Navigating the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the biggest challenges that individuals and organisations across the world had to face. To keep businesses going, most companies accelerated their digitalisation plans and adopted hybrid and remote work models.
As companies look ahead to life beyond the pandemic, some are considering calling everyone back to the office while many are envisioning a hybrid future. Although their plans vary, one thing remains clear – companies will need to maintain flexibility and continue to embrace technologies that will allow them to do so.
While solutions aimed at accelerating digital transformation will continue to gain traction, technologies that will support productivity and higher levels of working such as PCs and laptops will also remain as vital investments. By the end of 2021, global shipments of PCs hit 344.7 million units, according to IDC. Subsequently, the report revealed that the PC market is expected to see a five-year growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3 percent, which will mostly be driven by laptop sales.
Among the key players in the PC market is Taiwanese firm Acer, which boasts a vast portfolio of products including desktop PCs, laptops and tablets among others. Last year, Acer showed strong results and sold 23.9 million units.
“We expect the PC market to continue delivering the high performance that it welcomed in 2021, which was much higher than pre-COVID,” said Massimiliano Rossi, Vice President – MEA and Head of Product Business Unit – EMEA.
“The consumer market may decline slightly, however, seeing that the hybrid work culture and remote schooling have become a norm, the commercial and education segments are expected to remain strong as users find the need for more advanced and high-performing devices to cater to their requirements. The PC has once again become an essential device at a consumer and commercial level with mobility driving much bigger volume.”
According to Rossi, portability will remain a key factor in driving customers’ decisions when buying devices. “Consumers will continue to look for lightweight devices that have stronger battery life, better display quality, camera, microphone and audio. These have all become important considerations in the wake of the new ‘work/play/connect from home’ reality.”
The sustainability agenda
Apart from the need to ensure flexibility, another important driver behind consumers’ purchasing decisions is sustainability. Today’s consumers, led by millennials and Gen Z, are prioritising supporting environmentally conscious products and companies. In fact, a recent industry report revealed that 79 percent of consumers are more loyal to brands that champion sustainability and create a positive impact globally.
In line with this and its own efforts to drive sustainability, Acer introduced a program called Earthion (Mission Earth), where the company engages its entire ecosystem from supply chain partners to consumers and employees, to help tackle environmental challenges through innovative and integrated solutions.
“Sustainability has been a core pillar of the operations for Acer for several years now,” said Rossi. “We are now strengthening these efforts further to become the drivers of change for the industry globally.”
He added, “‘Green’ is embedded in our DNA and this is reflected in the dedicated efforts and measures we take internally. For example, from 2020, all of Acer’s notebooks have adopted recycled paper for packaging, and these environmentally friendly designs have saved 8,750 kg of paper pulp and cut down on the usage of 20 million plastic bags. From Acer’s internal recycling activities, over 50 metric tons of batteries were recycled and remanufactured into new ones. More than 75% of Acer employees across 50 countries participated in these initiatives.”
To further reflect its commitment to sustainable innovation, Acer introduced Vero Aspire, its first sustainability-focused product under the Earthion platform, early last year. Then towards the end of 2021, the company expanded its Vero portfolio across a variety of devices.
“We wanted to translate our internal efforts into a concrete portfolio in the Vero line-up across different products including notebooks, consumer PCs, commercial PCs, accessories, monitors, and desktops,” explained Rossi.
“We believe that Acer’s commitment to respect our planet through the corporate initiatives such as RE100 and Earthion, combined with the latest investment to create a more sustainable product portfolio under Vero, which results in lower the CO2 emissions, are concretely supporting our sustainability mission. This is only the beginning of a long journey and there’s more to come.”
The road ahead
Over the last couple of years, Acer products have welcomed a high demand across the entire EMEA region. Among the company’s strongest performing product segments in the region include its premium range, ultrathin devices and gaming products.
“We gained a lot of traction for these product segments in all major markets including Middle East and Africa,” said Rossi. “The biggest markets for Acer are Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both welcoming tremendous growth in terms of value supported by the demand in the premium category. In both countries, we accelerated massively in the gaming segment as well, where we are much ahead of the market growth curve. We welcomed a gaming market share growth of over 40% and 10% in Saudi Arabia and UAE respectively, and reached a number two position in November and December last year in both markets, as reported on a recent report by global research company GfK.”
In the coming year, Acer plans to focus on maximising and stabilising its performance across the EMEA region, following the impact of the supply chain crisis from the last two years.
Rossi highlighted that the company is targeting double-digit year-on-year growth in the consumer segment. They also seek to nab a spot in the top three of the gaming segment and improve their footprint in the commercial space.
“We have a strong portfolio and a solid value proposition outside retail, with historical track records on education,” he said.
The green promise: Acer reiterates commitment to sustainability
The company will also expand its ‘non-PC’ business with a wide range of offerings in accessories, display and projectors. Some of the latest initiatives by Acer include the introduction of the 5G Connected Device, a set of devices supporting the new 5G connectivity with innovative solutions like traffic prioritisation and home security.
Looking ahead, Rossi emphasised that Acer will continue to enhance experiences for consumers. “We are constantly innovating,” he said. “Another important area of focus is the eco-line up where we are seeing growing consciousness among consumers. Acer will continue its commitment to sustainability initiatives and the Vero portfolio.”
