Acer Inc unveiled its first new notebook-computer designs since acquiring Gateway Inc, part of an attempt to pass Hewlett-Packard Co and become the top seller of laptops by 2011.
One new laptop features an 18.4-inch (47cm) display, Acer's widest notebook screen yet, senior vice president Jim Wong (翁建仁) said on Wednesday at a press conference in New York. Taipei-based Acer also introduced a model with a 16-inch screen. Both machines play Blu-ray high-definition DVDs.
Acer, the world's third-largest maker of personal computers, is counting on the designs to tap soaring demand for notebooks. The firm expects its sales of the devices to grow 35 percent annually, president Gianfranco Lanci said.
With the Gateway brand, Acer aims to make gains against its bigger US rivals, Hewlett-Packard and Dell Inc.
"They've been doing well against HP and Dell in other markets, especially in Europe," said Roger Kay, the president of research firm Endpoint Technologies Inc in Wayland, Massachusetts.
Acer bought Irvine, California-based Gateway in October to gain a better-known brand in the US. The combined company had 9.7 percent of the US market last year, ranking behind Hewlett-Packard and Dell, according to IDC.
The Gateway deal helped Acer overtake Round Rock, Texas-based Dell to become the second-largest maker of notebooks PCs in the fourth quarter, research firm DisplaySearch said last week.
Acer projected last month that its PC shipments would rise as much as 35 percent this year, led by a 40 percent gain in laptop sales.
"We are looking at very nice growth in the first quarter, and it's coming from all the regions," Lanci said on Wednesday in an interview.
The company plans to continue selling computers in the US under the Gateway and EMachines brands, Lanci said. Acer acquired the EMachines name through its purchase of Gateway.
"It doesn't make sense to spend the money and kill the brand," Lanci said.
In Europe, Acer will use the Packard-Bell and EMachines brands, as well as its own name. The Packard-Bell name also came from an acquisition. In Asia, it will use the Acer and Gateway brands.
The company gets 65 percent of its revenue from notebooks, Lanci said.
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