Acer India To Boost Local Manufacturing, Targets Market Leadership In PCs

Amid Centre’s push for IT hardware manufacturing in the country, Taiwanese tech giant Acer is looking to further ramp up its manufacturing in India.

Acer India chief business officer Sudhir Goel told Inc42 that Acer India plans to “significantly” scale up the number of stock keeping units (SKUs) manufactured in India to about 70-75% from 60% currently.

He said the company has already identified multiple local production-linked incentive (PLI) applicants to further shore up its capacity in the country.

“We have identified and partnered with various PLI applicants. Dixon is currently handling our laptop production in the PC hardware sector, and I know their current capacity can meet our needs. However, if we realise that the capacity is limited, we will certainly review our options and consider adding one or two vendors, depending on the level of demand and the extent of our expansion,” Goel added.

For the uninitiated, India has launched two PLI schemes for hardware makers. The first scheme was notified in 2021 and the second one was unveiled in 2023. Acer was among the few companies eligible for incentives during the first year of the PLI 1.0 programme.

Acer was also among the 27 companies that received the nod for availing incentives under the second iteration of the scheme. Goel said Acer is focussing on all four categories covered under the PLI 2.0 scheme – laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs, and servers. Acer has already started manufacturing in India across all of these categories.

Notably, PLI 2.0 underlines additional value addition mandates for applicants and Acer claims to be adhering to all these revamped norms. For instance, laptops have to undergo surface mount technology (SMT) processes locally with assembly also being done in the open market.

Acer is collaborating with various local partners to comply with these rules, Goel said.

Acer Looks At Higher Market Share

Goel also said that the company has set its eyes on ramping up its market share in the country.

“We aim to become the market leader in both desktops and notebooks. Specifically, in the desktop segment, Acer aspires to scale its market share to around 30% from current 25%. This focus is driven by new product introductions and a targeted approach to the consumer desktop market, where performance has been below expectations. With new all-in-one PCs and desktops, Acer is confident in achieving this market share goal,” Goel said.

And this India focus is not without reason. Acer has been gaining market share across segments in India for the past eight quarters. As per International Data Corporation data, Acer Group stood third in the Indian PC market with a share of 15.4% in Q1 of 2024.

It did well in the commercial segment in both desktop and notebook categories, with sales for the company growing by 19.9% year-on-year (YoY) and 32% YoY respectively. Its consumer segment also grew 51.7% YoY, driven by good momentum in retail channels, as per the report.

Meanwhile, Acer currently has about 11% share in the notebook market. Over the next year, Acer aims to increase this share to about 15%-16%, Goel said.

Acer is focusing on its product as well as go-to-market (GTM) strategies to expand its market share in India. The product strategy aims to cater to diverse consumer needs – from first-time buyers seeking affordable options to serious users requiring high-performance PCs for AI, data crunching, and gaming,

The GTM strategy aims to expand reach by increasing Acer’s presence on online platforms and large retail chains, while also doubling exclusive brand outlets from 170 to 300 within the year.

Acer’s Consumer Electronics Foray

Amid these efforts, Acer has also forayed into the consumer electronics market in India with the launch of Acerpure brand. It will sell television sets, air purifiers, water purifiers, fans, and vacuum cleaners under the brand.

The company also announced a ‘Make in India’ partnership, under which Dixon will manufacture the Acerpure products in the country.

Acerpure is aiming to achieve a revenue of $100 Mn within the next one-and-a-half years.