...Company History: Acer Incorporated was called "the region's most impressive technology company" in a 1996 article in The Economist. The company also ranks among the world's ten biggest manufacturers of individual components like keyboards, monitors, and CD-ROM drives, and is America's ninth-largest personal computer producer. By 1995, the company was producing four million PCs annually, 25 percent of them OEMs (products sold under other companies' labels). Under the guidance of Chairman and CEO Stan Shih, Acer used ground-breaking strategies to bounce back from a US $22.7 million loss in 1991, earning US $205 million on sales of US $3.2 billion in 1994. Shih hoped to increase Acer's global sales to US $15 billion by 1999, by which time the company would operate as a "federation" of local manufacturing, assembly, and marketing units. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Acer-Inc-Company-History.html Business Origins: Acer Incorporated is Taiwan's leading exporter and the world's fifth largest computer manufacturer. The company designs, manufactures, and sells computer hardware and software products; it ranks among the world's largest manufacturers of individual components such as keyboards, motherboards, set-up boxes, storage drives, monitors, CD-ROM drives, keyboards, printers, scanners, and software. Acer's nearly 30 years of growth results primarily from its business of manufacturing and assembling branded and contract PCs in several locations throughout the world...
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...ACER: AN IT COMPANY ACER: AN IT COMPANY LEARNING TO USE INFORMATION LEARNING TO USE INFORMATION CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ORGANIZATION University of California, Irvine 3200 Berkeley Place Irvine, California, 92697-4650 AUTHORS Jason Dedrick Kenneth L. Kraemer Tony Tsai October, 1999 Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations TECHNOLOGY TO COMPETE Acknowledgement: This research has been supported by grants from the CISE/IRIS/CSS Division of the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, whose members include: ATL Products, The Boeing Company, Canon Information Systems, IBM Global Services, Nortel, Rockwell, Seagate Technology, Sun Microsystems and Systems Management Specialists (SMS). The authors would like to acknowledge the research assistance of Bryan MacQuarrie. They would also like to acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of numerous Acer Group executives and managers who agreed to be interviewed and provided vital data and information Acer_case_10-99.doc 2 Acer: An IT Company Learning to Use IT to Compete Jason Dedrick, Kenneth L. Kraemer, Tony Tsai I. INTRODUCTION Acer Computer is an unusual company in the personal computer industry. Companies such as Dell, Compaq and Gateway focus on designing, configuring, marketing and servicing PCs and increasingly leave the manufacturing to contract manufacturers and OEM producers. By contrast, Acer is a diversified...
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...Hsin Tai Wu Rd., Sec 1 Hsichih, Taipei 221 Taiwan Company Perspectives: Acer ranks among the world's top five branded PC vendors, designing and marketing easy, dependable IT solutions that empower people to reach their goals and enhance their lives. History of Acer Incorporated Read more: Acer Incorporated - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Acer Incorporated http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:GLjJKFtD2DAJ:www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/90/AcerIncorporated.html+determine+what+strategies+acer+can+apply+to+become+the+world's+third+largest+pc+company+behind+Dell+and+Hewlett+Packard&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us#ixzz12MuHMLNY Acer Incorporated is Taiwan's leading exporter and the world's fifth largest computer manufacturer. The company designs, manufactures, and sells computer hardware and software products; it ranks among the world's largest manufacturers of individual components such as keyboards, motherboards, set-up boxes, storage drives, monitors, CD-ROM drives, keyboards, printers, scanners, and software. Acer's nearly 30 years of growth results primarily from its business of manufacturing and assembling branded and contract PCs in several locations throughout the world. The company sells its products through dealers and distributors in more than 100 countries. Taiwan's high-tech industry pioneer Stan Shih cofounded Acer. Over the years Shih guided his company through several corporate restructuring...
