Acer Inc.
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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | LSE: ACID TWSE: 2353 |
| Industry | Computer systems Computer hardware IT Services Electronics |
| Founded | 1976 as Multitech |
| Founder(s) | Stan Shih et al. |
| Headquarters | Xizhi, New Taipei City, Taiwan |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | J.T. Wang (CEO of Acer Group, Chairman of Acer Inc.) J.T. Wang (CEO, President of Acer Inc.) |
| Products | Desktops Laptops Netbooks Servers Storage Handhelds Monitors Televisions Video projectors e-business |
| Revenue |  US$ 19.9 billion (2010) |
| Net income | US$ 519 million (2010) |
| Employees | 7,500 (September, 2010) |
| Subsidiaries | Acer America Corporation Acer Computer Australia Acer India Gateway, Inc. Packard Bell eMachines E-TEN |
| Website | acer.com |
Acer Incorporated (LSE: ACID, TWSE: 2353) (traditional Chinese: 宏碁股份有限公司; pinyin: Hóngqi Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) is a Taiwan-based multinational computer technology and electronics corporation that manufactures desktop and laptop PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), servers, storage devices, displays, smartphones and peripherals. Acer provides e-business services for business, government, education, and home users.
Acer Group has its headquarters in Xizhi, New Taipei City.[1][2]
Since the early 2000s Acer has streamlined its operations, spinning off all of its manufacturing operations, which the company considered to be of low value. Acer has implemented a new channel business model, shifting from being a manufacturer to a pure brand company that markets and distributes its products, while performing production processes via contract manufacturers.[3]
The firm also owns the largest franchised computer retail chain in Taipei, Taiwan.[4]
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, headquartered in Hsinchu City, Taiwan.
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. It produced the Micro-Professor MPF-I training kit, then two Apple II clones; the Microprofessor II and III before joining the emerging IBM PC compatible market—and over time becoming a significant PC manufacturer. The company was renamed Acer in 1987.
In 1993, Acer posted record profits of $75 million; 43 percent of that year's net was generated by the DRAM joint venture, considered "the most efficient in the DRAM industry" by some observers. Total sales grew to $3.2 billion in 1994, and net income increased to $205 million, as Acer America turned its first annual profit in the 1990s. From 1994 to 1995, Acer advanced from 14th to ninth among the world's largest computer manufacturers, surpassing Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Toshiba.
In 1995, the Aspire PC was unveiled. In 1996, Acer expanded into consumer electronics, introducing many new, inexpensive videodisc players, video telephones, and other devices to boost global market share,[3] and in 1997extended its laptop efforts by buying Texas Instruments' mobile PC division.
[edit] Spinning-off
In 1998, Acer reorganized into five groups: Acer International Service Group, Acer Sertek Service Group, Acer Semiconductor Group, Acer Information Products Group, and Acer Peripherals Group. Two years later that corporate restructuring did not appear to have made a significant impact on the company overall, and stock prices were falling. Shih restructured again. To dispel complaints from clients that Acer competed with its own products and to alleviate the competitive nature of the branded sales vs. contract manufacturing businesses, Shih spun off the contract business, renaming it Wistron Corporation. The restructuring resulted in two primary units: brand name sales and contract manufacturing. The restructuring also resulted in Acer breaking off several of its smaller operations, including semiconductor design, consumer electronics, and liquid-crystal displays.[5]
Early signs indicated that the spinoff strategy had worked well, especially in Europe, where Acer became a popular PC brand. In 2003, company sales increased 48 percent to $4.6 billion, and helped Acer surpass Japan's Toshiba and NEC, making it the world's fifth largest maker of PCs.[5]
Acer increased worldwide sales while simultaneously reducing 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[6] to US$11.31 billion in 2006.
Acer's North American market share has slipped over the past few years, while in contrast, the company's European market share has risen.[7]
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 United States presence."[8] Included in this acquisition was the eMachines brand.
In January 2008, Acer announced that it had acquired a controlling interest of 75% of Packard Bell.[9]
In 2009, Acer acquired: E-TEN and 29.9% of Olidata.
In October 2009, Acer passed Dell as the world's number 2 PC maker.[10]
In August 2010, Acer and Founder Technology signed a memorandum of mutual understanding to strengthen their long term PC business cooperation.
