According to Dan Nystedt, a spokesperson at IDG News Service (IDG), Gateway, a computer hardware company, will launch a complete line of notebook PCs. This is a step taken by Gateway to revitalize its business after merging with Acer.
Gateway’s problem in the U.S. is that it mainly sells desktops, but the notebook is the fastest growing segment, said Gianfranco Lanci, president at Acer, to IDG News Service during Acer’s third quarter investors conference in Taipei.
Gianfranco said that Gateway laptop PCs will be launched in early first quarter of 2008. He added that there will be no changes to Gateway’s product line till then as it takes at least one quarter to discuss new products with retailers and distributors.
He added that Acer believes that after this acquisition its share in the US market will rise to 11.7% and will add to its brand presence.
Acer predicts that its cost savings will reach $200m, higher than a previous estimate of $150m, and this will be contributed by volume discounts received from component suppliers.
When we have asked component suppliers for volume discounts, so far we have not encountered a single rejection, said Gianfranco
Gianfranco said that the restructuring and integrating of Gateway into Acer would cost $30m and the integration process will be completed by March 2008.
Gianfranco said that the strategy of the new company will be to sell products under multiple brands, including Acer, Gateway, and eMachines. After the acquisition of Europe’s Packard Bell, Acer will also add Packard Bell to its list of brands. He added that the PC industry has changed and has become a commodity business, and in a commodity business it is better to sell products using multiple brands than with a single brand, which was followed 10 years ago.
We’re going to run two brands in most regions plus maybe another that we use for special things, Gianfranco said to IDG.
According to IDG, Acer announced a plan to buy Gateway for $710 million in cash in August, and completed the deal in October 2007 and the company has nearly completed a deal to buy Packard Bell of Europe.
According to laptoplogic, a provider of laptop reviews, after acquiring Gateway and Packard Bell, Acer will follow leading companies such as Dell and HP in terms of PC marketshare.
