Can you please share some of the highlights at Acer over the past six months?
While several global supply chain and logistical issues remain, we still see growing industry demands for our products. We have witnessed good business momentum over the last few months as PC remains an important tool as organisations and users continue to embrace the remote working era.
We see a strong demand moving forward for our offerings as the way people work, learn and play continues to evolve. In line with this, we believe that it is important to have a strong strategy for the future, and for us, it’s all about sustainability.
At the Next@Acer event six months ago, we announced the launch of Vero – our first sustainable product – which saw great success in the market. We have now really embraced a strategy to embed sustainability in our products and placed it at the heart of our corporate ethos. To reflect this, we introduced a broader range of commercial products including a mini-desktop, a monitor, as well as accessories and peripherals such as a keyboard, mouse and a bag among others that were all designed with sustainability in mind. However, this strategy will take time to implement across all Acer products, but we are committed to investing in making our devices and offerings more sustainable.
So, to reiterate, Acer’s focus in the years to come will be ensuring that we keep sustainability at the heart of our strategy.
The theme of the latest GPC is ‘Made For Humanity’, can you elaborate on what this means?
Acer as a company has been committed to our own ESG goal for at least 10 years. In 2009, we pledged to reduce our carbon footprint, which we have successfully done. Today, we have managed to lessen our GHG by 60%. We have also joined the RE100 initiative and vowed to use 100% renewable energy by 2035.
Sustainability truly is in the DNA of our company. As I mentioned earlier, we want to continue to raise the bar and integrate sustainability across our entire business and into our offerings. In addition, through our Earthion platform, we are also encouraging all our partners across our supply chain to embrace sustainability. We’re working with manufacturers, suppliers and retailers to make sure that our products are not only recyclable but are also upgradable.
‘Acer for Humanity’ is all about ensuring that everything we do from conceptualisation to development and all the way to product delivery, is good for the planet.
How are you engaging with other players in the market to ensure that they follow your footsteps and implement their own sustainability drive?
Acer’s sustainability initiatives are not just part of a business strategy but also a genuine effort from our leadership to drive change for the future. That’s why we really welcome our competitors in the industry to collaborate with us on how we can enable the entire value chain to be more sustainable.
In our industry, nothing really is exclusive. So, if we come up with an innovation that can be leveraged by other industry players to help them achieve their sustainability goals, they’re welcome to do so. We want to be seen as a pioneer in the industry in this aspect, and if our competitors see value in following our footsteps then we’d be very proud of that.
More than making it sustainable, how are you innovating to enhance your offerings?
We are very proud of our Vero product line. The Acer Aspire Vero reflects our commitment to more sustainable operations. Its chassis is composed of 30% PCR plastic, cutting CO2 emissions by 21% for the production of that part. The keycaps also contain 50% PCR plastic, and the 100% recyclable packaging can be repurposed as a DIY laptop stand. In addition, it has stellar performance and a design that we’re really proud of.
We are focused on ensuring that we deliver sustainable and affordable products with no trade-offs.
What can we expect from Acer in 2022?
We are a stronger company than we were a couple of years ago and you can see this in our balance sheets. If you look at gaming, when we started on this business vertical seven years ago, people said that Acer is not a gaming brand. But we devoted our efforts and innovations to progress in this field and we are now one of the leaders in the gaming space.
We are constantly innovating to deliver products beyond PCs and peripherals. Recently, we launched our own energy drink, which is called PredatorShot. This is in line with our vision of becoming the ultimate lifestyle brand. We will continue to push the boundaries beyond what our competitors are doing right now.
At the recently held GPC, Acer launched a slew of new Vero products including:
- Acer Aspire Vero – Green Laptop: It has a 99% recyclable 15.6-inch FHD IPS display that’s powered by 11th Gen Intel Core processors and Intel Iris Xe Graphics.
- Acer TravelMate Vero: An eco-friendly business laptop aimed at organizations which champion sustainable practices.
- Acer Veriton Vero Mini: A mini PC designed to provide commercial-grade performance in a compact and customisable tower, empowering users with the perfect device for their unique work situation.
- Acer Vero BR277: A sustainable FHD monitor with a housing made from more than 50% PCR plastic, and has earned green certifications from ENERGY STAR, TCO and EPEAT.
- Eco-friendly Vero products including the Macaron Vero Mouse (AMR020), Vero Mousepad (AMP120 / AMP121) and Vero Sleeve (ABG131 / ABG132).