April 29, 2010[11]
- Acer announced revenue in Q1 rose 36 percent year-on-year to NT$162.1 billion (US$5.2 billion) and its net profit increased 63 percent to 3.29 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$104.7 million); 27 percent of revenue comes from the U.S.
- Gianfranco Lanci announced that Acer will launch 4 new smartphones by Q32010, and a series of "Internet Devices" by the end of May which will run version 4.0 of its Shell user interface.
- According to Gartner and IDC, Acer now ranks #1 worldwide in notebook shipments.[12]
[edit] Operations
[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. In 2007 Acer acquired PC maker Gateway. The acquisitions marked Acer’s return to the US consumer market that it abandoned in 1999 after losing $45m struggling to build brand awareness. Acer America's Canadian office, in Mississauga, Ontario, handles repair of Acer, Gateway, and E-Machine Notebooks and Desktop PCs for Eastern Canada. Acer has several facilities in Temple, Texas including a repair facility, a parts warehouse, and a call center. In the words of its Chief Executive, J.T. Wang, “Building a brand is very different in the US. The investment at the initial stage has to be very big—otherwise there is almost no impact”.[13]
[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. The headquarters are in Bangalore, India.
[edit] Linux
Acer has shipped some of their notebooks and more recently netbooks, with various Linux operating system distributions including Ubuntu, Linpus, and Android (in a dual boot environment with Windows XP). They have also launched a line of smartphones with Android.
[edit] Products
- Consumer Desktops
- Acer Aspire Desktop series
- Acer Aspire Predator series
- Business Desktops
- Acer Veriton series
- Consumer Notebooks
- Acer Aspire Notebook series
- Acer Aspire Timeline series
- Acer Ferrari products series
- Acer Iconia
- Business Notebooks
- Acer TravelMate series
- Acer Extensa series
- Tablet
- Acer Tablet series
- Netbook
- Nettop
- Mobile phones
- Home Network Solution
- Computer displays
- G Series
- P Series
- H Series
- X Series
- B Series
- V Series
- S Series
- T Series
- D Series
- MO Monitor TV series
- Projectors
- Professional Series
- Home Series
- Travel Series
- Value Series
- Television
- Servers and storage
- Acer server F1 series
- Tower series: T110 F1, T115 F1, T150 F1, T310 F1, T350 F1;
- Rack series: R160 F1, R180 F1, R320 F1, R360 F1, R380 F1, R385 F1, R585 F1;
- Blade series: B2x285 F1, B2x280 F1, B460 F1;
- Gemini series: B1170 F1, B2170 F1, B2170t, B2175 F1
- Home Server Series: H340, H341, H342, Altos Easystore M2
- Acer storage series
- N500 F1, N1600 F1, HNAS3080, GS2040, AMS2100, AMS2300
- Other (discontinued devices)
- Digital cameras
- Personal digital assistants
- Automotive navigation systems
- Acer PICA
[edit] Brands
[edit] Environmental record
In 2005, Acer published its first environmental report, for which the company used the GRI guidelines.[14] All of Acer’s tier-one suppliers have acquired ISO 14001 certification.[15] In October 2010, Acer dropped from 11th to 12th place out of 18 leading electronics manufacturers in Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics, with the same score of 4.1 points out of 10. The Guide ranks electronics makers according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change. Greenpeace praises Acer for its proactive support to improve the revised EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive and its effort in toxic chemicals. In particular, the company scored maximum points for further restrictions of hazardous substances, and an immediate ban on BFRs, chlorinated flame retardants (CFRs) and PVC.[16] Acer’s new Timeline series notebook, Aspire 3811TZ, 3811TZG, 3811T, and 3811TG are free from PVC and BFRs and Acer aims to phase out these toxic substances in its personal and mobile computing products by 2011 backtracking from its prior commitment to eliminate them in all its products.[17][18]
[edit] Sponsorships
[edit] Sports
Acer sponsored the BAR-Honda Formula One racing team in the year 2000.[19] 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 and it's Top Sponsor of FC Internazionale – Milano (Inter Milan) Football Club. From 2007 to 2009 Acer has been Official Supplier of FC Barcelona.[20] On 19 March 2007, Acer announced it will sponsor the Factory Fiat Yamaha Team for the 2007 MotoGP World Championship season. From 2009, Packard Bell (that it is part of Acer Group) is the sponsor of Yamaha Factory Racing Team.[21]
Acer also currently sponsors professional gaming team SK Gaming.
