Acer Inc.
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| Acer Incorporated | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Public (TSE: 2353) |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Founder | Stan Shih et al. |
| Headquarters |  Taipei, Taiwan, ROC |
| Key people | J.T. Wang, Chairman & CEO Gianfranco Lanci, President[1] |
| Industry | Computer |
| Products | Laptop, Desktop Computers, Servers, IT Services, Handhelds, Monitor, LCD TV, Projector, Digital Camera |
| Revenue | ▲US$11.1 billion (2006) |
| Net income | ▲US$338 million (2006) |
| Employees | 6,554 (2005) |
| Subsidiaries | Acer Computer Australia, Acer India, Acer America Corporation, Gateway, Inc., Packard Bell |
| Website | www.acer.com |
Acer Incorporated. (LSE: ACID) (traditional Chinese: 宏碁股份有限公司) is a Taiwanese multinational electronics manufacturer. It owns the largest franchised computer retail chain in Taipei, Taiwan.[2] Acer is the third largest computer manufacturer in the world (by sales) after HP and Dell Inc.[3] and its product lineup includes desktop and mobile PCs (laptops),as well as personal digital assistants (PDAs), servers and storage, displays, peripherals, and e-business services for business, government, education, and home users.
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[edit] History
Multitech, founded by Stan Shih (施振榮), his wife Carolyn Yeh, and a group of five others in 1976, was renamed Acer in 1987. It began with eleven employees and US$25,000 in capital. Initially, it was primarily a distributor of electronic parts and a consultant in the use of microprocessor technologies. The global headquarters is in Hsichih City, Taiwan.
Acer purchased Texas Instruments's mobile PC (laptop) division in 1997.
In 2000, Acer spun off its manufacturing operation (as Wistron Corporation) to focus itself on branding business. In deciding to support the sales of its product lines through specific marketing activities that best utilise distribution channels, Acer grew worldwide while its labour force contracted. In 2002, the pan Acer Group employed 39,000 people supporting dealers and distributors in more than 100 countries.[citation needed] Revenues reached US$12.9 billion that year.[citation needed] By 2005, Acer employed 7,800 people throughout the world while maintaining a global sales and service network. Revenues were US$4.9 billion in 2003[1] and US$11.31 billion in 2006. Acer's North American market share slipped over the past few years while the European market share has gone up.[4]
In Europe, Acer mounted an association with the Ferrari Formula 1 Team and the former F1 teams, BAR-Honda team in 2000 and Prost Grand Prix in 2001. They offer a popular line of premium laptops and LCD monitors with Ferrari branding. It has recently broadened the scope of its relationship with Ferrari by announcing it will sponsor the Formula One team until 2008. Acer has recently introduced the Ferrari line of products to North America, and rolled out a Ferrari-branded line of PDA devices.
Acer ranks as the world's No. 3 branded PC vendor behind the Hewlett Packard Company and Dell Inc, recently claiming the No.3 rank from Lenovo[5] More recently, it has surpassed Dell in worldwide notebook shipments, becoming the world's No. 2 branded notebook vendor.[6]
On August 27, 2007, Acer announced plans to acquire U.S. based rival Gateway Inc. for US$710 million. J.T. Wang, the company's chairman, said in a statement that the acquisition "completes Acer's global footprint, by strengthening our U.S. presence."[7] In January 2008, Acer announced that it had acquired a controlling interest of 75% of Packard Bell.[8]
[edit] Operations
[edit] Australia
The Australian subsidiary of Acer is Acer Computer Australia (ACA). The subsidiary was established in 1990. and is currently Australia's third largest personal computer vendor, behind Hewlett-Packard Australia and Dell Australia and New Zealand. Acer Computer Australia has Australia's highest overall market share in notebook PC and tablet PC sales. The company is also Australia's leading PC vendor in government and education markets. Acer Computer Australia has 480 employees as of 2006.
[edit] India
Acer's subsidiary in India is Acer India, which apart from being top in the overall PC desktop and notebook market, is the leading vendor in key segments such as education. Its headquarters are in Bangalore, India.
[edit] Europe, Middle East and Africa
Acer is the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region leader in the notebook sector, holding 18% market share in Q1 2005. Confirming its leadership in the EMEA notebook market, in 2005 Acer ranked first in 13 countries: Italy, Spain, Austria, The Netherlands, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Russia, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Europe was the company's biggest market in 2005.
