to 60% of total notebook shipments, with netbook at around 20% and ultra-thin notebooks about 20% to 30%. Acer will also push notebooks with a thickness of less than 2cm as a major product for this year.

HP has released its latest range of business desktop and notebook PCs designed to reduce the impact on the environment, says The Malta Independent.

The HP Compaq 8100 Elite Desktop PC Series features an 89% energy-efficient power supply and other innovative energy-saving technologies that help support lower energy usage and costs.

The HP EliteBook 8540 series comes preloaded with HP SkyRoom, an HD videoconferencing software that offers real-time collaboration for face-to-face meetings.