Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday gave a positive business outlook on the Southeast Asian region as it launched its second annual social media campaign to drive brand awareness and sales.
The company yesterday held an “Acer Day” event, which focuses on building brand loyalty among younger consumers across Asia and amassing content views and Web site visits.
For local consumers, the company has teamed up with KKBOX, Taiwan’s largest music streaming service, to provide customized and themed playlists.
Photo: CNA
This year’s event has expanded to 20 Asian countries, from last year’s 14, Andrew Hou (侯知遠), Acer’s newly appointed president of Pan-Asia Pacific operations, told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference in Taipei.
“Last year’s event brought a 7 percent annual gain to third-quarter Asia regional sales, and we expect further gains this year,” Hou said, adding that he expects sales in the region to see double-digit growth.
While sales of gaming laptops in the region surged by 2.5 times during the first half of the year, the pace of growth could slow in the second half due to a high comparison base last year, Hou said.
Still, Acer’s annual gaming laptop sales in the region could see twofold growth this year, he said.
Acer has taken first place in gaming laptop sales in Thailand, India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia, Hou said, adding that the company expects to take the lead in Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia in the next two to three quarters.
The company has also made headway in the region’s market for enterprise PCs, Hou said.
“We have secured large orders for enterprise shipments and have shipped 60,000 units to the Philippines in the first half, while another 80,000 units would be delivered to Indonesia by the end of this quarter,” Hou said.
Enterprise sales accounted for 39 percent of overall regional sales last year and the figure could rise to 45 percent in the second half of this year, he said.
Hou said that he is also doubling as the company’s head of Taiwan sales for the time being.
As Taiwan’s PC market has seen little change in the past two decades, the company needs to adopt a vastly different strategy to advance its No. 2 position in the local market, he said.
“I’m hoping to see healthy and organic growth in the Taiwan market,” he said, adding that Acer’s 22 to 23 percent market share lags behind Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) by about 10 percentage points.
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