Acer starts multibrand strategy with eMachines

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 12/01/2008 5:56 PM  

Already a market leader in Indonesia's computer market, Acer has further expanded its operations here with the introduction of its new eMachines brand last week. 

After acquiring Packard Bell, Gateway and eMachines, Acer introduced the eMachines desktops and notebooks to the Indonesian market to expand its 37 percent market share here, Acer Group Indonesia president director Jason Lim said. 

Worldwide, the Taiwan-based company is third in terms of sales after Hewlett Packard and Dell. 

"Next, the Gateway brand will be introduced to the Indonesian market in the first quarter of next year," Lim said. 

Gateway computers are aimed mostly at younger users. 

"Students who prefer functionality over frills are our main target." 

Indonesians bought 1.2 million units of notebooks in the first three quarters of 2008, with Acer brands making up 37.7 percent of the total, he said. 

In 2007 full year sales, Acer accounted for 35 percent of the total 750,000 notebooks sold across all brands. 

"We estimate eMachines will expand our market share by 7 percent," he said. 

The figure could be much higher if the next year's projected slowdown in economic growth, which is translated into lower demand, is limited. 

The global economic downturn, which has now tipped many countries into recession, is projected to derail Indonesia's economic growth. Having initially assumed an economic growth of 6 percent for next year, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said the government would settle for a growth of "above 5 percent". 

"While our average annual sales growth is around 100 percent, we forecast next year's sales growth will be 50 percent due to a decrease in consumers' purchasing power," Lim said. 

Data from consultancy firm Gartner for the third quarter of this year show that Acer Indonesia will maintain its top position with a 23.1 percent market share for computers overall, and shares of 37.7 percent and 9.2 percent for notebooks and desktops, respectively. 

eMachines was acquired by Acer at the end of 2007 through its acquisition of Gateway. Gateway bought former rival eMachines in 2004. 

Since its establishment in 1998, eMachines has sold five million PCs. It was the second largest vendor of desktop PCs sold through U.S. retailers and remains a stand-alone brand. 

Acer spent US$710 million for the acquisition of Gateway, completed last December. Acer also bought another PC company, Packard Bell, with its acquisition completed in February this year. (iwp)