This Joint Venture markets the entire computer range of Acer products – including Desktops, Servers, Notebooks, and Home Computers. Acer is a global player with a strong presence in over 120 countries across the world, of which it is the leading brand in over 30 countries. Through the Wipro Acer Joint venture, these global strengths of Acer are now available in India as well. Customers in India can leverage Acer’s Global Manufacturing, Logistics and Marketing strengths, as well as benefit from the Fresh Technology that Acer consistently serves up to customers around the world. In addition to Acer computers, Wipro Acer also markets desktops under the Wipro brand name.
The Wipro Acer Joint Venture is unique in many ways. It combines Acer’s global strengths in Technology, Manufacturing and Logistics, with Wipro’s deep understanding of customer requirements in India. This, coupled with Wipro’s respected Support infrastructure, ensures that customers in India get the best of both worlds, and thus get Outstanding Value.
In addition to the above, Wipro Acer has also facilitated the joint working of Wipro and Acer in technology areas. Wipro’s Global R&D has worked with Acer in the design and development of leading edge Servers (the Acer Altos 19000), and the latest Internet based Server Management software. Through such technology interaction, Wipro Acer acquires superior technical knowledge of the products we sell, which leads to better support to customers.
B. The Constituents of The Joint Venture
B1. Acer
Acer is currently enjoying an unparalleled and enviable momentum in the world market. It closed 1997 with a turnover of around $ 6.5 billion, and with over 6 million PCs sold in 1997, it became the 3rd largest PC manufacturer in the world (up from No. 4 in 1996). This is a major achievement for a company that was not even among the Top 10 PC players a few years ago.
Acer also closed 1997 as the 4th largest Server manufacturer, 5th largest Notebook brand and the 5th largest Peripheral company (monitors, keyboards, CD-ROMs, scanners, etc.)
Acer owes its dramatic success to its unique management philosophies, and the investments that it has made in key PC technologies over the years.
Let’s look at some of these philosophies.
The PC business is dotted with quite a few "computerless computer companies" - companies that have built up only marketing capabilities, while relying on others for technology. Acer realised that if it simply copied these companies, success would not be easy for it. Therefore, right from its early days, Acer steadily invested in key PC technologies. It is today perhaps the only Computer Company that writes its own BIOS, makes its own keyboards, monitors, motherboards, chipsets, memory chips, CD-ROMs, and so on. Acer’s technology strengths are also evident in the patent cross-licensing agreements that it has with Intel, IBM, and Texas Instruments, that allow these companies to share their patented technologies with each other.
This strong control on technology gives Acer a tremendous advantage when it comes to reliability and cost. Which allows it to deliver superior quality and superior value to customers.
It is strengths like these that have grown Acer’s ODM (Original Design and Manufacture) business as well. Approximately 50% of the PCs sold by Acer in 1997 went to other leading computer companies across the world. And a majority of these were of products that were both designed and manufactured by Acer – they were ODM and not just OEM sales. In fact, Acer designs and manufactures Notebooks for 4 of the Top 7 Notebook players in the world.
Acer’s unique mission and philosophies have ensured that Acer is always delivering superior value to customers across the globe, thus fulfilling its mission. This was confirmed in a survey done by Arthur D. Little in June 1997, on Asia’s Most Competitively placed companies for the Year 2000, where Acer was Ranked No. 2, ahead of companies like Honda and Toyota. And not for little reason, did Fortune feature Stan Shih (Chairman of Acer Inc.) on its cover, and AsiaWeek give him the "AsiaWeek Hall of Fame Award".
Backed by strong Technology, led by front-line Management thinking, and powered by unique business philosophies, Acer has grown very rapidly to its current position of the 3rd largest PC Company in the world. In its endeavor to grow even further, it acquired the Mobile computing division of Texas Instruments in 1997. Another key growth initiative taken by Acer is building Semi-conductors as its 3rd pillar of strength, in addition to the first two of Computers and Peripherals. Stemming from this initiative is the founding of Acer Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc., which will build all-round semiconductor competencies within the Acer group.
B2. Wipro
The Wipro Infotech Group, part of the Rs. 18,000 million Wipro Limited, is India’s No. 1 IT Company in terms of qualitative parameters. User survey after survey has repeatedly rated Wipro as India’s most respected and admired IT Company. In 1997-98, the Wipro Infotech Group crossed the magic Rs. 1000 cr. mark, clocking a turnover of Rs.1, 042 cr.
The Wipro Infotech group is as well diversified group, with strengths in Hardware, Software, Systems Integration, Technology and Services.
