PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said its new cloud business started making a profit last year and it aims to grow sales of its Web-based services “multiple times” this year from last year as part of its restructuring efforts.
The guidance came as Acer unveiled its long-awaited “Build Your Own Cloud” (BYOC) data storage tools in Taoyuan County’s Longtan Township (龍潭).
Acer said more than 10 large firms had signed up for its cloud computing data storage after the BYOC concept was introduced in December last year, including Advanced Telematic Systems of the US, which provides software used in connected cars, and Taiwanese storage device chipmaker Phison Electronics Co (群聯電子).
The world’s fourth-largest PC brand said BYOC gives businesses a platform to record their clients’ data in Acer’s data center, as more enterprises now manage their employees’ or customers’ documents online.
Individuals can also use the Acer BYOC apps to store photographs, music and other file formats online, the company said, adding that it is offering its Acer BYOC apps for free to customers buying its PCs, tablets or smartphone products this year.
The apps will also be available on the Android, iOS, Windows and Linux operating systems, and will be open to non-Acer users as well, company officials added.
“BYOC is a unique platform and also a new ecosystem,” Acer chairman Stan Shih (施振榮) said at the product launch.
“It helps meet people’s needs using cloud computing technologies, with attention to users’ privacy and security,” he said.
Shih said Acer, unlike rival Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), decided to offer unlimited data storage space for individual customers for free because it believes such a move can help differentiate the company’s hardware products.
Chief executive officer Jason Chen (陳俊聖) said Acer has been providing data storage services for 13 years, adding that it is likely to grow its cloud business “multiple times” this year from last year due to a low comparison base.
That is despite a plan to gradually write off goodwill from the iGware Inc purchase from next quarter.
Acer bought US-based software company iGware for US$320 million in 2011 as it started to develop its AcerCloud data storage platform.
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