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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Acer ramps up handset business
Three models display the latest 4G LTE Acer Liquid X1 smartphone at a press conference in Taipei yesterday. The smartphone is available at Chunghwa Telecom Co stores starting today. Photo: CNA
AIMING HIGH: The Acer CEO said the firm plans to become one the top five vendors in its home market, after expanding its overseas operations to 31 countries
By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter
Acer Inc （宏碁）, the world’s No. 4 PC brand, aims to become one of the nation’s top five handset vendors within three years after gaining a foothold in overseas markets such as Thailand, Acer chief executive officer Jason Chen （陳俊聖） said yesterday.
Acer has made progress in expanding its new mobile phone business overseas as it has seized the No. 3 position in Thailand and also in Belgium, Chen told a media briefing.
The company has expanded its mobile phone business to 31 countries, well ahead of its goal of reaching 25 nations this year and more than doubling the 12 countries it was selling its handsets to last year.
“Taiwan is our home market. Our next step is to become one of the largest brands here,” Chen said.
As long as the company offers high-specification phones at affordable prices, Acer would “occupy a [significant] place in the market,” he said.
Acer has set a target to ship 5 million mobile phones this year, a jump of from more than 1 million units from last year.
Regional Acer president Towny Huang （黃鐘鋒） said the company’s target was to grab the No. 5 position in Taiwan within the next two to three years, which would be a tough battle as it has to top China’s Xiaomi Corp （小米） and US brand InFocus.
The executive’s remarks came as Acer yesterday unveiled its latest 4G long-term evolution （LTE） smartphone, dubbed Liquid X1 and carrying a price tag of NT$7,990.
The mid-range phone is equipped with MediaTek Inc’s （聯發科） octa-core 4G LTE processor and a 5.7-inch high-definition screen.
Vice president of MediaTek’s smartphone business unit Jeffrey Ju （朱尚祖） said that Acer was the first domestic brand to adopt the company’s octa-core processor.
Other domestic brands are also developing new phones powered by MediaTek’s octa-core processors, Ju added.
Acer’s new phone is made by Pegatron Corp （和碩）, which also makes iPhones for Apple Inc.
Due to better-than-expected demand, Acer’s phones have been in short supply and the supply constraint is not yet fully resolved, mostly due to a shortage of key components, Chen said.
In Taiwan, Acer can only meet 60 percent of the total orders it has received, primarily because of the tightening supply of LCD panels, Huang said.
Chen dismissed speculation that Acer has piled up excessive inventories because of weak demand for its phones.
He said the shortage is real and not the result of a “hunger marketing” strategy.
“We are very conservative about [building] inventories… Inventory write-offs are not good for the company,” he said.
Acer shares fell 1.99 percent to NT$24.65 yesterday in Taipei trading.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
