Now Acer has bought out Gateway it squeaks past Lenovo to be number three among global PC-makers. The new Acer will have around $15 billion in worldwide sales and ship 20 million PCs a year, according to IDC. Throughout its travails, and despite its fitful forays into stores, its managerial stumbles, its inability to keep pace with Dell, etc. etc. etc., Gateway was able to keep its quality high enough to retain a very respectable brand image in the U.S. Acer is getting something that has real value, and it's a coup for them that they can do so for a mere $710 million.

Gateway also announced Monday it would exercise its right to make the first bid for Packard Bell, a smaller brand that retains a big presence in Europe. The speculation is that Acer just wants to make Lenovo, which has been courting Packard Bell, pay a higher price.

It sounds like good politics. But to the experts this deal says that in some ways the great era of U.S. dominance in tech has finally come to an end. Every company to succeed today has to be global, and it really doesn't matter much anymore where it is headquartered if it understands the exigencies of global branding and marketing. PCs themselves may not seem nearly so interesting as they used to be, but that could change as chipmaker Intel pushes its ultra-mobile strategy - which is likely to confuse us on whether that thing in our hand is a cellphone or a PC. It's highly probable that Acer will be one of the companies pushing us cleverly into the new world of mobility, as we all become more global citizens ourselves.

Kate