• San Jose Mercury News, Austin American-Statesman , Wednesday, October 15, 2008 10:47 AM

Some analysts at an Apple press conference Tuesday questioned whether the new, faster, greener laptops that were introduced were out of touch with the times, given wide expectations of a recession. Although Apple cut the price of an entry-level model to about $1,000, it maintained its prices on other notebook models and even raised the price on one model.

The new computers have rounded cases like the MacBook Air notebook introduced in January and are made using a similar manufacturing process that helps to reduce weight and internal parts while adding rigidity. Apple also has removed a wide range of hazardous chemicals such as PVCs and arsenic from the new computers or their manufacturing process.

Other manufacturers have been cutting prices, and one of the fastest-growing PC segments has been the so-called netbook market, where machines often sell for as little as $300. That's a market that Apple hasn't played in and evidently still won't.

Fueled by strong sales of netbooks, Taiwanese-based Acer's third-quarter shipments rose 47.3%, pulling it within striking distance of No. 2 Dell, The American-Statesmen reports. Acer ended the quarter with 12.5% of global PC shipments; Dell's market share fell to 13.6%. Hewlett-Packard shipments increased 15.1%, giving it 18.4% of the market and extending its lead. All figures come from the research firm Gartner .

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