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...History: Founded in Taiwan, Acer is a multinational manufacturer of electronics. They also happen to own the largest franchised personal computer retail chain that exists in Taipei, Taiwan. It is also the 3rd larges personal computer manufacturer in the world behindHewlett Packard and Dell Incorporated. The company was originally called Multitech. By 1987 the company was known as Acer. The company began small, with just eleven employees at a small capital of $25,000 dollars. Starting off, Acer was primarily a main consultant for the use of microprocessor technologies and a distributor of a wide variety of electronic parts, but it began developing into a personal computer manufacturer. In the year 2000, Acer decided to spin off its manufacturing operation into Winstron Corporation in order to focus itself on its branding business. Its labor force expanded, and Acer grew into a worldwide company. Acer continued to grow bigger and better, and by the year 2005, the company employed almost 8000 people throughout the world. Currently, they are sponsoring the Ferrari Formula 1 team. In January of 2009, Acer became partnered in an agreement for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and the 2012 London Summer Olympics that will enable Acer to be listed among the Worldwide Top Partners for each Olympic installment (http://www.webhostingreport.com/learn/acer.html). Mission: Acer’s long-term mission is to break the barriers between people and technology. Their commitment to...
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...Harvard Business School 9-399-011 Rev. April 9, 2001 Acer America: Development of the Aspire In early 1998, Stan Shih, CEO of Taiwan-based personal computer (PC) manufacturer Acer, Inc., was reviewing the first estimates of 1997 year-end results. With revenue of $6.5 billion from own brand and sales to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as IBM, the company was now acknowledged to be the third largest PC manufacturer in the world. Although the performance was respectable in the wake of a dramatic drop in memory chip prices that had plunged the company’s semiconductor joint venture into losses, Acer’s extraordinary growth period of the mid-1990s was clearly over. (See Exhibit 1.) The ever-restless CEO was wondering how to re-ignite the fire. Shih was convinced that Acer’s mid-1990 successes were due at least in part to the revolutionary “client-server” organizational structure he had introduced in 1992. The concept was inspired by the network computer model, where “client” computers—the strategic business units (SBUs) and regional business units (RBUs) in Acer’s organizational metaphor—were capable of complete independence but could also take on the “server” role, adding value for the entire network. To Shih, proof of the client-server structure’s potential had come with the 1995 introduction of the Aspire multimedia home PC. Created by Acer America Corporation (AAC), Acer’s U.S. marketing subsidiary and one of Acer’s five RBUs, this new product confirmed Shih’s...
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...Acer buys iGware for $320 million Taiwan's Acer Inc will buy U.S.-based cloud computing firm iGware Inc for $320 million, the fifth-largest ever Taiwanese buyout of a U.S. company, as it seeks to move beyond its core hardware manufacturing business . (Reuters , July 21) The aforementioned deal worth $395 million will make it the second largest Taiwanese purchase of an American company. The the only other Taiwanese deal to surpass this was Acer's purchase of U.S. PC maker Gateway Inc for $761.5 million in 2007. Acers move gives it membership in an elite yet growing club of tech companies (Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft) that offer cloud services to its consumer base. From a tactical stand point there are numerous inter-related trends which are now driving up the demand for cloud service. In fact the research firm Gartner has, for its 2015 prediction, noted a $73 billion market for cloud services. Cloud services will be drawn to the limelight of mobile computing with the rapid growth in the use of Internet-connected smartphones and other mobile devices, couple that with the increasing mobility of both private and corporate consumers, all of whom are always on the lookout for means to store and access data over the Internet. Considering that Acer, (the number 2 PC manufacturer in the world) is moving towards the mobile computing systems just like apple and android based offerings, it makes all the sense to purchase a company that can provide the means for vast...
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...BACKGROUND 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, but over time it emerged as a PC manufacturer. The company was renamed Acer in 1987. In 1993, Acer posted record profits of $80 million. 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. Acer’s operate in more than 38 countries, and each business unit is operated as decentralized strategic business unit. Acer’s Canadian business had in a past served as an intermediation between Acer America to deliver products to Canadian distributors, but in 1996 Anthony Lin was chosen as general manager of Acer’s operation in Canada. Previously the Canadian operation was selling no products directly to consumers in Canada, but Lin saw this as an opportunity to use local distribution and assemble the computers in Canada, “to order,” and sell directly to consumers. VISION To have a line product sold to three different target groups- Commercial, Home and non-profit. Acer in Canada envisions itself to be...
