Looking to increase sales, Acer eyes corporate users

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

PT Acer Indonesia, the country's second biggest personal computer (PC) manufacturer, plans to increase its sales by 20 percent this year.

One of their marketing efforts will be to release onto the local markets some 20,000 desktop computers specially designed for corporate users.

"We hope to meet a 20 percent increase in sales this year. Therefore, we are working together with PT Berca Cakra Teknologi to market 20,000 PCs for corporates," said Acer Indonesia country manager Jason Lim at a press briefing on late Wednesday.

Berca is an authorized distributor for branded PCs by major manufacturers including Hewlett Packard (HP), Toshiba and Dell.

Lim said the company -- which acquired 6 percent market share in 2004 -- expected to increase its market share to 7 percent this year.

"Our expectation is to get our market share to reach 7 percent throughout the year as this will keep us in the number two position after HP," he said.

The Indonesian Computer Business Association (Apkomindo) expects that domestic sales of PCs will rise by 50 percent to 1.5 million units this year, on the back of the public's increasing need for computers in their daily activities.

Data from Apkomindo shows that domestic demand for PCs has been steadily rising over the last several years. PC sales reached one million units in 2004, a 33 percent increase from the 750,000 units in 2003, which was itself a 20 percent increase on the 600,000 units in 2002.

Berca director Djoenaidi Handojo said corporate users bought 80 percent of all PCs with the remaining 20 percent being bought by home users.

"That's why we are focusing on expanding the PC market for corporate users. These kind of PCs have higher stability compared to home PCs," he said, adding that Acer had also launched two series of corporate PCs, the Acer Power FV and Veriton 7700G.

Lim acknowledged that Acer, and probably other major computer manufacturers, would consider building manufacturing plants in Indonesia if the government provided sufficient tax incentives.

"Indonesia has a very good potential and is a big market for PCs. It's too bad that the government has yet to provide reasonable incentives," he said. (001)