Acer has new Chromebooks coming out in September

Acer unveiled its new Chrome OS notebooks last May. It has finally announced when the computers will be on the market and how much they will cost.

Chromebook 13 and Chromebook Spin 13

The two Chromebooks will be available for commercial customers in September. Both models have an all-aluminum body. The display is 13.5 inches with 2256 x 1504 IPS with 3:3 aspect ratio. It has a Gorilla Glass touchpad.

Prices for the traditional style Chromebook 13 begin at $649.99 for an Intel Core i3-powered entry level configuration. It has 8GB of memory but just 32GB of storage. A hundred dollars more provides an i5 processor.

The Chromebook Spin 13 comes with a touchscreen and a 360 degree hinge so it can be used as a tablet. The basic version also has an i3 processor 8GB memory and 64GB storage. The notebook starts at $749.99. A high end version goes for $949.99 but comes with an i5 processor, 16GB RAM, and a large 128GB storage.

With these new Chromebooks, Acer is targeting companies whose employees rely on cloud-based services. Acer's new models are high-end with respect to specs but the prices are also. Google's Pixel book is now available at $999 a jump from a recent sale price of $750.

Acer

According to Wikipedia: "Acer Inc. ... is a Taiwanese multinational hardware and electronics corporation, specializing in advanced electronics technology, headquartered in Xizhi, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Acer's products include desktop PCs, laptop PCs (clamshells, 2-in-1s, convertibles and Chromebooks), tablets, servers, storage devices, virtual reality devices, displays, smartphones and peripherals."

The company also sells gaming PCs and accessories using the brand name Predator. Early in the 2,000s the company decided not to produce computers itself but to farm this task out to third parties. It now is a designer, marketer and distributor of products.

In 2015 Acer was the sixth largest personal computer seller in the world. As of now, Acer also focuses on integration of cloud services and platforms, the development of smart phones and wearable devices with value-added IoT applications.

Acer has more than 7,000 employees worldwide It operates in 70 countries. Acer has approximately 95,000 retail locations in more than 170 countries.

Acer has acquired several other companies including competitor Gateway in the US and Packard Bell. The company became number two for notebooks in 2007 after the purchases. Acer has been striving to become the world's largest PC vendor. However, its reliance on the high volume, low-value PC market has caused it difficulties as buying habits have changed.

Previously published in Digital Journal