Acer sees PC consolidation speeding up
129983
The personal computer industry is in for a wave of consolidation and there will only be room in the market for a few major players, Acer  President Gianfranco Lanci said on Friday.
59337
Taiwan personal computer vendor Acer Inc. expects its computer shipments to increase 30-40 percent this year, a reduction from previous sales forecasts.
583737
Fingers lack of Vista demand Acer has scaled back its expectations in the PC market after an optimistic forecast earlier this year.â¦
656836
(InfoWorld) - Hewlett-Packard is developing new storage hardware that will make it easier for administrators to assign the right amount of storage to different departments in an organization. HP on Monday announced plans for new models in its midrange EVA series of disk storage arrays at the HP Technology Forum in Las Vegas. The EVA 4100, 6100, and 8100, due later this year, feature what HP calls Dynamic Capacity Management. Typically, when a company buys new storage capacity, it apportions it to different programs or different business functions in the organization. It can lead to the false impression that the company has used up all its storage capacity. Dynamic Capacity Management (DCM), HP said, allows the storage manager of a company to assign capacity to various departments or functions as needed and allows the system to reduce capacity assigned to departments if they're not using it up at the rate they thought they would. This saves companies the cost of buying more storage capacity they may not need, said Mark Gonzalez, vice president of enterprise server and storage sales at HP. "Perhaps you don't have to buy as much storage as you had to before and because of that, you use less power, use less cooling and can delay your purchases," Gonzalez said. "What's the most expensive storage that you'll buy? The storage that you have to buy today." Gonzalez said the EVAs may carry a list price somewhere in the range of $35,000 to $40,000. HP offers DCM, what it also calls thin provisioning, in the high-end XP line of disk storage arrays it introduced in May. The availability of it on the EVA line will coincide with the launch of Microsoft's new Windows Server 2008 operating system, which is due out later this year. Besides assigning storage capacity more in line with actual use, the EVAs will utilize a Windows feature that can reduce the size of storage capacity already assigned and reassign it to another purpose. But storage provisioning is as much a problem of office politics as it is technology, said Andrew Reichman, a storage industry analyst with Forrester Research Inc. Software application administrators at companies ask for as much storage as they can get because it's difficult to add more space later. But storage administrators want to preserve storage capacity so they don't have to buy more storage capacity unnecessarily. In the back and forth of office politics, Reichman said, the software administrators tend to win these battles. But with DCM, which he thinks is more accurately called "adaptive provisioning," assigning and adjusting capacity is easier and better assures applications will get the storage they need but not more than they need, he said. "Adaptive provisioning is good for environments where you have good communications. Where the server admins and the applications admins say 'I agree to take less and will trust you to grow it for me as time goes so we use less resources,'" Reichman said. "In my experience those environments are few and far between." HP also announced it's introducing a new tape drive for data storage and its first tape storage device in a blade form factor.
586183
Acer, the world&#39;s third largest PC vendor, said Friday that it is keeping an eye on a labor shortage in China that could affect PC production.&quot;There is a labor shortage in China, which is new to me,&quot; said J.T. Wang, chairman of Acer, during the company&#39;s third quarter investors&#39; conference in Taipei. &quot;China has 1.4 billion people, how can they have a labor shortage?&quot; he asked rhetorically.Acer&#39;s China-based component suppliers and PC assemblers have said that in some cases they have lost 1,000 workers overnight, and have had to seek new employees. The Taiwanese company will work with suppliers on new strategies to make sure the issue does not affect production, Wang said.He characterized the concern as small, and unlikely to become a major issue in the near term.There has been a growing shortage of skilled labor in the East coast cities of China, in part due to government efforts to develop the nation&#39;s inland areas, said one analyst. Many factory jobs used to be filled by migrant workers, but now that many companies are building factories in China&#39;s interior, people feel they can stay at home and work instead of traveling to the coast.Acer president Gianfranco Lanci said factories tend to move to new places when production in a certain region becomes difficult, and he expects that will happen if companies continue to see labor shortages in China.A number of electronics firms have started investing in Vietnam. Taiwan&#39;s Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world&#39;s largest contract electronics manufacturer and maker of gadgets including iPods, PlayStation 3 consoles, and Nokia mobile phones, in August announced a&#160;plan to spend $5 billion&#160;over the next five years to build a base of electronic components factories near Vietnam&#39;s capital, Hanoi. Until now, the company&#39;s major investments have all been in China.Taiwan&#39;s Compal Electronics, the world&#39;s second-largest laptop PC maker and another major investor in China, has also announced plans to build a notebook computer factory in Vietnam.Companies have started to look outside of China for new factory investments, the analyst said, and while Vietnam, India, and other countries boast low-cost labor, they will only win investments if their workers are educated and investment incentives and regulations attractive.&#160;
746019
Acer Inc. plans to acquire U.S. computer maker Gateway Inc. for $710 million in a deal that will push the Taiwanese company past China's Lenovo Group as the world's third largest vendor of personal computers.
