Acer Inc.
Company type | Public (TWSE: 2353) |
---|---|
Industry | Computer hardware |
Founded | 1976 |
Founder | Stan Shih et al. |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | J.T. Wang, Chairman & CEO of Acer Group Gianfranco Lanci, CEO of Acer[1] |
Products | Desktops, Laptops, Servers, IT Services, Handhelds, Monitors, LCD TVs, Video projectors, Digital cameras |
Revenue | US$19 billion (2008) |
24,716,786,000 New Taiwan dollar (2019) | |
US$338 million (2006) | |
Number of employees | 6,554 (2005) |
Subsidiaries | Acer Computer Australia Acer India Acer America Corporation Gateway, Inc. Packard Bell eMachines E-TEN |
Website | www.acer.com |
Acer Incorporated (LSE: ACID) (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 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.
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 Hsinchu City, Taiwan. Acer purchased Texas Instruments' 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[4] 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.[5]
In Europe, Acer mounted an association 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 - buying the naming rights to the engine (which was also a Ferrari). Throughout the 2001 season the team were referred to as Prost-Acer. After Prost folded, Acer sponsored the BAR team, but in a much smaller way. Acer 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. [6] It has surpassed Dell in worldwide notebook shipments, becoming the world's No. 2 branded notebook vendor.[7]
But it has recently lost its 2nd position to Dell to become 3rd only by a small margin. Moreover Acer will put renewed efforts in its newly acquired brands to regain its place. [8]
In September 2008, Acer surpassed HP and Dell over worldwide notebook shipment. [9]
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."[10] In January 2008, Acer announced that it had acquired a controlling interest of 75% of Packard Bell.[11]
Operations
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.
India
Acer's subsidiary in India is Acer India, is the vendor in key segments such as education, desktop computers and low profile notebooks for education purposes. Its headquarter is in Bangaluru, India. Leveraging the vast collective technological resources available - Acer India (Pvt) Ltd., was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Acer Computer International Ltd. on 9th September 1999.
Europe, Middle East and Africa
Acer sells in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region in the notebook sector. Confirming its appearance in the EMEA notebook market, in 2005 Acer ranked among top 10 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.
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. Acer owns Gateway, eMachines and Packard Bell brands in North America.
Controversy and criticism
This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. |
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. Unleashed that Acer obtained patent designs which are registered by HP, without any approval and agreement. HP has filed damage claim of 3.2 Billion U.S. dollars against Acer for the infringement of patents rights. [12]
Acer America Corporation has previously had an unsatisfactory record with the United States Better Business Bureau. It is currently awaiting re-evaluation. [13]
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 ultra-portable netbook range out later this year, 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.[14] Linux support for older Acer laptops is still variable due to the use of a variety of unsupported chipsets[citation needed].
Products
Desktops
- Acer Aspire series
Notebooks
- Acer TravelMate series
- Acer Gemstone series
- Tablet PC series
- Acer Aspire series
- Acer Extensa series
- Acer Ferrari series (CPUs: Mobile AMD Turion 64)
Netbook
Personal digital assistants
- S Series of Palm OS PDAs
- Acer N Series
Automotive navigation systems
- Acer e300 series Travel Companion,[15] with Destinator and NAVTEQ maps.
Servers and storage
- Acer Altos series
Workstations
Computer displays
Other
Brands
- Acer
- eMachines
- Gateway
- Packard Bell
- E-TEN
- Glofiish
Sport
Acer sponsored the BAR-Honda Formula One racing team in the year 2000. [16] 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. [17] 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.
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
- eMachines
- Gateway
- Packard Bell
- E-TEN
- ETEN operation system
- Linpus Linux
References
- ^ "Gianfranco Lanci is appointed President of Acer Inc., effective January 2005" (PDF). Acer. 2004-09-01. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
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(help) - ^ "About Acer - Milestones". Acer. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
- ^ "Acer eclipses Lenovo, takes aim at Dell". ITworld.com. 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
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(help) - ^ "Gianfranco Lanci is appointed President of Acer Inc., effective January 2005" (PDF). Acer. 2004-09-01. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
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(help) - ^ "PC market surged in 2005, will settle in 2006". cnet. 2006-01-18. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
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"Hewlett-Packard Expands PC Market-Share Lead Over Dell in Q3". iSuppli. 2007-11-29. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
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"Acer slips past dell in worldwide notebook shipments". DailyTech/DisplayResearch. 2008-03-05. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
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"Dell recaptures number two spot in 1Q08 notebook market". Digitimes/DisplaySearch. 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
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"Acer surpasses HP and Dell over worldwide notebook shipment in September". Digitimes/DisplaySearch. 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
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(help) - ^ Taiwan's Acer to buy PC maker Gateway - World business - MSNBC.com
- ^ Acer Buys 75 Percent of Packard Bell making it the 2nd largest computer maker in the world - Washington Post
- ^ HP sues Acer again over patents - CNET News.com
- ^ "BBB Reliability Report: Acer America Corporation". Better Business Bureau. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ "Acer bets big on Linux". Vnunet. 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
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(help) - ^ Products & Services - PDA
- ^ About Acer - News Release
- ^ About Acer - News Release
External links
- Articles needing cleanup from August 2008
- Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from August 2008
- Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from August 2008
- Acer Incorporated
- Companies established in 1976
- Computer hardware companies
- Electronics companies of Taiwan
- Formula One
- Portable audio player manufacturers
- Taiwan brands