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Acer Inc. of Taiwan has Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) of the U.S. in its sights to become the world's largest manufacturer of PCs. To do that will be no easy matter, as HP's rampage in sales in the past 24 months has put it way ahead of former number two Dell (DELL) and, for the first time, made it a $100 billion company (annual sales). But Acer has not tread lightly either, gobbling up the Gateway and Packard Bell brands.
Where can Acer work on its plans for global domination? China, of course. The company will increase sales training and work on upping its retail network in China by 30% as it chases the fastest-growing PC market in the world. So far, Acer's mindshare in China is in fifth place due to its inability to be recognized for the global PC behemoth it is. Acer intends to change that in China.
So far, China's Lenovo brand dominates Chinese sales, and Acer hasn't overtaken Dell yet in China like it has globally. IDC's Brian Ma indicated that Acer will need a large chunk of sales from the expected 18% annual rise in PC sales volume in China (compared to 8% globally), and new Chinese chief for Acer, Oliver Ahrens, listened to customer needs and participated in focus groups to hone Acer's image in China as he begins attacking the competition in that market. More executives should do this -- actually listening to customers -- and get out of the corner offices and boardroom presentations for a change.
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