Acer Inc, the world's fourth-largest personal computer maker, may raise its market share in the US and China after agreeing to make Yahoo! Inc the default search engine on its computers, which will be distributed with a co-branded Web browser toolbar.
The announcement follows an agreement announced in May between Google Inc and Dell Inc, the world's largest PC maker, to install Google software on millions of Dell computers over the next few years.
Starting on Oct. 1, Acer laptop and desktop computers will include a Web browser using yahoo.com as its default home page, as well as a browser toolbar from the Sunnyvale, California-based Internet titan, the companies said yesterday in a statement.
"The line-up will make Acer's products more attractive to customers and will help our expansion in overseas markets," Acer spokesman Henry Wang (汪島雄) said.
Acer, which shipped 2.8 million PCs in the second quarter, will use its association with Yahoo to raise awareness of its brand in the US and China.
"A higher profile will definitely help Acer grab more share in the US and China markets, where branding weighs on customers' choices," said Daniel Chang (張博淇), an analyst at Macquarie Securities Ltd.
The cooperation shows a strong recognition of Acer as a global brand, he said.
Acer president Gianfranco Lanci appointed distributors such as Digital China (神州數碼) in China and Best Buy Co, the biggest US home appliance chain, in an effort to become one of the top three players in these two countries.
Lanci said in April that the company expected US sales to double this year, and sales from China to expand four to five times from last year.
The company's notebook ranking in China climbed to No. 4 in the second quarter, from No. 7 in the fourth quarter last year, according to Acer.
The computer maker had the largest year-on-year growth in the period among the top 10 players in terms of shipments in the US, where it rejoined the retail market in 2003, the company said.
However, one analyst was not impressed by the new deal.
"It is a nice-to-have, but not a must-have feature," said Amy Teng (鄧雅君), an analyst at Gartner Inc's Taiwan office.
"This will most likely boost the image of both companies. But it doesn't necessarily convert to more clicks on Yahoo, or higher shipments or revenues for both," she said.
Acer and Yahoo are just following in the footsteps of Dell and Google, she added.
In May, Google said its search toolbar would appear on the screens of all new Dell machines sold to consumers and small and medium-sized businesses, and that Dell users would be directed to a Web page branded by the two companies.
Google's move is viewed as a significant booster in its intense competition with Microsoft Corp's MSN for search advertising revenue.
Acer's shares fell 5.3 percent to NT$54 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
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