761997
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan personal computer vendor Acer Inc. expects its computer shipments to increase 30-40 percent this year, a reduction from previous sales forecasts.
629780
TAIPEI/SHANGHAI  - Taiwan's Acer Inc   will buy Gateway Inc  for $710 million to double its  U.S. presence and unseat China's Lenovo  as the  world's No. 3 PC maker, while dealing a blow to its efforts to  grow in Europe.
101301
Acer has passed Lenovo Group as the world&#39;s third largest PC vendor with its&#160;purchase of Gateway, and now it&#39;s&#160;gunning for U.S. giant Dell.Next year, Acer could take up to a 12 percent share of the global PC market, putting it in the position to challenge Dell, said J.T. Wang, chairman of Acer, at the company&#39;s third-quarter investors&#39; conference in Taipei on Friday.Shipments by Acer have been growing fast this year due in part to a focus on laptop PCs, the hottest segment of the PC market, and the company&#39;s strategy of working closely with distributors.Acer&#39;s shipments grew 58 percent year over year in the third quarter, according to Gartner. The Taiwanese PC vendor accounted for 8.1 percent of global PC shipments during the quarter, compared to its 5.9 percent share during the same time last year. The figures do not include Gateway, which&#160;Acer bought&#160;for $710 million last week.Dell&#39;s unit shipments grew 3.5 percent during the quarter, but it still lost market share compared to last year, finishing in second place at 14.4 percent compared to 15.9 percent.Hewlett-Packard kept its title of the world&#39;s biggest PC vendor by shipments during the quarter with an 18.8 percent share, compared to a 16.1 percent share a year earlier. Lenovo, the fourth place vendor, took an 8 percent share, compared to 7.5 percent last year. Market researcher IDC puts&#160;Lenovo ahead of Acer&#160;according to its third-quarter PC shipment figures.&quot;We believe we can maintain strong growth momentum through 2008,&quot; said Wang.Acer forecasts it will still grow by a double-digit figure next year, and faster than the global PC industry. Executives also said the fourth quarter of this year looks to be a good quarter, with no indication of a decrease in demand for PCs.&quot;We have not seen any slowdown. Demand is still quite good,&quot; said Gianfranco Lanci, president of Acer. He forecast unit shipments to grow 10 percent to 20 percent over the third quarter. The company did not say how many PCs it sold in the third quarter, but Gartner puts the figure at nearly 5.55 million units.In the fourth quarter, Acer will also start adding Gateway shipments to its figures, which will add to its market share.Gateway sold only 865,000 PCs in its biggest market, the U.S., during the third quarter, down from 1.01 million the same time last year, according to Gartner. Lanci believes a stronger laptop PC lineup will boost Gateway&#39;s market share figures in the U.S. going forward because the mobile PC is the hottest segment in the industry. New Gateway laptops could be out as early as the first quarter of next year.And Dell isn&#39;t sitting still. Efforts to turn around its business finally paid off this quarter when its worldwide unit shipments rose for the first time in four quarters. It&#39;s a huge company with a lot of resources and could still turn itself around. Acer&#39;s executives said size was becoming ever more important in the global battle for PC market share because bigger companies can force suppliers to cut their prices. That means Dell, as the second biggest PC maker, is still in a strong position.REFERENCES:Wall Street Beat: Acer masters the Art of War, Aug. 31, 2007Acer completes Gateway acquisition, Oct. 17, 2007Acer to acquire Gateway for $710 million, Aug. 27, 2007Gateway brand to expand after Acer purchase, Aug. 27, 2007
264970
Taiwan&#39;s Acer Inc will buy  Gateway Inc for $710 million to double its U.S. presence and  unseat China&#39;s Lenovo as the world&#39;s No. 3 PC maker, while  dealing a blow to its efforts to grow in Europe.
470223
Taiwanese PC maker Acer Inc. will acquire Gateway Inc. for US$710 million, Acer announced Monday.