[edit] North America
Acer America Corporation, headquartered in San Jose, California, is a member of the Acer Group. Acer's R&D, engineering, manufacturing and marketing operations in the United States and Canada are handled by Acer America Corporation. In September 1990, Acer acquired Altos Computer Systems, one of the top manufacturers of multiuser and networked UNIX computer systems for commercial markets. In February 1997, Acer acquired Texas Instruments Mobile Computing business, including the award-winning TravelMate and Extensa notebook lines, making Acer the fourth-leading notebook manufacturer in the United States. Acer America's Canadian office, in Mississauga, Ontario, handles sales and marketing, manufacturing, and customer service activities in Canada.
[edit] Controversy and criticism
Acer has been the subject of lawsuits, notably from its rival, Hewlett-Packard. According to the lawsuit, Acer was infringing numerous technological patents, including power management in notebooks.[9]
Acer has also been subject to numerous complaints about its customer service department; the website AvoidAcer.com, for example, notes various complaints, including those from the site's owner, as well as the patent infringement lawsuits; the site also encourages disappointed Acer buyers to contact company management and report grievances to the BBB.[10]
[edit] Acer and Linux
Acer has stated that it will be pushing Linux aggressively on its laptops and notebooks. The company is already heavily promoting Linux for its low cost ultra-portable netbook range out later this year, but senior staff have said that Acer will also push Linux on its laptops. Acer has already started selling Linux in its Media PC business but this should now spread, according to Gianpiero Morbello, vice president of marketing and brand at Acer. "We have shifted towards Linux because of Microsoft," he said. "Microsoft has a lot of power and it is going to be difficult, but we will be working hard to develop the Linux market." Acer sees two killer apps with Linux on computers: operation and cost. Its flavour of Linux will boot in 15 seconds compared to minutes for Windows, and the open source operating system can extend battery life from five to seven hours. At the same time, the company expects that the price differential of Linux will make the offering attractive for consumers at the low-cost end of the market. "Microsoft's operating system typically costs around £50 per unit," said David Drummond, UK managing director at Acer. "On a £1,000 PC that is peanuts, but on a £200 computer it is a major issue."
Reference: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2218172/acer-pushes-linux-hard
[edit] Products
- Desktop computers:
- Notebook computers:
- TravelMate series
- Tablet PC series
- Aspire series
- Extensa series
- Ferrari series (CPUs: Mobile AMD Turion 64)
- Personal digital assistants:
- Navigation systems:
- Acer e300 series Travel Companion,[11] with Destinator and NAVTEQ maps.
- Server & Storage:
- Altos series
- Workstations:
- Monitors
- Digital Cameras
- LCD Televisions
[edit] Brands
- Acer
- eMachines
- Gateway
- Packard Bell (Europe only)
[edit] Sport
Acer sponsored the BAR-Honda team in the year 2000. [12] In 2001, Acer provided sponsorship to the Prost Grand Prix Formula One team, and the team's Ferrari engines were badged as Acers.
Acer currently sponsors the Ferrari Formula 1 team. In 2003 Acer signed a Gold Partner sponsorship deal with FC Internazionale - Milano (Inter Milan) Football Club. From January 2007, Acer has become Official Supplier of FC Barcelona. [13] On March 19, 2007, Acer announced that they will sponsor the Factory Fiat Yamaha Team for the 2007 MotoGP World Championship season.
There was an agreement beginning on January 1, 2009 which includes the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Under this agreement, Acer will be listed among the Worldwide TOP Partners for both the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
[edit] See also
- Microprofessor I - Acer's first product
- BenQ - formerly Acer CM
- ALi - formerly Acer Laboratories Incorporated
- AOpen - formerly AcerOpen
- ACC (computer company)
- List of Computer System Manufacturers
- List of companies in Taiwan
[edit] References
- ^ a b Gianfranco Lanci is appointed President of Acer Inc., effective January 2005 (PDF). Acer (2004-09-01). Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
- ^ About Acer - Milestones. Acer. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
- ^ Acer eclipses Lenovo, takes aim at Dell. ITworld.com (2007-10-26). Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
- ^ PC market surged in 2005, will settle in 2006. cnet (2006-01-18). Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
- ^ Hewlett-Packard Expands PC Market-Share Lead Over Dell in Q3. iSuppli (2007-11-29). Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
- ^ Acer slips past dell in worldwide notebook shipments. DailyTech/DisplayResearch (2008-03-05). Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
- ^ Taiwan's Acer to buy PC maker Gateway - World business - MSNBC.com
- ^ Acer Buys 75 Percent of Packard Bell - Washington Post
- ^ HP sues Acer again over patents - CNET News.com
- ^ AvoidAcer.com.
- ^ Products & Services - PDA
- ^ About Acer - News Release
- ^ About Acer - News Release
