Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/04/27/acer_hints_at_acquisition/
Acer still won't say which PC vendor it plans to acquire, but it will give us a few hints.
When chief executive JT Wang said last month that Acer was looking at acquiring a company as a part of its plan to overtake Lenovo, professional speculators first bet on Gateway computers. The news sent Gateway shares up (http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/04/06/q4_2006_notebook_shipments/) 18 per cent from the beginning of March to a 52-week high at $2.40 per share.
That guess was way off. Gateway quickly denied the rumor (http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/03/21/gateway_acer_talks/) , and Acer has now followed suit.
At an investor conference in Taipei today, Wang threw the public another bone. Today's clue: It's a small company and "not in the United States".
So that narrows it down to about 193 countries...minus the non-industrialized folks...carry the one...
This one's a toughie.
Regardless of the buy, Acer has already succeeded in its plan to outstrip Lenovo. Earlier this month, market share analyst Gartner reported that Acer shipments increased 48 per cent its first quarter, bumping Acer past its long-time rival to third place position in worldwide sales. In it's first quarter, Acer's shipments reached 4.28 million to grab 6.8 per cent of the PC market. Lenovo nabbed 3.97 million for a close-but-no-cigar 6.3 per cent of the market.
PC World (http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131293-c,techindustrytrends/article.html) reports that Acer execs at the Taipei conference forecast increasing PC shipments by 30 to 40 per cent year-on-year in 2007.
Acer's attempts to climb the market mountain have recently hit a stumbling block courtesy Hewlett-Packard standing atop the summit. The market leader recently sent not one (http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/03/27/hp_sues_acer/) but two (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/23/hp_sues_acer_again/) patent lawsuits rolling down to stop Acer making gains in the US market. ®
Gateway and Packard Bell is done deal (9 October 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/10/09/gateway_buys_packard_bell/
Acer CEO talks up Chinese expansion (4 September 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/09/04/acer_china_lenovo_gateway/
Acer to grab Gateway for $710m (27 August 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/08/27/acer_to_buy_gateway/
UK, France and Germany PC shipments moving on up (6 August 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/08/06/western_europe_q2_pc_shipments/
Lenovo profits soar (2 August 2007)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/02/lenovo_quarterly_results/
Acer outlook not so sunny after all (14 June 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/06/14/acer_blames_vista/
Lenovo swallows tasty profit (24 May 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/05/24/lenovo_healthy_q4/
Lenovo pays Microsoft $1.3bn for software (10 May 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/05/10/lenovo_microsoft_framework_agreement/
HP raises outlook (8 May 2007)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/08/hp_borecast/
HP pitches Acer another sueball (23 April 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/04/23/hp_sues_acer_again/
Lenovo sheds jobs to increase profit (19 April 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/04/19/lenovo_cuts_jobs_builds_china_lab/
Acer up, Dell down in laptop sales (6 April 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/04/06/q4_2006_notebook_shipments/
Acer draws sting from HP's patent fury (28 March 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/03/28/acer_2006_earnings/
HP looks to teach Acer about Texas Justice (27 March 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/03/27/hp_sues_acer/
Gateway denies talks with Acer (21 March 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/03/21/gateway_acer_talks/
Gateway up on Acer bid talk (20 March 2007)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/03/20/acer_gateway_bid/