Wipro’s Global R&D was one of the 12 companies in the world to achieve an SEI 4 rating in the first attempt. It has repeatedly won the Award for Excellence in R&D, awarded by the Department of Electronics, Government of India.
Wipro is also well known for its commitment to customer satisfaction, and the high level of support it delivers to customers. Through a nation wide network of 161 service locations, and wide-spread stocking of spares Wipro is committed to offering customers fast response times, and the highest levels of uptime on their products.
C. Wipro Acer
By combining the tremendous momentum of Acer with Wipro’s unique understanding of the market, and commitment to meet customer needs, Wipro Acer offers a wide range of products, each of which delivers Outstanding Value to the Customer.
Little wonder then, that Acer products have been among the Top 2 International Brands in India for the 3rd year in a row. And building on this momentum, Acer emerged as the No. 1 International Brand in India for First half of 1998. Clear proof that customers see superior value in our product offerings.
What are these Product Offerings?
Wipro Acer is committed to ensure that we bring to life Acer’s worldwide mission – and thus deliver Product Leadership to the Indian customer. Our entire product range mirrors this Leadership and Value.
Desktops - Acer markets a wide range
of Desktops. Acer launched the world’s first commercial offering of the
400 MHz Pentium-II processor – the AcerPower 8000, and today,
Acer desktops brim with the latest and freshest technologies – whether
it is the latest BX chipset based Acer
Power 4100 - or be it EX chipsets, AGP, SDRAM, Desktop Management,
or whatever. In yet another major first, Acer launched India’s first PC
based on Intel’s Celeron 300A processor – the AcerPower 6000, and
followed this with the full featured
Acer
Power 6100. Completing this powerful line up of desktops is
the AcerPower
4000, a value desktop with Celeron and Pentium II processors..
Servers – The Acer Server line offers a Server platform for every requirement, be it Enterprise Computing, Workgroup Computing, Departmental Servers, or File Servers. Ever since the successful launch of the Quad-CPU, SAP certified AcerAltos 19000 Pro4, Acer has expanded its Enterprise Server line-up to include a range of formidable Xeon servers – the AcerAltos 12000 (2-CPU Xeon) and the Acer Altos 21000 (Quad-CPU Xeon). With these Xeon Servers, Acer will now play even more strongly in the Enterprise Server segment.
We set the pace in Fresh Technology with the launch of India’s first complete range of Pentium-II servers way back in October, 1997. Today, the Acer Server line-up includes, apart from the Xeon servers, the twin-CPU AcerAltos 9100B, with 8 hot pluggable drives and RAID options; the rack-mountable, twin-CPU AcerAltos 1100, and the powerful entry level AcerAltos 330 (all incorporating the latest Pentium-II and Deschutes processors, and the latest, 100 MHz BX chipsets from Intel), making it one of the most formidable Server range in the market today.
Notebooks - Acer offers a highly acclaimed range of Notebooks that have notched up widespread success in corporate accounts. At the pinnacle is the Acer Extensa 700 series, Pentium-II based notebooks whose battery lasts so long (over 5 hours, as confirmed by third party benchmarks), that its closest competitors come nowhere close. The Acer Extensa 700 series also features innovative technology like PCI-based audio, Thermal Cooling through a unique Air Channel Design, and superb aesthetics which make them products that you will be proud to own. Completing the Acer Notebook range is the Pentium MMX based Acer Extensa 500 series, all full-featured Multimedia Notebooks with outstanding audio, and astonishing affordability.
Home PCs – Across the world, including the tough US market, Acer is a strong player in the Home PC segment. In India, the Acer Home PC range features the newly launched Family Friendly Acer Aspire 6000 & 6500 series. Incorporating the latest Pentium-II and Celeron processors, these sleek and highly aesthetic Home PCs offer a brand new computing experience for users at Home. They feature the latest MPEG standards for Video CD viewing, support for Dolby and 3D sound, and state-of-the-art DVD drives which open new vistas in CD Movie viewing.
The Aspire is a product that has re-defined computing for the Home, and has won every conceivable international award, including the Comdex "Best product Award", the PC magazine’s "Editor’s Choice Award", the International Design Magazine’s "Best Designed Product of the Year", and the new Aspires build on this grand tradition. In India, the Aspire has warmed customers’ hearts, and notched up impressive sales. CEOs of India’s top organisations have chosen the Aspire for their homes, where the product’s leading-edge technology complements the stately décor of their homes.
To summarise, Wipro Acer is committed to combining Acer’s Fresh Technology with Wipro’s unique Support capabilities, thus consistently delivering Outstanding Value to the Indian customer.