Acer, the world’s fourth largest PC vendor, plans to make a meaningful acquisition this year and is already looking at candidates, the company said Tuesday.
The company aims to increase its market share and boost long-term growth with an acquisition, a spokeswoman said. She would not disclose which companies Acer is interested in.
The spokeswoman confirmed comments made by Acer Chairman J.T. Wang in an article in The Wall Street Journal, in which he reiterated his pledge to overtake rival Lenovo Group this year as the No. 3 PC vendor in the world.
Acer, the fastest growing PC vendor among the top ten, expects to overtake Lenovo on a quarterly basis sometime in 2007, with or without an acquisition.
Last month, Wang predicted that Acer’s PC shipments would grow by 30% to 40% year-on-year this year. Such breakneck growth has been hard for its rivals to keep up with. The company’s PC shipments grew 37.8% last year, as it increased its market share to 5.9%, from 4.7% a year earlier, according to market researcher IDC.
Lenovo’s growth rate was a bit slower at 28%, and its share of the market was 7.3%, up from 6.2% in 2005. Acer’s quicker growth is helping it catch up to Lenovo.
