Acer sees strong uptake in Chromebooks in UAE
Education and business sectors drive demand but retail sector not ready yet
Dubai: Taiwanese computer manufacturer Acer expects to see a strong uptake in Chromebooks in the next 18 months in the UAE.
Paul Collins, General Manager at Acer Middle East and Africa, told Gulf News that the company’s international strategy lies in three pillars — gaming, ultra-thin laptops and Chromebooks.
“We have been strong in the Chromebook space globally. The sales of Chromebooks are governed by Google. Google has two aspects to it. They have Chromebook for retail and Chromebook for education and business,” he said.
The entire region, virtually, he said is open to Chromebook for education and business.
“We have more than 50 per cent market share. Chromebook for retail is still not opened in the UAE and I am not sure if the retail market is ready for Chromebook as it is completely dependent on connectivity.
I would love to launch it because Acer has the best range but I am a little cold footed at the moment. Many universities and schools in the UAE are embracing Chromebooks,” he said.
“We are talking to big end-user customers and major corporates in the UAE who are looking to change to Chromebook strategy right now. Airbus, beginning of this year, has moved its 120,000 staff worldwide on to the chrome. I am betting on chrome big time as some corporations are moving some of their divisions in the chrome space,” he said.
Not very strong WiFi signals and high data rates are also holding back the growth, but he said that 5G is going to be a big game changer and more pervasive WiFi in more and more places will give a boost to Chromebooks.
Acer’s revenue grew 15 per cent year-on-year in the UAE.
Quoting a research firm GfK report, Collins said that Chromebook holds a 48 per cent market share in the Middle East.
He said that there has definitely been a struggle in the PC industry in the UAE and has lost about 45 per cent in the first seven to eight months but there is a little bit of change in the market and the shift is towards gaming and ultra-thin laptops.
“We expect to see a growth next year but in the education side, it is very robust. The corporate and small- and medium- businesses have registered a small growth,” he said.