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Analysis: Acer meets with challenges on quest to become No. 3

A customer examines an Acer laptop at Guanghua computer market in Taipei on Jan. 3. While US giants Dell and Hewlett-Packard vie for supremacy in the global computer market, analysts say Acer could move up to third place by the end of this year. PHOTO: AP

Despite efforts to take the market by storm with competitively priced notebook computers, Acer Inc, the world's fourth-largest personal computer maker, is expected to face obstacles this year in its quest to become one of the market's top three players, industry watchers said.

Last Tuesday, market leader Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) filed a lawsuit with the US District Court in Texas accusing Acer of infringing on five of its patents related to processors, power systems and optical data storage.

The lawsuit seeks to stop Acer from selling some of its products in the US, including desktops, notebook computers, media centers and related products.

"This is more a competitive tactic," said Kirk Yang (楊應超), an analyst from Citi Investment Research, in a report last week.

Acer currently does not manufacture any products on its own, as it has outsourced 100 percent of its notebook computer production line.

Any potential liability will most likely apply to the suppliers, not Acer, he said.

Daniel Chang (張博淇), from Macquarie Research Equities, echoed Yang's views.

"We think this is the first step HP is taking to fight a significant rival, by trying to slow down Acer's growth," Chang said.

It would be a blow to Acer in the US, which is its second-largest market.

Acer's US distributors may not want to assume the risk of selling Acer's products if the case proceeds or the court imposes an injunction that could take time to resolve, he said.

Acer reentered the US market in 2003 after years of losses while inventory piled up, because of failure to offer proper after-sale services.

The US accounts for roughly 20 percent of Acer's total sales. It shipped a total of 1.1 million notebook computers and 311,000 desktops last year, market researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said.

Acer expects its US sales to expand to 25 percent this year, with year-on-year shipment growth of as much as 40 percent.

It shipped a total of 4.6 million PCs in the fourth quarter last year, demonstrating a stunning 37.8 percent growth over the same period the earlier year -- the highest growth among the top five makers, IDC said.

Acer was ranked No. 229 in terms of the world's most valuable brands, the Brand Finance 250 list released in late January showed.

The maker enjoys a brand value of US$2.3 billion, making it the only Taiwanese firm to place on the top 250 list, compiled by the London-based consultancy firm Brand Finance.

HP, on the other hand, was the ninth-most valuable brand, with brand value hitting US$29.5 billion.

HP is not the only company feeling the heat from Acer, which has repeatedly vowed to overtake Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) as the third-largest PC vendor by the end of the year by boosting sales of desktop computers.

Market watchers said the goal would likely be achieved in the last two quarters of this year because of strong traditional demand generated by the European market, which contributes over 50 percent of Acer's total revenues.

But analysts warned that Dell Inc, the world's No. 2 maker, was also a serious competitor.

Chief executive officer Michael Dell visited Taipei on March 19, meeting Taiwanese suppliers for the first time since reclaiming his job in February.

His visit spurred speculation that Dell was set to order more fully assembled notebook products from local companies as part of its efforts to bolster its dwindling market share.

The US computer maker used to only purchase "barebone" -- or half-assembled -- systems and assemble them into a complete laptop, adding components such as processors and flat panels.

"Our checks suggest that Dell may start using full-system assembly in the second half of the year, which means it could soon change its strategy from direct distribution to channel distribution," Chang said.

Such a move would be negative for Acer -- which relies 100 percent on distributors to sell its computers, while Dell uses a direct sales model -- as distributors would be less dependent on the company, he said.

Even though Acer could choose to acquire a smaller maker to augment its scale, some watchers were not convinced this was the best solution.

"Acer is weak in the US and Japanese markets. Chances are high that it will merge with Gateway or Fujitsu, which are both top 10 brands," said Molly Lin (林美如), an analyst with Polaris Securities Co (寶來證券).

This merger is complementary to Acer's overall strategy, she said.

But Chang said that Acer should consider using its cash wisely, as the acquisition of a PC company is not a smart move.

"For now, Acer should focus more on profitability than on its global ranking," he said.
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