Acer Inc

Acer Incorporated
宏碁股份有限公司

Type	Public LSE: ACID TSE: 2353
Founded	1976
Founder(s)	Stan Shih et al.
Headquarters	Xizhi, Taipei County, Taiwan
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	J.T. Wang (Chairman & CEO of Acer Group) Gianfranco Lanci (CEO of Acer)
Industry	Computer hardware Electronics
Products	Desktops Laptops Netbooks Servers Storage IT Services Handhelds Monitors LCD TVs Video projectors Digital cameras e-business
Revenue	▲ US$ 16.65 billion (2008)
Net income	▲ US$ 358 million (2008)
Employees	5,300 (2006)
Subsidiaries	Acer Computer Australia Acer India Acer America Corporation Gateway, Inc. Packard Bell eMachines E-TEN
Website	Acer.com

Acer Incorporated (LSE: ACID, TSE: 2353) (traditional Chinese: 宏碁股份有限公司; pinyin: Hóngqí 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, and peripherals, and provides e-business services for business, government, education, and home users. Acer Group has its headquarters in Xizhi, Taipei County.^[1]^[2]

Acer's market share has risen rapidly around 2010. As of the fourth quarter of 2009, Acer was the world's second largest personal computer vendor, behind HP and ahead of Dell.^[3] The company also owns the largest franchised computer retail chain in Taipei, Taiwan.^[4]

1 History
2 Operations
3 Acer and Linux
4 Products
5 Brands
6 Sports Advertising
7 Other Advertising
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

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. The company was renamed Acer in 1987. 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. Acer began its foray into laptops with the purchase of Texas Instruments' mobile PC division in 1997.

In 2000, Acer spun off its manufacturing operations as Wistron Corporation, to focus on marketing of their core brand. 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^[5] 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.^[6]

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."^[7]

In January 2008, Acer announced that it had acquired a controlling interest of 75% of Packard Bell.^[8]

In 2009 Acer acquired: Eten (aziend), eMachines and 29.9% of Olidata.

In March 2010, Acer announced plans to acquire Fujitsu PC division.

Operations

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.

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 purposes. Its headquarters are in Bangalore, India.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

Acer sells laptops in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

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. Acer America's Canadian office, in Mississauga, Ontario, handles repair of Acer, Gateway, and E-Machine Notebooks and Desktop PCs for Eastern Canada. The repair facility in Temple, Texas handles many service oriented functions for North America. Acer owns Gateway, eMachines and Packard Bell brands in North America.

Acer and Linux

Acer has stated that it will be pushing Linux aggressively on its new laptops and notebooks. They are already heavily promoting Linux for its low cost netbook range put out in late 2008, but senior staff have said that Acer will also push Linux on its laptops as well. Acer has already started selling Linux in its Media PC business.^[9] Linux support for older Acer laptops is still variable due to the use of a variety of unsupported chipsets.^{[citation needed]}

Products

Acer Aspire 5600 Notebook

Acer Aspire 3610 Notebook

Acer Aspire 5520 Notebook

Acer Aspire 4520 Notebook

Acer Aspire One

Desktops

Acer Aspire series
Acer Predator series
Acer Veriton series

Notebooks

Acer TravelMate series
Acer Gemstone series
Tablet PC series
Acer Aspire series
Acer Aspire Timeline series^[10]
Acer Extensa series
Acer Ferrari series (CPUs: Mobile AMD Turion 64)

Netbook

Aspire One
Ferrari One

Nettop

AspireRevo

Personal digital assistants

S Series of Palm OS PDAs
Acer N Series

Automotive navigation systems

Acer e300 series Travel Companion,^[11] with Destinator and NAVTEQ maps.

Servers and storage

Acer Altos series

Workstations

Acer PICA

Computer displays

DLP Projectors

Mobile phones

Acer Liquid
Acer NeoTouch

Other

Brands

Sports Advertising

Acer sponsored the BAR-Honda Formula One racing team in the year 2000.^[12] 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. In 2003 Acer signed a Gold Partner sponsorship deal with FC Internazionale – Milano (Inter Milan) Football Club. From January 2007, Acer has become Official Supplier of FC Barcelona.^[13] On 19 March 2007, Acer announced that they will sponsor the Factory Fiat Yamaha Team for the 2007 MotoGP World Championship season. From 2009, Packard Bell (a subsidiary of Acer) will be the sponsor of Fiat Yamaha MotoGP.^[14]

Acer will be listed among the Worldwide TOP Partners for both the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Other Advertising

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 millon 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 millon
3400 space car park designed for high volume traffice 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.