Acer seeks new index growth momentum beyond the PC sector

28 August 2023

According to Jason Chen, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, Acer will no longer just follow Wintel's PC development direction, but will also develop new businesses based on new micro-trends, seeking indices through mergers and acquisitions. Growth momentum, and even into a variety of industries such as biotechnology.

Chen announced the company's future development roadmap at the press conference held in Berlin on the eve of IFA 2019 on September 6-11, and disclosed the information.

Chen said that due to the deterioration of the US-China trade war, the unfriendly PC market environment prompted Acer to develop more PC innovations to provide a better user experience. He emphasized that the company's game sub-brand Predator and the creator PC sub-brand ConceptD series were developed based on the company's original philosophy, not just the Wintel architecture and specifications.

Chen said that adding many innovative elements to its PC products may help to increase Acer's revenue by 1-2%, but without them, revenues may fall by 10% in the face of market volatility and weak global PC sales.

Chen said that Acer has maintained a clear development strategy, first looking for new micro-trends from its core PC business, and then developing it into a new sub-brand series. For example, Acer's game sub-brand Predator is first a laptop, then a desktop, and finally a display and peripherals, while adding new features based on customer feedback. Chen said the company's latest Predator Thronos Air Gaming Chair uses a massage function.

Acer is also entering the software and services arena, and the newly announced Planet9 game social networking platform marks the first step in the company's entry into the new service phase, Chen said. He also stressed that the company's ConceptD is not only a creation of a PC brand, but also a "lifestyle" brand with unlimited future development potential.

Mr. Chen said that Acer has seen the revenue contribution rate of personal computer products drop from 75% a year ago to 70% today, but this is still not the best proportion of the company. He said Acer's main revenue growth momentum will come from its new subsidiaries, including Acer's network security, Aopen, Gadget Technowledge and Acer Synergy Tech.

In addition to pursuing the upgrade and transformation of the core PC business, Acer also develops new businesses through acquisitions, but the company is more willing to buy 20-50% of the shares, rather than 100% of the target companies. According to Mr. Chen, Acer raised its stake in Bluechip Australia to 20% in 2018, and its board of directors has approved two reinvestment cases, including a Taiwan-based biotechnology company Pell BMT.