615142
(InfoWorld) - People fearing they might miss Gateway's signature black-and-white dairy cow PC boxes after the company is acquired by Acer Inc. have little reason to worry: Acer not only plans to keep the Gateway Inc. brand just the way it is, the Taiwanese company hopes to expand it. "A strong U.S. brand such as Gateway's can be expanded overseas into other markets," said Gianfranco Lanci, president of Acer, in a video feed at the Taipei news conference to announce the deal. Acer's determination to grow the brand should be some relief to American users. Gateway is the fourth biggest PC brand in the U.S., and popular among consumers. But until now, Acer has sold all of its products under its own name. Its strategy going forward is to start using multiple brands in all areas of the world, including the Gateway brand, as well as eMachines and possibly Packard Bell.Â Gateway plans to buy Packard Bell BV, which would ultimately end up as another Acer brand once the Acer-Gateway deal is finalized. Going forward, Acer plans to combine the talents of each company in order to expand product offerings for users. For example, Gateway is strong in desktop monitors, where Acer is weak, so Acer will use some Gateway technology to improve its offerings, said Lanci. The two companies will see where they can share designs and technology to improve their entire desktop and laptop PC line-ups, and expand this product cooperation to Packard Bell if a deal for the company is made. The deal could also mean more PC bargains for users. Becoming larger means Acer can gain better volume discounts when negotiating with parts suppliers. In addition, competition with Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. should remain fierce, and the companies all work hard to keep prices low. Acer agreed to buy Gateway in an all-cash deal valued at US$710 million. The two companies combined will become the world's third largest PC vendor by shipments, at around 20 million desktops and laptops a year, and will transform Acer into a multibrand company. The Acer-Gateway deal still faces regulatory and shareholder scrutiny before being finalized. The boards of directors of both companies have already signed off on the agreement. Acer expects to gain $150 million worth of efficiencies via the Gateway deal, in expanding product lines, cross-selling products, cost cutting and in other ways. The Taiwanese company said Gateway employees would be critical to its success in expanding the brand, but did not say whether it would cut staff. Â
628021
The popular technology promises to make computing easier, but it takes time to get up to speed.
166862
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Acer Inc. plans to acquire U.S. computer maker Gateway Inc. for $710 million in a deal that will push the Taiwanese company past China's Lenovo Group as the world's third largest vendor of personal computers.
189543
Acer on Wednesday announced the completion of its acquisition of Gateway, making it officially the third largest PC vendor in the world.
238933
(InfoWorld) - Retail consumers in the U.S. could begin to see great deals on computer purchases as PC vendors get more competitive in the wake ofÂ Acer's announcement on Monday that it plans to buy Gateway. Acer will probably try to reinvigorate the Gateway brand, using spiffier designs and faster processors in an effort to add cachet to Gateway and eMachines labels which are often seen as "bottom dwellers" selling low-cost PCs, said J.P. Gownder, a principal analyst with Forrester Research. In announcing the deal, Acer President Gianfranco Lanci said he planned to preserve Gateway's "powerful and unique brand" in order to cover a variety of consumer market segments, differentiating the two brands over time in an effort to reach a broader variety of consumers. By announcing its plan to concentrate on the U.S. retail market, Acer is signaling that it will not challenge far larger vendors like Hewlett-Packard and Dell for corporate enterprise deals. Acer also said on Monday that it planned to divest Gateway's professional business division, and was already in talks with a potential buyer. That strategy will probably have a far greater impact on Acer's long-time rival Lenovo than on larger vendors, Gownder said. "For HP and Dell, it's going to be two years before this makes an impact on their business," Gownder said. "Lenovo is the company that really loses here, especially if Acer is able to pick up Packard Bell and get a foothold in Europe, as well." On Aug. 7, Lenovo Group announced it had agreed to buy Packard Bell, but that deal appears to be scuttled: part of Monday's news was thatÂ Gateway will exercise its right of first refusal to acquire shares in Packard Bell's parent company. In addition to tripping up its rival Lenovo, Acer will gain valuable retail leverage in the U.S., including Gateway's online retail site and its shelf space in major retailers like Best Buy Co. Inc., Gownder said. Still, Acer faces a large workload in creating a successful merger with Gateway before it begins to reap profits from the move. "Acer has made a smart, imperfect decision. But from what's available to them, it was the best move on the chessboard," Gownder said. Acer now faces pressure to duplicate its success among small business customers and Asian markets in the competitive U.S. retail market, other analysts said. Acquiring Gateway could give it the leverage to succeed, but only if Acer completes a difficult merger, said Charles Smulders, an analyst and managing vice president at Gartner Inc. First, Acer must make sure it retains Gateway's staff in the U.S. channel and retail sectors, while divesting the money-losing professional business, he said. That move would have little effect on Gateway's small stake of the corporate enterprise market, but a larger impact among its government and academic customers. Then, Acer could dedicate its engineers to improving Gateway's image as an economy brand. "The Gateway brand is very well known, but people are unclear what it stands for. So that is one challenge Acer will face," Smulders said. The company will probably try to establish a reputation for using the latest technology, as opposed to marketing Gateway as the brand with the best technical support or the lowest prices, he said. To Acer's advantage, Gateway has been cutting costs for five years already, so that will be a much easier task than HP faced when it bought Compaq, Smulders said. "I certainly think HP will be taking notes, simply because Acer has been gaining ground so fast, particularly outside the U.S. If Acer can pull this off, it would be a serious challenge to HP." HP declined to comment on the possible implications of the deal. "HP does not comment on the business strategies of its competitors," said corporate spokeswoman Emma McCulloch. Â
201162
TAIPEI/SHANGHAI  - Taiwan's Acer Inc will buy  Gateway Inc for $710 million to double its U.S. presence and  unseat China's Lenovo as the world's No. 3 PC maker, while  dealing a blow to its efforts to grow in Europe.