Acer Inc (宏碁) is mulling merging its subsidiary Weblink International Inc (展碁) into its Taiwanese operational branch in a bid to shorten the product distribution process and improve the firm’s operational efficiency, a company executive said yesterday.
“The decision is not yet final, but we will certainly let Weblink share more operational responsibility with Acer’s Taiwanese branch,” Acer Taiwan operations president and Weblink president Dave Lin (林佳璋) said.
Weblink, established in 1997, is the nation’s second-largest distribution agent for software and information technology products. The company serves as a bridge between information technology vendors and local retailers.
Weblink’s clients include Acer, Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp. It has more than 6,000 partner retailers nationwide.
When Acer Taiwan operations president Towny Huang (黃鐘鋒) retired from the post, the company on Sept. 1 said Lin would take over the position while continuing to lead Weblink.
Lin said he plans to integrate the resources of Acer’s Taiwan branch and Weblink to improve operational efficiency amid intensified competition in the market.
“Acer either plans to merge Weblink into Acer Taiwan or authorize more distribution rights to Weblink,” Lin said.
Neither of the two options would lead to job losses at Acer Taiwan or Weblink, he added.
Weblink only distributes Acer’s notebooks and desktop computers in Taiwan, but the company plans to allow Weblink to distribute all its products, including its projectors, monitors and Internet of Things products, he said.
That would speed up the distribution process and increase operational efficiency, helping Acer to continue to expand its domestic market share, he added.
Lin said Acer’s market share in Taiwan this quarter is more than 23 percent, with sales exceeding the company’s forecast.
“This quarter’s sales performance is better than the combined performance in the first half of this year,” Lin said.
He said he foresees Acer’s market share climbing by 1 percentage point to 24 percent next quarter and sales could remain at a similar level or grow next quarter on the back of the upcoming launches of new notebooks in the middle of next month.
The new notebooks include the Swift 7, the world’s first laptop less than 1cm thick, the company said.
Acer shares rose 0.35 percent to close at NT$14.45 in Taipei trading yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which lost 0.07 percent.
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