Having taken a hit in the smartphone business, Acer falls back on PC and notebook business for growth in Indian market.
“In smartphones, we have learnt our lessons the hard way. We tweaked business plans as well. We will go below the radar in the segment in India,” Mr S. Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India, said here on Wednesday.
While Acer will continue to have “some retail presence” in the smarphone segment, it will not be spending on advertisements or try to create a demand for existing models.
Acer India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Taiwan’s Acer Computer International Ltd.
Not Exiting
According to him, Acer, however, is not exiting the smartphone segment. “We will have some retail presence. We do not want to vacate the space,” he added.
The company would look to regain lost ground in the segment once ‘bundling’ offers start becoming popular in the country. Bundling (telco-carrier model) refer to those where handsets costs are subsidised by mobile operators once users opt for a combined data and voice package.
Handset retail selling business in India required “deep pockets”, “patience and grunt work” and developing the sales line, he said.
Launched in the first quarter of 2011 (Acer follows the calendar year), the company at present has four handset models priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000.
Go to Market
Acer, incidentally, claimed that its new business strategy for growth would “be through telco carriers” only. “This obviously means that markets like India would not be an immediate candidate,” he added.
Developed markets would include Europe, Japan and the US and the UK.
According to Mr Rajendran, the new strategy – to opt for bundling offers only – has been taken up earlier this year.
Acer India to focus on small enterprises, corporates
Acer India is looking to tap the small and medium businesses and corporate segments for growth of its desktops and notebooks businesses.
According to its Chief Marketing Officer, Mr S. Rajendran, focus will be on increasing its corporate client base to 150 by this year-end. It, currently, has 50 such corporate clients (called key corporate groups).
The company has invested in dedicated resource and carries out business development activities that include brand positioning and providing the right product.
“It’s not direct selling. We see a lot of merits in customers getting the comfort having a brand engage proactively with them,” he said, here, at the launch of Acer’s notebook and ultrabook range.
Revamping the SMB portfolio, Mr Rajendran said that it has come up with a new strategy for growth in the vertical. The strategy includes having a relevant product portfolio and a partner programme.
There are six on-field recruits who drive product sales to SMBs.
Currently, nearly a third of Acer India’s revenues are from the consumer business.