Let’s say you’re the chairman of a company who’s done quite well in the netbook business but just lost money for the first time ever. How would you convince your investors that your key product isn’t being damaged by the iPad? If you’re Acer, you just laugh and call it some kind of crazy new fad that will fade in time.

AppleInsider is reporting that Acer reported its first quarterly loss in the the company’s history on Wednesday, which many are viewing as further proof that the iPad and other tablets are starting to rapidly erode the once lucrative netbook market. According to Reuters, Acer chairman J.T. Wang views the quarterly loss as a “correction period” while yet again dismissing the iPad as a competitor.

While not mentioning the iPad by name, Wang reportedly “added that he expects the ‘fever’ for tablets to recede,” at which time consumers will shift back to traditional notebooks, presumably including his company’s low-cost netbooks. Last year, the Acer chairman made the bold claim that the iPad’s market share would fall to between 20 and 30 percent, while in reality Apple today controls more than 50 percent.

Despite the grim second quarter loss, Acer remains the world’s number two PC maker, although Wang confessed on Wednesday that it will be “impossible” for the company to break even in 2011.

The erosion of the company’s netbook market has forced Acer to push out their own line of Android-based tablets which launched several months ago with the Iconia Tab A500, a capable and more cost-effective slate marred by a subpar display which has thus far been trumped by the similarly priced Asus Eee Pad Transformer. In late July, Acer introduced its followup, the seven-inch Iconia Tab A100, priced at $349.99.

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