Acer Sees Strong Growth in 2008
524242
Acer says a strong laptop market will push its 2008 sales up 35 percent over last year.
159920
(InfoWorld) - Acer Inc. plans to acquire Gateway Inc. in a deal worth $710 million that Acer says will make it the world's third-largest PC vendor. Under terms of the agreement announced Monday, Acer will purchase all of Gateway's outstanding shares for $1.90 per share. The deal has already been approved by the boards of directors at both companies and should be completed by the end of this year, subject to government approval, Acer said in a statement. Gateway's shares ended at $1.21 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. "This is the biggest acquisition in Acer's 30 year history," said J.T. Wang, Acer's chairman, speaking at a news conference in Taipei. "After this acquisition, we are solidly number three in the global PC market," Wang said. Acer's acquisition deal with Gateway also derails rivalÂ Lenovo Group's plans to acquire Packard Bell. Alongside the acquisition deal with Acer, Gateway unveiled plans to exercise its right of first refusal to acquire shares in Packard Bell's parent company, PB Holding Co. SARL, from John Hui. Hui is the founder ofÂ eMachines, which Gateway acquired in 2004, and the largest shareholder in Packard Bell. Gateway did not disclose how much it has offered for Hui's stake in PB Holding. Acer's efforts to overtake Lenovo will get a big boost from Gateway, which was the world's eighth largest PC vendor during 2006. Together Acer and Gateway shipped 18.6 million PCs during 2006, compared to 16.6 million PCs shipped by Lenovo. The Gateway acquisition will have the greatest impact in the U.S., where Acer has been growing fast but remains in sixth place among PC vendors. "This is definitely a good play for them from the U.S. consumer perspective," said Bryan Ma, director of personal systems research at IDC Asia-Pacific. However, the big question is how Acer plans to integrate Gateway with its own operations, and how smoothly the integration process will go, he said. Acer's share of the U.S. PC market grew 164 percent during the second quarter of 2007, compared to the same period last year. Acer shipped 888,000 PCs to U.S. customers, giving the company a 5.2 percent share of the market. By comparison, Gateway was the fourth-largest PC vendor during the second quarter, shipping 965,000 PC and taking 5.6 percent share of the U.S. PC market. The Gateway acquisition vaults Acer into the number three spot in the U.S. PC market, behind only HP and Dell. "Acer is an outstanding strategic partner for Gateway," said Ed Coleman, CEO of Gateway, in a video feed at the Taipei news conference to announce the deal. Gateway reported net income of $1.9 million for the second quarter, compared to a loss of $7.7 million one year earlier. The company said gains in its retail division during the period were offset by declining revenue in its professional and direct divisions. However, talks are currently underway to sell off the professional division to a third party, Gateway said Monday. The company did not offer details of those discussions. Â
161248
Taipei - Acer, the world&#39;s fifth-largest brand-name personal computer vendor, said global sales in its core business are expected to rise 30-40 percent in 2005 from the 205-215 billion Taiwan dollars (R37.
133085
A fast growth rate and recent acquisitions in the U.S. and Europe will extend Acer's lead over Lenovo as the world's third-largest PC vendor.
249160
Calling Mr K Canute Acer will stick with its policy of pushing up average selling prices for its hardware, despite failing to put a floor under prices so far this year.â¦
110574
The electronic products maker said Thursday that its net income in the third quarter rose 25 percent to 200.2 billion yen ($1.9 billion).
59337
Taiwan personal computer vendor Acer Inc. expects its computer shipments to increase 30-40 percent this year, a reduction from previous sales forecasts.
186849
Blog: For the first quarter of 2007, Taiwan-based Acer has grabbed a larger market share than Lenovo, according to data collected by iSuppli.
449194
Buoyed by continued strong worldwide sales of personal computers, Microsoft reported strong growth even as it faces the challenges of being a mature technology company.
