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| Acer |
History
Acer was founded by Stan Shih, 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, and in 1997 extended its laptop efforts by buying Texas Instruments' mobile PC division.
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| Acer Aspire |
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.
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.
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 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.
Acquisitions
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." 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.
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. In August 2010, Acer and Founder Technology signed a memorandum of mutual understanding to strengthen their long term PC business cooperation.
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| Acer logo |
Figures
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 Q3 2010, 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.