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...gainrecognition in the mainland and then gained international identitythat gave the company an access to advanced business practices,technology and economies of scale that other company didn’t have atthe time. That gave Acer’s an advantage over other brands 3. Can Acer become the world’s third largest PC company, behindDell and Hewlett-Packard? I think if Acer’s strategy is effective and it focuses on business toconsumer and not only in business to business, their goal will beachieved successfully because since this brand started developing, ithas faced some struggles but still maintained their vision right to thegoal and that’s how Acer has been positioned as it nowadays 4. Growth in the U.S. PC market has started to slow down.Despite strong competition from Dell and Hewlett-Packard,Acer’s U.S. market share increased from 1 percent in 2004 to3.3 percent by the end of 2006. What are Acer’s prospects forgaining further share in the United States? Right now Dell and Hewlett-Packard are two very positioned brandsand I think their market share is way bigger because their market isdifferent, they decided to have different strategies and if Acer decidesto gain further share in the U.S. they should do a new campaign toposition Acer as “THE choice for a...
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...Aspire 4935/4735Z Series Quick Guide Copyright © 2008. Acer Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Aspire 4935/4735Z Series Quick Guide Original Issue: 11/2008 This company makes no representations or warranties, either express or implied, with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Although care has been taken to ensure accuracy, this company shall not be liable for any errors (including, but not limited to, typos, factual errors, etc.) contained in this publication. Changes may be made periodically to the information in this publication without obligation to notify any person of such revisions or changes. Such changes will be incorporated in new editions of this manual or supplementary documents and publications. This company makes no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Record the model number, serial number, purchase date and place of purchase information in the space provided below. The serial number and model number are recorded on the label affixed to your computer. All correspondence concerning your unit should include the serial number, model number and purchase information. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronically...
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...Case 1-3 Acer Inc. Acer Inc. is a leading marketer of notebook and desktop PCs. The company, which posted sales of $11.3 billion in 2006, also produces other products such as flat-screen monitors and personal digital assistants. As Taiwan gained a reputation as the “tech workshop of the world,” Acer was able to become Taiwan’s number one exporter by manufacturing and marketing computers sold under its own brand name. Acer also produced equipment on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) basis for well-known global companies such as IBM, Dell, and Hitachi. As company founder, chairman, and CEO, Stan Shih built Acer Inc. into one of Taiwan’s most successful companies. Despite Acer’s success, the company had trouble breaking into the American market. Between 1995 and 1997, Acer’s U.S. market share dropped from 15 to 5 percent. In the late 1990s, Shih noted, “In the United States and Europe, we are relatively weak. The local players there are very strong. The problem is that we don’t have good experience in marketing in those regions. It’s a people issue, not a product issue.” Shih has discovered that building brands in the business-to-business market is easier than building brands in the business-to-consumer market. “Business-to-consumer brands have more value but also face more challenges. People involved in business-to-business are usually rational, but consumers in business-to-consumer are usually emotional in choosing their brands,” he says. In 2000...
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...Why is the Acer Aspire in such trouble just two and a half years after its launch? What are the sources of the problems in the U.S.? Worldwide? There are multiple reasons for this: 1. Difference between design and the actual product Engineers from strategic business units were not involved in the design process which was solely owned and created by Acer American Corporation and Frog Design. So the SBU engineers faced difficulty putting hardware together with that design. 2. Many solutions, many problems Since client-server organizational structure tempted everyone to pitch-in his idea about this product using his own perception, which resulted in too many configurations resulting in brand dilution and no global support 3. Lack in customer service Acer aspire was targeting huge consumer market from high to low end. But since they lack in customer service, which is indeed a critical customer oriented approach, it never created the required awareness which never enabled customers to actually able to see the value of the product 4. Market competition US market was already flooded with huge empires like HP which were putting in a strong competition making it difficult for Acer to reach target figures 5. Marketing strategies Although successful in some regions, the marketing strategy failed in many regions. Many customers who had seen the fully featured product in a marketing message...
