Acer Inc (宏碁) is upbeat about its notebook computer sales over IT Month, expecting an annual increase of 30 percent from last year on new gaming notebooks, a company executive said yesterday.
“With the increase in marketing resources we have invested, we believe the new gaming Predator series would attract consumers and boost our sales performance during IT Month this year,” Acer Taiwan president of operations Towny Huang (黃鐘峰) said on the sidelines of a press conference.
The annual IT Month begins on Saturday at Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1.
Photo: CNA
The exhibition in Taipei is to close on Dec. 6 and then move on to Taichung and Kaohsiung before concluding in Tainan on Jan. 13.
Acer has increased its budget for the event by 30 percent from last year, with the bulk of the expenditure going into online marketing, Huang said.
“Our purpose is to expand Acer’s reach among young consumers in Taiwan,” he said.
The firm’s online marketing strategies include setting up an official account for Acer on the messaging app Line and offering 180 days of free stickers for Line users, Huang said.
“We are optimistic that this type of marketing would boost sales in IT Month and help Acer get closer to young consumers, who are the main players of online games in Taiwan,” he said.
Commenting on the gaming PC industry, Huang said Acer values this segment in Taiwan, as it is a niche market and has huge growth potential, with more than 7 million regular online gamers.
Huang said about 3,000 gaming notebooks are sold in the nation each month, and Acer is targeting sales of 500 units per month after the launch of its Predator series on Saturday.
Acer has also launched a gaming tablet, a monitor and desktops in a bid to establish a wide range of gaming products in the market, he said.
In the long term, Acer aims to take Asustek Computer Inc’s (華碩) No. 1 place in Taiwan’s gaming notebook market, Huang said.
“I will not retire until Acer takes over Asustek’s gaming position in Taiwan,” he said.
Asustek accounted for 43 percent of hardware sales in the nation’s gaming market last year.
Asustek has said that it aims to expand its market share to 50 percent this year.
Overall, Acer’s notebook shipments in Taiwan this year could be flat from last year, as growth in sales of commercial notebooks would be offset by weak demand for consumer notebooks, Huang said.
The company is targeting 10 percent growth in notebook sales next year, with gaming notebooks to account for 2 percent of Acer’s total notebook shipments, Huang said.
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