370544
A fast growth rate and recent acquisitions in the U.S. and Europe will extend Acer&#39;s lead over Lenovo Group as the world&#39;s third-largest PC vendor behind Hewlett-Packard&#160;and Dell, according to a study released by Gartner on Wednesday.Acer and Lenovo stood neck-and-neck in global PC shipments with 8.1 percent and 8 percent market shares, respectively, in the third quarter of 2007. Before acquisitions, Acer shipped 5.54 million PC units worldwide, a healthy 58 percent year-over-year increase. The growth rate overshadowed Lenovo, which shipped 5.48 million PCs, a 22.8 percent increase.Gartner&#39;s quarterly figures were compiled before&#160;Acer finished its acquisition of Gateway&#160;on Wednesday for $710 million. Acer also funded Gateway&#39;s proposed acquisition of European PC vendor Packard Bell&#160;for an undisclosed sum. That was&#160;a blow to Lenovo Group, which in early August revealed it was in discussions with Packard Bell over a possible acquisition.Packard Bell is largely a European vendor and has a small market share, similar to eMachines in the U.S before it was acquired by Gateway, said Diana Maranon, managing partner at Averil Capital Markets Groups. Maranon&#39;s company brokered Gateway&#39;s Packard Bell acquisition.An IDC report, also released Wednesday, listed Lenovo as the world&#39;s third-largest PC vendor but indicated&#160;Acer could overtake Lenovo&#160;with its growth rates in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa and Asia-Pacific markets, excluding Japan. Acer&#39;s U.S. PC shipments grew more than 100 percent during the third quarter, though it could face more pressure from competitors as it continues to expand, IDC said.In the U.S., Acer replicated the business strategy that made it highly successful in Europe: de-emphasize retail, sell through indirect channels, and offer low, competitive prices, said Roger Kay, founder and president of Endpoint Technologies Associates. Acer stands at the low end in the U.S. market, and the Gateway acquisition gives it a good position in the middle and high-end markets, Kay said.Gateway&#39;s worldwide shipments increased 8 percent in the third quarter, though U.S. shipments fell 14.4 year over year, Gartner said.Acer&#39;s global growth strategy is paying dividends and could affect Lenovo in the U.S. and Europe, Kay said.The Packard Bell acquisition was a defensive move for Acer to ensure Lenovo doesn&#39;t get a toehold in the European market, Kay said. Acer is already one of the top notebook sellers in Europe.Lenovo showed positive growth in global markets, but Acer&#39;s acquisitions block Lenovo from acquiring some valuable shelf space for product distribution, said Charles Smulders, managing vice president at Gartner, in an e-mail interview.Lenovo could not be reached for comment.Global PC shipments&#160;during the third quarter were 68.4 million, driven by high demand for laptops in the home market, Gartner said. HP was the world&#39;s top PC vendor, with 12.8 million units shipped, a 18.8 percent market share, and 33.1 percent year-over-year volume growth. Dell followed with a 14.4 percent market share, shipping 9.86 million units, a 3.5 percent increase.The survey includes desktop PCs, laptops, and x86 servers.
436061
The $710 million deal gives Acer a leg up in its battle with Lenovo, but important hurdles must be cleared before Gateway will turn around its lagging sales figures.
558894
(InfoWorld) - Acer Inc. has filed a patent counterclaim against rival Hewlett-Packard Co. as part of itsÂ response to two HP lawsuits. The lawsuits come amid a major push by Acer into the U.S. PC market, and brisk global growth. The Taiwanese company's shipments to the U.S., HP's home turf, grew 163.8 percent year-on-year in the most recent second quarter, according to preliminary figures by market researcher IDC. HP has also been gaining market share in PCs at the expense of other rivals such as Dell Inc., but Acer remains the fastest-growing PC maker among the top 10. The counterclaim filed last week by Acer alleges HP has infringed its antenna and DVD-ROM head technology patents. The suit was filed in the same court as theÂ HP lawsuits against Acer, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The HP lawsuits claim that Acer has infringed 10 HP patents related to PCs. The world's largest PC vendor is seeking to block Acer PC imports to the U.S. and is asking for compensation from Acer, payment of legal fees, and triple damages for alleged intentional violation of the patents. Court documents in the Acer counterclaim were not yet available at the time of writing. Acer has said it believes its contracts with contract PC makers indemnify it from HP's claims, and has already filed aÂ lawsuit against three of its suppliers aimed at forcing them to live up to their contracts. Many laptop and desktop PC suppliers do the design and manufacturing work for customers. Acer said that since its suppliers worked on the design of the PCs in question, they should share the burden of the HP lawsuit. The supplier agreements specifically indemnify the company from lawsuits such as the two brought about by HP, Acer said. The HP lawsuits come as Acer continues to gain market share in the global PC business, and some analysts have called the disputes a response to the inroads Acer has made in the U.S. PC market. Acer's shipments to the U.S. grew 163.8 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, according to preliminary figures from market researcher IDC, beating all other companies among the top six. The Taiwanese company more than doubled its market share to 5.2 percent from 2.1 percent a year ago. "Acer continued its rapid expansion in the Americas while posting strong gains in other regions as well," IDC said in a statement. New retail and dealer partner agreements are boosting Acer's drive into the U.S. market, the industry researcher said. By contrast, HP's shipments in the U.S. grew 26 percent over the same time. HP retained its title as the world's biggest PC vendor with a 19.3 percent share of the market, compared to 7.2 percent for fourth place Acer. Acer's worldwide shipments in the second quarter rose 55 percent against the same time last year, compared to 36.5 percent growth for HP.
