Acer Steps Up Market Push in Mainland China

Taipei, March 23, 2011 (CENS)--Acer Inc. is stepping up market push in mainland China by building partnership with the mainland's retailers.

Almost one month after signing a pact to provide electronics retail chain Suning Corp. with US$500 million worth of computers in two years, Acer recently licensed online electronics retail chain 360buy.com to offer after-sales service in the mainland for it.

It's the first ever after-sales service licensing that Acer has signed with a mainland Chinese retailer, showing the company's determination to boost sales in the mainland. 360buy.com raked in revenue of RMB10 billion (US$1.5 billion at US$1:RMB6.5) in 2010, up 100% from 2009.

Last year, Acer signed a contract to provide the online retailer with RMB100 million (US$15 million) worth of notebook computers.

When a trade mission composed of representatives from heavyweight enterprises in Nanjing visited Taiwan in February, Acer signed an agreement to supply US$500 million worth of computing products to the Nanjing-based Suning.

Acer Chairman J.T. Wang pointed out that his company's sales through Suning spiked seven folds in the second half last year from the same period of a year earlier. The retailer is operating 1,400 shops in the mainland. Wang estimated Acer's sales through the chain to further rise three folds this year.

Acer has projected its sales in the mainland at US$2.5 billion for the year, surging 70% from last year. In the meantime, the company's market share in the mainland is estimated to rise to 13-15%, up from current 10%.

Acer's sales in the West have slumped because of maturity of the markets there, prompting the company to depend on mainland China for huge growth in the years to come.