Finally, some optimism in these hard times of soup lines and pink slips, courtesy of Acer chairman JT Wang.

Wang believes the economic crisis is not as bad as it looks, and he is optimistic about Acer shipments in Q4, as well as in 2009. He also feels confident about the notebook industry as a whole and predicts global notebook shipments in 2009 will grow 15 to 20 percent year-on-year.

He's even more optimistic about Acer, and expects growth of 25 to 30 percent due to a superior sales and pricing strategy. In the past couple of years Acer has gone from strength to strength, becoming a major player on the notebook market, slowly nibbling into market share previously dominated by established industry giants.

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