Acer Weaknesses

genus genus genus genus Acer closes in on dingles No. 2 PC ranking By Bruce Einhorn, BusinessWeek Tuesday, January 20, 2009 1133 AM Just a few eld ago there was a clear pecking order in the PC industry, with Dell at the front and Acer way back in the queue. Dell and its U. S. cope with Hewlett-Packard were the clear champions, marketing far more desktops and laptops than anyone else. Meanwhile, inadequate Acer, a Taiwanese caller-out that had tried and failed in the 1990s to base on balls the U. S. market, was an also-ran, with worldwide market sh be in the single digits. As latterly as 2003, Acer ranked just seventh in gross sales around the world.Lately, though, the Taiwanese curb been pushing their way ever imminent to the front of the line. Market-share numbers published on Jan. 14 by interrogation firm International Data show HP is still on top, with 19. 6 portion of all PC shipments, and Dell is No. 2. hardly Michael Dell has reason to worry. While Dell shipments fell 6. 3 pct in the fourth quarter, Acers jumped 25. 3 per centum. That not only puts the Taiwanese company solidly in the No. 3 position worldwide, it puts Acer slight than two percentage points away from Dell, with 11. 8 percent share to Dells 13. 7 percent. And Acer is likely to keep on closing the gap, say analysts. In the next two or three quarters, you allow probably leave Acer surpass Dell, predicts Daniel Chang, an analyst in capital of Taiwan with Macquarie. Gateway Was an curtain raising What accounts for Acers rise? The company is benefiting from its US$710 million purchase of Gateway, inform in August 2007. At the time of the deal, Gateway was the third-biggest PC brand in the United States, and the purchase has helped Acer gain ground in a market that had long stymied the Taiwanese company. Shortly after that deal, Acer followed up with the acquisition of the Packard-Bell brand, popular in parts of Europe.According to the latest IDC numbers, Acer now ranks third in the United States, with shipments of 2 million computing devices in the fourth quarter. That puts Acer ahead of Apple and behind only Dell and HP. Acer declined to make any executives available for comment. Even more pregnant for Acers market-share rise has been its focus on the hottest new segment in the computer industry, so-called netbooks. These pint-size laptops are light, simple computers that typically cost no more than US$500 and are based on a design that Intel first developed for schoolchildren in emerging markets.The first to work that the netbook could become a crossover hit in wealthier countries was Acers Taiwanese rival Asustek Computer, which launched its Eee PC in late 2007. Acer quickly followed, and it soon grabbed the lead. Meanwhile, Dell, HP, and Lenovo hesitated out front launching netbooks of their own. They didnt start producing the mini-notebooks until late in the game, says Robert Murtagh, worldwide PC tracker query analyst with IDC in San Mateo, C alif. That has given Acer a strategic advantage. Low-Price rationaliseWith recession-weary consumers hunting for bargains, Acers focus on inexpensive netbooksand its longtime role as a lower-cost alternative to the likes of Dell and HPhave helped the company promote shipments. And while the competition in the mini-notebook business is bound to get tougher in 2009, Acers head start should give it an substantial edge. We believe Acer will continue to be the winner in the low-price trend and the netbook market, wrote Credit Suisse analysts Robert Cheng and Jill Su in a Jan. 13 report.Moreover, one of Acers weaknesses, its relatively poor position among corporate customers in the United States, has meant the company has suffered less than Dell and Lenovo, both of which have relied more on sales to businesses. According to IDC, Lenovo shipments fell 4. 8 percent in the fourth quarter the company on Jan. 8 announced plans to lay off 2,500 employees, 11 percent of its workforce. Tracy Tsai, an analyst in Taipei with market research firm Gartner, says Acer wont need to make the clear up of layoffs that others have. Acer has real tight management on its costs, she says, and it has just 6,000 workers. The small size f Acer puts it in a better position. Still, Acer faces some headwinds. Credit Suisse estimates 2008 earnings rose 7 percent, to US$353 million, on sales of US$16. 5 billion. But this year profits are likely to fall 7. 5 percent, on a 6 percent drop in sales, the bank says. Macqauries Chang expects a slowdown, also, and he warns that Acers focus on building market share distracts the company from a more important statistic earnings. As competition heats up further in netbooks, he says, Acer will face pressure to cut prices even more, drawing would-be(prenominal) customers away from its laptops and hurting Acers bottom line. Everybodys netbook looks very similar now, says Chang, so companies selling them can compete only on price. For its part, Dell argues against paying too much attention to market-share rankings. When we reported our Q3 financial results, we said our focus in this challenging environment wasand continues to beon positioning Dell for long profitable growth by improving our competitiveness and enhancing our leading fruit and services portfolio, Dell spokesman David Frink says via email. Were in the midst of that now.