The Acer Guy

I’d like to take a few minutes out to talk about one of the most important elements of this blog. Simone.

The success and dare I mention it authority of this blog is due in no small part to his generosity, his own particular skill and, most important of all his belief that he can do a lot more for Acer’s customers.

If you look at blogs from other IT brands, there are always personalities behind them that believe in the value of the medium.

At Dell, without question the leader in this particular form of communication, it’s the chemistry between Lionel Menchaca and Richard Binhammer that has set the blogging world alight and helped transform public opinion of the company.

At HP, there no fewer than 52 corporate blogs in addition to 9 “Personal Interest Blogs”, although I’m not sure which one represents the company most.

Lenovo, of course, has David Churbuck who strikes up more interest and involvement than your average presidential debate (except this year’s).

OK, The Acer Guy is hardly a mega-site and there is no comparison between the way feedback gets absorbed into the company ethos from those sites and mine but the indefatigable willingness of Simone to roll up his sleeves and answer every single question I (you) throw at him puts him up there with the greats.

I’m sure all of you who’ve written to thank me for solving your numerous problems will agree.

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Well it looks like I got my answer.

According to IDC, the top five PC vendors by worldwide market share in the fourth quarter 2006 were HP (18.1 percent), Dell (14.7 percent), Lenovo Group (7.3 percent), Acer (7.1 percent), and Toshiba (3.7 percent).

Individually, again according to IDC:

HP built on its third quarter momentum, boosting year-on-year growth to nearly 24% (the fastest for HP since 2000) and taking a clear lead in worldwide shipment volume for the quarter. Growth in the United States rebounded to near 16% from a dip to single digits in the third quarter, while international growth surged above 28% with a strong showing in EMEA.

Dell was unable to recover from a slow third quarter and stumbled through the end of the year. Shipments to the U.S. market, which continue to represent over 50% of Dell volume, were down nearly 17% year on year following a single-digit decline in Q3. In addition, international growth, which was reasonably stable in the third quarter, fell to just 1.5% in 4Q06 with notably slower growth in all regions. Dell’s focus on profitability over share is coming right at a time of aggressive competition from companies such as HP, Acer, and Apple, and is compounded by a slow commercial market. As a result, Dell is in the unusual circumstance of seeing volume decline sequentially from the third quarter in both the United States and worldwide.

Lenovo continues to benefit from its leadership position in Asia/Pacific, while struggling for traction in other regions. The company continues to gain share in APeJ, which accounts for nearly 60% of volume, while shipments declined in the United States and Japan, and modest volume gains in other regions were not enough to preserve share.

Acer had another solid quarter with strong gains in all regions. EMEA represents roughly 70% of Acer’s worldwide shipments, and grew by nearly 37% in the fourth quarter, but expansion in the United States and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) also contributed to the company’s gains.

Toshiba’s focus on portable PCs continues to give the company an edge in overall growth. Worldwide shipments were up more than 17% in the fourth quarter, with an increase of more than 14% in the United States. Although growth was slower than last quarter, and closer to market rates for portable PC shipments, Toshiba continues to gain share in total shipments and benefits from the higher margins for portable PCs.

Overall, we’re going to have to concede defeat to Lenovo, but if you look closely, we’re catching up. Fast.

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There’s an interesting article by Bruce Einhorn over on Business Week about the battle between Acer and Lenovo to claim the title of “the leading computer company out of Greater China”.

It’s interesting to see the many parallels between these two IT rivals, and Bruce does a great job of getting straight to the point.

Just like in Formula 1, often the most interesting battles aren’t for the lead (I know who’s side I’m on).

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