Acer too is hedging its bets. Not only did it present the world's thinnest ultrabook, but also hybrid tablet-laptops.Perhaps after the past year management can be forgiven for caution.In short order the former world number two shipper of PCs (now fourth, just behind Dell) parted company with its chief executive over strategy disagreements, took a $150m charge for "questionable" accounting,saw sales drop by a quarter, and suffered its first operating loss in a decade.

This is Acer's fightback year, as it is for other PC makers who have struggled to catch up with the popularity of tablets.They are betting on Microsoft's Windows 8,due for release later this year.They are also taking the battle to Apple with laptops that become tablets, and new ultrabooks–Acer's Aspire S7 ultrabook is 12mm thick compared with the MacBook's 17mm.

Consumers should benefit,but makers may struggle to profit as they wait for users to decide what they want.Acer has not released pricing details for the new Aspire, but it will be in the high-margin premium category dominated by Apple.This is a risky departure for a company more familiar with the wafer-thin margins of the cheaper end of the mass market.Acer has at least already stanched the financial bleeding, producing operating profits in the last two quarters (albeit with a margin of 0.1 per cent).Its new products were among the hits of Computex, but they will not ship until later this year. Between now and then,expect more heavily promoted unveilings across the industry,but little action.Investors have some time to make up their own minds about who to back.