Taipei: Acer Inc., the world's second-largest laptop supplier, said it's in talks with telecommunications companies in Europe and the US to sell co-branded computers next year to boost sales of its new low-cost notebooks.
"That is something which will be different from the normal notebook business approach,'' J.T. Wang, chairman of Acer, said in an interview at the company's Taipei headquarters yesterday. "It's the turning point, the operators or service providers are starting to see the possibilities.''
Acer on June 3 released its first low-cost notebooks, which sell for less than $500 and can access the Internet, as it seeks to topple Hewlett-Packard Co. as the world's No. 1 laptop maker.
The Taiwanese company said it expects its shipments of the devices to almost triple to as much as 20 million next year from 7 million this year, with the market to expand to 20 per cent of all notebooks.
Business model
"Selling through telecom operators will boost share, but the challenge is that this is a completely new business model and thus a new concept for consumers,'' said David Dong, who helps manage $1.97 billion in assets, including Acer shares, at President Investment Trust Corp. in Taipei.
"This should be a help to Acer as the low-cost segment has many opportunities and can contribute to expanding its profit.''
The laptops would likely carry both the Acer logo and that of the phone operator and may be sold at a discount to their full price in order to entice consumers, Wang said.
The computers would be equipped with high-speed wireless data functionality that could connect to the operator's network, he said.
