Acer expects to be the world's third largest PC seller by the end of 2008, with a 10 percent share of the global market and $20 billion in revenue, the company's chairman said Monday.

To get there, it will have to increase revenue five times over last year's roughly $4 billion, expand its presence in the U.S., arguably the world's most competitive PC market, and displace the current global No. 3, Lenovo Group.

And Acer Chairman J.T. Wang says it's going to do so without any mergers or acquisitions, without innovation and without focusing on the Chinese market.

"We don't want to be a pioneer anymore," Wang said at a news conference at Acer's headquarters in Taipei.
"Innovation should not be respected so much," he added, explaining that some companies boast thousands of patents, but most don't have any commercial value. Innovation should be linked to commercial success, he said.

Acer plans to sit back and let others do the innovating, only engaging new products when they're an assured success. Then, the Taiwanese company will bring its global marketing and retail partnerships to bear and "we'll sell like hell," he said.

The company will grow sales at an annual clip of 40 percent to 50 percent over the next three years, Wang said, as it increases sales to the U.S., its new target market. Acer's sales there this year should reach $1.2 billion, as the same team responsible for its success in Europe works its magic there, he said. With solid groundwork in place, Acer could expand U.S. sales to $4 billion "very fast," he added.

Full story...


Source : InfoWorld