Acer Inc.

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Acer Incorporated
宏碁股份有限公司
Type Public
LSE: ACID
TSE: 2353
Founded 1976
Founder(s) Stan Shih et al.
Headquarters Taipei, Taiwan
Area served Worldwide
Key people J.T. Wang, Chairman & CEO of Acer Group
Gianfranco Lanci, CEO of Acer
Industry Computer hardware
Products Desktops
Laptops
Netbooks
Servers
IT Services
Handhelds
Monitors
LCD TVs
Video projectors
Digital cameras
Revenue ▲US$ 16.65 billion (2008) Acer
Net income ▲US$ 358 million (2008)
Employees 5,300 (2006)
Subsidiaries Acer Computer Australia
Acer India
Acer America Corporation
Gateway, Inc.
Packard Bell
eMachines
E-TEN
Website Acer.com

Acer Incorporated (LSE: ACID, TSE: 2353) (Chinese: 宏碁股份有限公司; pinyin: Hóngqí Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) is a Taiwan-based multinational electronics manufacturer. Its product lineup includes desktops and laptops, as well as personal digital assistants (PDAs), servers and storage, displays, peripherals, and e-business services for business, government, education, and home users.

Acer is the second largest computer manufacturer in the world behind HP and ahead of Dell.[1] The company also owns the largest franchised computer retail chain in Taipei, Taiwan.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

Acer was founded by Stan Shih (施振榮), his wife Carolyn Yeh, and a group of five others as Multitech in 1976. The company 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, but over time it began to develop as a PC manufacturer. The global headquarters is located in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. Acer began its foray into laptops with the purchase of Texas Instruments' mobile PC division in 1997.

In 2000, Acer spun off its manufacturing operations as Wistron Corporation, to focus on sales and marketing of their core brand. Acer grew worldwide while simultaneously minimizing its labor force by identifying and using marketing strategies that best utilized their existing distribution channels. By 2005, Acer employed a scant 7,800 people worldwide. Revenues rose from US$4.9 billion in 2003[3] to US$11.31 billion in 2006. Acer's North American market share has slipped over the past few years, while in contrast, European market share has risen.[4]

On 27 August 2007, Acer announced plans to acquire its US-based rival Gateway Inc. for US$710 million. Acer's chairman, J.T. Wang, stated that the acquisition "completes Acer's global footprint, by strengthening our US presence."[5] In January 2008, Acer announced that it had acquired a controlling interest of 75% of Packard Bell.[6]

[edit] Racing

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In Europe, Acer partnered with the Ferrari Formula 1 Team. Prior to this, they were associated with Prost Grand Prix in 2001 and the BAR-Honda team in 2002. Their sponsorship of Prost was intensive and resulted in buying the naming rights to the engine. Throughout the 2001 season the team was referred to as Prost-Acer. After Prost folded, Acer sponsored the BAR team. Acer then began to offer a 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.

[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 (Pvt) Limited, and was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Acer Computer International, Ltd. in 1999. It is a notable vendor in key segments such as education, desktop computers and low profile notebooks for education purposes. Its headquarters are in Bangalore, India.

[edit] Europe, Middle East and Africa

Acer sells laptops in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

[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. In September 1990, Acer acquired Altos Computer Systems, one of the top manufacturers of multi-user 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 repair of Acer, Gateway, and E-Machine Notebooks and Desktop PCs for Eastern Canada. The repair facility in Temple, Texas handles many service oriented functions for North America. Acer owns Gateway, eMachines and Packard Bell brands in North America.

[edit] Controversy and criticism

Acer has been the subject of lawsuits, notably from its rival, Hewlett-Packard. According to HP's lawsuit, Acer was infringing its patents, including power management in notebooks. Acer filed a lawsuit against HP for the infringement of Acer's patent. Eventually HP settled out of court with Acer. [1]

[edit] Acer and Linux

Acer has stated that it will be pushing Linux aggressively on its new laptops and notebooks. They are already heavily promoting Linux for its low cost netbook range put out in late 2008, but senior staff have said that Acer will also push Linux on its laptops as well. Acer has already started selling Linux in its Media PC business.[7] Linux support for older Acer laptops is still variable due to the use of a variety of unsupported chipsets[citation needed].

[edit] Products

Acer Aspire 5600 Notebook
Acer Aspire 3610 Notebook
Acer Aspire 5520 Notebook
Acer Aspire 4520 Notebook
Acer Aspire One
Desktops
Notebooks
Netbook
Nettop
Personal digital assistants
Automotive navigation systems
Servers and storage
Workstations
Computer displays
Other

[edit] Brands

[edit] Sport

Acer sponsored the BAR-Honda Formula One racing team in the year 2000.[10] 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.[11] On 19 March 2007, Acer announced that they will sponsor the Factory Fiat Yamaha Team for the 2007 MotoGP World Championship season. From 2009, Packard Bell (a subsidiary of Acer) will be the sponsor of Fiat Yamaha MotoGP.[12]

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

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Acer, second largest PC manufacturer". Engadget. 14 October 2009. http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/14/acer-partially-fulfills-prophecy-overtakes-dell-as-number-two-p/. Retrieved 26 November 2009. 
  2. ^ "About Acer - Milestones". Acer. http://global.acer.com/about/milestones.htm. Retrieved 7 July 2007. 
  3. ^ "Gianfranco Lanci is appointed President of Acer Inc., effective January 2005" (PDF). Acer. 1 September 2004. http://www.acer.co.in/press/New_President.pdf. Retrieved 27 April 2007. 
  4. ^ "PC market surged in 2005, will settle in 2006". cnet. 18 January 2006. http://news.com.com/PC+market+surged+in+2005,+will+settle+in+2006/2100-1003_3-6028454.html. Retrieved 7 July 2007. 
  5. ^ 6:00 p.m. ET (27 August 2007). "Taiwan's Acer to buy PC maker Gateway - World business - MSNBC.com". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20458321/. Retrieved 7 April 2009. 
  6. ^ "Acer Buys 75 Percent of Packard Bell making it the 2nd largest computer maker in the world". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013101390.html. Retrieved 7 April 2009. 
  7. ^ "Acer bets big on Linux". Vnunet. 4 June 2008. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2218172/acer-pushes-linux-hard. Retrieved 31 July 2008. 
  8. ^ http://www.acer.com/timeline/home.html
  9. ^ Products & Services - PDA[dead link]
  10. ^ About Acer - News Release[dead link]
  11. ^ About Acer - News Release[dead link]
  12. ^ "02.02.2009 Packard Bell sponsor of Yamaha Factory Racing Team : Changeover of sponsorship from Acer" (PDF). http://www.packardbell.com/NR/rdonlyres/841AAED9-A03E-43F4-812F-0B76FE4F387D/1061/pb_yamaha_sponsorship.pdf. Retrieved 7 April 2009. 

[edit] External links

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