317728
Strong demand from emerging markets and the introduction of more low-cost laptops will boost Intel&#39;s sales in Asia during 2008, but company executives are keeping a close eye on the U.S. economy for signs of a slowdown.&quot;Overall, I&#39;m optimistic about growth in Asia, but it would be imprudent not to be cautious and mindful of the economic situation in the U.S.,&quot; said Navin Shenoy, general manager of Intel&#39;s Asia-Pacific operations, during a telephone interview.Intel&#39;s Asia-Pacific sales include chips sold for use in Asia as well as products that are built into computers for export to other regions. As a result, regional executives are closely watching what happens in the U.S., where concerns are mounting that the economy is headed for a recession.&quot;The export business that&#39;s dependent on the United States might see a bit of a slowdown, but the bulk of the growth is coming from [Asian] consumption. The consumption that we see across Asia-Pacific is quite strong and I see no impact or slowdown there whatsoever at this point in time,&quot; Shenoy said.&quot;But we&#39;re going to watch it. We&#39;re going to watch it carefully,&quot; he said.Analyst firm IDC expects Asian PC shipments to grow 16.7 percent this year, compared to an increase of 3 percent in the U.S.&quot;We&#39;ve pretty much been assuming no major impact [on PC demand] from the subprime crisis in the U.S.,&quot; said Bryan Ma, director of personal systems research at IDC Asia-Pacific, adding that the market research firm is monitoring economic developments in the U.S.Intel is coming off a strong fourth quarter, despite being squeezed somewhat by lower-than-expected flash memory prices. Strong processor demand during the period helped push Intel&#39;s Asia-Pacific revenue to US$5.3 billion, a quarterly record and about half of the company&#39;s total sales.&quot;Demand on the CPU side was strong. We set a record in terms of CPU shipments [and] we set a record for chipsets,&quot; Shenoy said.Most of Intel&#39;s processor revenue during the period came from 65-nanometer chips. The first chips from Intel&#39;s 45-nanometer processor lineup, called Penryn, were introduced in November and made a &quot;nominal&quot; contribution to Asia-Pacific revenue during the fourth quarter, Shenoy said.That contribution will increase rapidly over the next several months, with Intel&#39;s shipments of 45-nanometer processors to surpass those of 65-nanometer chips during the third quarter, he said.Two upcoming Intel products, Silverthorne and Canmore, should also make their presence felt in Asia this year, Shenoy said.Silverthorne, which is produced using the same 45-nanometer manufacturing process, is the first chip designed by Intel to be used in low-cost laptops and will be available during the second half of the year. Currently, Intel offers a version of its aging Celeron M processor for these types of machines, such as Asustek&#39;s popular Eee PC.Silverthorne, which is intended to be inexpensive and easy on battery life, will appear in low-cost notebooks that should spur faster growth in Asian demand for mobile computers, Shenoy said.The other chip that Intel expects to see do well in Asia is Canmore, a system-on-chip announced during the Consumer Electronics Show that combines a processor with graphics and high-definition video capabilities. Designed for set-top boxes and other consumer electronics, Canmore is due during the second half of this year.&quot;There are tremendous opportunities for a product like that in countries like Taiwan and Korea,&quot; Shenoy said.One technology that isn&#39;t expected to make much headway in Asia this year is WiMax.Apart from South Korea, where WiMax is already in commercial use, the wireless broadband technology hasn&#39;t caught on much in Asia. As a result, WiMax products will not see widespread adoption in the region until 2009, Shenoy said.
742104
Some observers are concerned that Acer is paying too much for Gateway, and some say the deal doesn't add much to Acer's arsenal except size.
756673
The overall market revenue for Linux desktops, servers and packaged software will exceed $35bn by 2008, research published today has claimed.
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
658478
Business demand for PCs will result in higher than anticipated growth of the sector for the second half of the year. Analyst IDC has revised its predictions having witnessed strong commercial demand for PCs