ACER Inc. cited its customer-centric strategy is the key to its success in the local consumer technology market.
According to Ray Gozon, senior marketing manager for Acer Philippines, one out of three Filipinos buy Acer products. This has made the brand no. 1 in the local market for 10 consecutive years, Gozon said.
But in a financial report for the first quarter of the year, Acer’s sales dropped to NT$56.3 billion (roughly $1.73 billion), compared to worldwide sales of NT$67.9 billion (about $2.1 billion) in the same period last year. However, gross margins were higher in the first quarter at 11.8 percent, compared to the 9.8 percent in the same period last year, the Acer financial data showed.
Revenue from information-technology hardware product in the first quarter of the year in Pan Asia Pacific, however, rose by 1 percent to 38 percent, compared to the 37 percent in the same period last year. Pan Asia Pacific includes Asia Pacific, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mainland China. The company’s report to its investors revealed worldwide sales of desktop personal computers (PCs) rose by 1 percent to 18 percent, compared to the 17 percent in the first quarter of last year.
Sale of Acer display, smartphones and other products also rose to 14 percent, 3 percent and 5 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of the year, according to the firm’s investor report. Sales in tablets and notebook PCs dropped in the first quarter of the year to 5 percent and 55 percent, respectively, from 6 percent and 59 percent, respectively, in the same period last year.
Gozon said the company is banking on giving free items with the purchase of Acer products to maintain its local market leadership. Likewise, he said the firm backs its projectors and laptops with a three-year warranty.
“We are crazy over customers,” Gozon said. “We live each minute, each second spent in our office, to understand and anticipate the needs and wants of the customers.”