Acer Inc, the world's fifth largest PC vendor, yesterday formally unveiled its new management team, whose goal it will be to make the company one of the top three players in the industry over the next three years.
Gianfranco Lanci, current president of Acer's operations in Europe, the Middle East and East Africa, will take over as Acer's president, while the incumbent president, Wang Jen-tang (王振堂), will take over as the company's chairman and chief executive officer.
"It's very exciting and I know it's going to be challenging for a European running a company outside Europe," Lanci said at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
The new appointments will take effect on Jan. 1 next year, after Acer's founder Stan Shih (
"This is a very important moment for Acer," Shih said yesterday.
"For Acer, as a globally branded company, it is critical to integrate all global resources, especially since the Taiwan [market] only accounts for 1 percent of the revenue," Shih said, adding that the appointment was made with consideration for global views.
Lanci, 50, a resident of Milan, joined Acer in 1997 and has since become a key person in successfully helping the company to cultivate the European market, which accounted for 60 percent of Acer's total revenues last year. In the second quarter of this year, Acer outflanked Hewlett-Packard Co to become the No. 1 vendor in Western Europe, International Data Corp said in July.
Prior to joining Acer, Lanci served as a regional president for Texas Instruments Inc's Personal Productivity Products Division. When Texas Instruments' portable computer division was merged with Acer in 1997, Lanci joined Acer Italy as managing director.
With the US becoming a major target after Acer's re-entry in the market there last year, the company has pinned its hopes on Lanci to reproduce the same kind of successful business model in that market.
"We have seen a good result in the US," Lanci said, adding that US sales doubled in the first half of the year, with the company breaking even in the same period.
"We hope to again double the revenue next year," he said, without elaborating.
To achieve that goal, Acer's strategy is to cooperate closely with its distribution channels, such as Tech Data Corp and Ingrant Micro Inc, as well as to strengthen its supply chain management in order to keep inventory levels and operating expenses low, Lanci said.
Tech Data and Ingrant Micro are currently Acer's partners in the European market.
Lanci, who will spend one week per month in Taiwan after taking the helm, will take charge of global marketing, while Wang will focus on maintaining relations with suppliers that are mostly based in Taiwan and look after listing issues.
Positioning itself as a global company, Acer may promote the idea of increasing the number of foreigners in management positions in the future, Wang said.
In light of the company's strong growth momentum, Acer should be able to boost revenue to US$$10 billion by 2006, he added.
Acer's pre-tax profit for the first half of this year grew by 19 percent year-on-year to NT$2.4 billion, or NT$1.15 per share, while consolidated revenue soared by 54 percent to NT$98.06 billion.
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