Acer aims to support expansion in market for smart city development
ACER Computer is expanding its business into the market supporting the development of smart cities and also has high expectations for its enterprise solutions group (ESG).
Amid a focus on expansion in the region, the company set up its first service centre in Myanmar. It expects to generate revenue growth in Thailand of 15-20 per cent by the end of this year.
Alan Chiang, managing director for Thailand and Indochina at Acer Computer, said that for what it calls its smart city solutions, the firm would focus on smart living, |smart mobility, smart economy, smart government and smart people solutions.
The company will integrate a range of technologies - such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and virtual recognition - into its smart solutions.
“These are the new focus of information technology (IT) and it is a new opportunity for the IT market,” Chiang said.
“The firm will provide tailor-made solutions to the market, such as smart meters.
“This is the first year that we will focus on smart city solutions for the market. The firm expects that it would generate revenue from smart city and the enterprise solutions group of around 10 per cent of total revenue by the end of this year.”
Acer's core business in Thailand remains personal computers (PC) and notebook computers, which make up about 70 per cent of its total revenue in the country.
Nitipat Praweenwongwuthi, marketing director of Acer Computer, said that PC and notebook computer shipments this year would see flat growth of around 5-10 per cent.
By value, the growth would be less than 20 per cent from that achieved last year.
Nitipat said many customers were looking for high-performance models, such as those suited for gaming. The company reached No 1 in the market segment for gaming and thin and light notebook. It has launched three such models: the Switch 7 Black Edition, the Swift 5, and the Swift 7 series.
Nitipat said the company shipped 2.4 million PCs and notebooks in 2017, with the former accounting for 1,188,000 units. Consumer notebooks made up 965,000 units and commercial notebooks, 247,000 units. The total value of the PC and notebook computer market was US$1.15 billion.
Nitipat said Acer last year gained around 20 per cent of the PC and notebook computer market, giving it the highest market share.
He said that the firm by the end of this year the company expected to have secured total revenue growth of 15-20 per cent.
PC and notebook sales would account for 70 per cent, followed by accessories and peripherals at 20 per cent, and business from smart city services and the enterprise solutions group at 10 per cent.
The opening of the company’s first service centre in Yangon is aimed at boosting its customer base in Myanmar.
