Acer taking new marketing ideas to revive sales

“The worst time is gone, and there are still many opportunities lying ahead in the PC market,” Wang said.

According to Wang, Acer will no longer cut prices to win greater market share or jam its sales channels with shipments; and instead, the company will get closer to consumer demand and create product competitiveness.

“Through these new marketing strategies, we're sure that Acer will be back on its growth track soon, and even achieve better sales records than before,” Wang stressed.

Meanwhile, Shen Jen-lai, chief executive officer of Asustek Computer Inc., also expressed guarded optimism about the sales momentum for notebook PCs, especially in such newly emerging markets as China, India, and Brazil.

Shen said his company expected to maintain a gross profit rate of over 10 percent over the long term, and achieve an operating income rate of over 4 percent.

In terms of contract production, both Compal Electronics Inc. and Wistron Corp., have begun to hike contract manufacturing prices to reflect increased labor cost and the rising costs of key parts and components for notebooks.

Compal recently posted its gross profit margin at a sound level of 4.9 percent for the first quarter, while Wistron also noted that its shipments and gross profit margin for the second quarter will be better than the first quarter.

On another front, the sales war in the global market for tablet PCs is heating up after the launch of Apple Inc.'s iPad2 tablet. Some Android 3.0 tablet PC models are also up for sales, including Motorola Xoom, Acer's Iconia, and Asustek's Eee Pad Transformer.

Asustek's Shen forecast global sales of Apple's iPad series of tablets at 35 million to 40 million units this year, compared to 20 million units for non-Apple models.

Shen said Asustek's first batch of Android 3.0 tablet PCs launched in the U.S. market was well received there, and the company is likely to raise its table PC shipment goal after market acceptance for the firm's products becomes stronger. The company is already engaged in the development of the second-generation Eee Pad Transformer tablet PC.

Acer's Wang is also confident that his firm can cash in on robust market demand for tablet PCs. He said that Acer has readied supply of key parts and components for the production of up to 7 million tablet PCs for the entire year.

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