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...Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Class Name Date when Due Strategic Alternatives for Acer, Inc: Taiwan's Rampaging Dragon Acer, Inc: Taiwan's Rampaging Dragon has been in the business of PC selling and other stuff for a while now. It has been able to transverse across several nations in attempts to do business. In doing so, it has come across a number of issues which some have strengthened its operations and others have been identified as area which need new strategies to mitigate the arising risks. That being the case, this section deals with such strategies which will see Acer, Inc: Taiwan's Rampaging Dragon remain in business internationally. Firstly, for this organization to win, it must not relent on its already established operation policies that are already working for the good of the organization. For example, targeting neglected small groups of people and organization should be accentuated. Nevertheless, the organization should now venture into aggressive scramble for new large clients who will see the company’s turnover increase and make the organization partake other benefits which come with dealings of large clients. This way the company will have diversified its client target base thus spreading the risk across all the types of clients i.e. large and small. As the company is increasingly establishing its international presence, decentralization of its offices from Taiwan to other countries where it has operations in is inevitable. Though this might complicate...
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...Around Christmas time of last year I purchased an Acer Aspire V515.6-Inch touchscreen laptop in cool steel. Performance: The primary function of the device is to facilitate everyday activities like web browsing, communicating and playing videos. Features: Thanks to its powerful Quad-Core processor everything is more vibrant. It features HD browsing, great visuals on the 15.6" HD touch screen display. Conformance: The fundamental standard for this product would be its ability to provide clear media display along with crisps sound, long battery life and fast browsing. In my opinion this product conformance is within quality standards. Durability: Since my initial purchase my laptop has fallen off the bed several times and still performs with the same quality of its unpacking. Serviceability: Aspire provides a one year limited warranty which provides hardware, software and technical support for that given timeframe extended warranties are available only at an addition cost. Aesthetics: My Aspire touchscreen notebook is very thin less than 1" thin, which is much slimmer than any of my previous laptops. Very sleek and modern with vibrant touch screen display. Perceived Quality: For a long time Acer has had quite suspect perceived quality. But recently Acer has changed and have been paying more attention to quality, this notebook is proof of their efforts that has few complaints against it. This notebook looks well-built and has powerful hardware that is hard...
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...Acer Incorporated Financial Statement Analysis Project Company History: Acer Incorporated was called "the region's most impressive technology company" in a 1996 article in The Economist. The company also ranks among the world's ten biggest manufacturers of individual components like keyboards, monitors, and CD-ROM drives, and is America's ninth-largest personal computer producer. By 1995, the company was producing four million PCs annually, 25 percent of them OEMs (products sold under other companies' labels). Under the guidance of Chairman and CEO Stan Shih, Acer used ground-breaking strategies to bounce back from a US $22.7 million loss in 1991, earning US $205 million on sales of US $3.2 billion in 1994. Shih hoped to increase Acer's global sales to US $15 billion by 1999, by which time the company would operate as a "federation" of local manufacturing, assembly, and marketing units. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Acer-Inc-Company-History.html Business Origins: Acer Incorporated is Taiwan's leading exporter and the world's fifth largest computer manufacturer. The company designs, manufactures, and sells computer hardware and software products; it ranks among the world's largest manufacturers of individual components such as keyboards, motherboards, set-up boxes, storage drives, monitors, CD-ROM drives, keyboards, printers, scanners, and software. Acer's nearly 30 years of growth results primarily from its business of manufacturing and assembling...
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...Acer’s PC sales in India slip in third quarter: Gartner Taiwan-based Acer Inc (宏碁) saw its market share slump in India in the third quarter, hurt by weaker demand in the country’s consumer PC segment, market research company Gartner Inc said. The struggling computer maker held a 10.4 percent share of the Indian PC market in the three months ending in September, compared with a 15.7 percent share a year ago, Gartner said in its latest report. The shrinking market share left Acer ranked as the fourth-largest PC vendor in India, down two spots from a year earlier. It was knocked out of second place by US rivals Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co (HP), which took advantage of growth in the commercial PC sector. HP doubled its market share from a year earlier to 32.5 percent in the third quarter to seize the top spot, while China’s Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) trailed far behind in second with a 13.7 percent share and Dell ranked third with an 11.8 percent share, the report said. Indian vendor HCL Infosystems Ltd rounded out the top five with a 2.8 percent market share. The combined desktop and mobile PC market in India totaled nearly 3.2 million units in the third quarter of the year, 7.9 percent higher than in the third quarter of last year, driven by large government orders, according to Gartner. “Consumers accounted for 40 percent of total PC sales in the third quarter of 2013 compared to 47 percent in the third quarter of 2012,” said Vishal Tripathi, principal research analyst at...
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