Acer reveals digital home market strategy
Vendor unveils aggressive plans at its global press conference
Acer unveiled aggressive plans to become a major player in the digital home market at its global press conference in Monaco last week.
Acer president, Gianfranco Lanci, told delegates: “We have identified three macro areas to focus on: mobility, enterprise and convergence. We believe technology in the home is converging and want to be one of the first to offer convergence solutions to our customers.”
Acer’s strategy is to build a strong foundation for its LCD TVs first and then push its digital home products.
Semmy Levit, Acer UK country manager, said: “My task is for Acer UK not to be seen as just a notebook vendor any more. The convergence of the home is going to be key for tomorrow’s business so we have to start preparing now to be in that market.”
Gianpiero Morbello, Acer UK managing director, said: “We are only selling a small number of Acer TVs in the UK, but the market for TVs in the UK is huge – it is the biggest in Europe. We want to increase sales of our LCDs to reach a critical mass and then we can push our convergence products. Convergence in the home is not there yet – it is a market that has to be created. We want to drive this market.”
Lutz Schoppe, product business director Acer EMEA, said: “The industry needs to address three things before PCs in the living room really take off: noise levels, power consumption and ease of use.”
John Turner, head of multimedia networking at distributor Computerlinks, which entered the home automation market earlier this year, said: “Specialist Media Center vendors such as Clevertec sell smaller numbers of high-specification models aimed at customers with lower overheads and volume requirements. Acer needs mass demand for its channel to market to be viable, which requires clearer consumer messages from Microsoft.”
Alun Williams, marketing manager at NEC Display Solutions, said: “Convergence is going to happen between consumer and business technology and also between work and home life. We think it is better to approach it from a B2B [business to business] perspective as the consumer market is very price sensitive.”