Acer has been Worldwide TOP Partners for both the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and Singapore Youth Olympic Games. Acer will be TOP Partner of next London 2012 Summer Olympics.
[edit] Other
Acer Arena, at Sydney Olympic Park, NSW, is the largest indoor live entertainment and sporting arena in Australia. It was formerly named the Sydney Superdome.
Designed and constructed by Abigroup Ltd in conjunction with Obayashi Corporation, the venue is acknowledged by experts as equal to the finest indoor arenas in the world today.
One of the major venues for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Paralympic Games, Acer Arena hosted artistic gymnastics, trampoline, the basketball finals and wheelchair basketball.
The $200 million complex was designed and constructed to set new benchmarks in urban design, access for people with disabilities, spectator comfort, operation efficiency and Olympic serviceability.
The project comprises three subsites:
- Acer Arena, a 21,000 seat fully enclosed arena built under a 'Build, Own, Operate & Transfer' (B.O.O.T.) contract: $190 million
- 3400 space car park designed for high volume traffic entry and egress under a design and construct contract: $25 million
- Plaza and external works covering over 32,000m² under a management contract then converted to a lump sum: $25 million
Acer Arena was designed and constructed with very high environmental values and was awarded the prestigious national Banksia Award for Construction Practices in 1999.
Officially opened by the former Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, in November 1999 with a gala performance by Luciano Pavarotti, Acer Arena has hosted events including Supercross, tennis, rock concerts, arena musicals, religious services, school spectaculars and banquets.
[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
- eMachines
- Gateway, Inc.
- Packard Bell
- E-TEN
[edit] References
- ^ "Legal Notices." Acer Group. Retrieved on March 15, 2010. "8F, No. 88, Section 1, Hsin Tai Wu Road., Hsichih 221, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan."
- ^ "Social Welfare." Acer Group. Retrieved on March 15, 2010. "Acer’s headquarter at Hsichih".
- ^ a b Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, Bart Sleb, 2005
- ^ "About Acer – Milestones". Acer. Archived from the original on July 8, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060708175102/http://global.acer.com/about/milestones.htm. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
- ^ a b Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed.
- ^ "Gianfranco Lanci is appointed President of Acer Inc., effective January 2005" (PDF). Acer. 1 September 2004. Archived from the original on April 3, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070403125915/http://www.acer.co.in/press/New_President.pdf. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Acer Buys 75 Percent of Packard Bell making it the 2nd largest computer maker in the world". Washington Post. 31 January 2008. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013101390.html. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ^ "http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/eyeonasia/archives/2009/10/acer_passes_del.html". Business Week. 15 October 2009. http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/eyeonasia/archives/2009/10/acer_passes_del.html. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ Dan Nystedt (29 April 2010). "Acer to Launch Full Line of Mobile Internet Devices in May". PCWorld (IDG News). http://www.pcworld.com/article/195202/acer_to_launch_full_line_of_mobile_internet_devices_in_may.html. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ Tim Culpan (29 April 2010). "Acer Profit Climbs After Overtaking H-P in Laptop Market Share". Businessweek (Bloomberg). http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-29/acer-profit-climbs-after-overtaking-h-p-in-laptop-market-share.html. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ quoted in Einhorn, 2009
- ^ The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a multi-stakeholder process and independent institution whose mission is to develop and disseminate globally applicable Sustainability Reporting Guidelines.
- ^ ISO 14001 was released in 1996 with the intent that companies manage all of the activities, products and services that can significantly impact the environment
- ^ "Guide to Greener Electronics". Greenpeace International. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/toxics/electronics/Guide-to-Greener-Electronics/. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
- ^ "Product Environmental Management". Acer Inc. http://www.acer-group.com/public/Sustainability/sustainability_main04-3.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ "Product Environmental Management". Acer Inc. http://www.acer-group.com/public/Sustainability/sustainability_main04-3d.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ About Acer – News Release[dead link]
- ^ About Acer – News Release Archived February 19, 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "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.[dead link]
[edit] External links
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