Acer is a multinational manufacturer of electronics and computer products based in Taiwan. It is also the third largest computer company in the world by sales after
Dell and HP. They are known for the personal computer, laptop, servers, storage, PDA, and display products.
Acer was originally founded in 1976 mainly distributed electronics parts as well as semiconductor technologies during its early years. Eventually it moved on to personal computers and in 1997 purchased Texas Instruments notebook computer division. Since then, Acer has experienced tremendous growth. 2007 saw the acquisition of rival Gateway in a deal worth $710 million. Acer now owns not only Gateway, but eMachines and Packard Bell, all former American brands. In September of 2008, Acer notebook shipments surpassed that of both HP and
Dell despite being the smaller company.
Acer is also known for a number of marketing collaborations. Notably, Acer began an association with the Ferrari Formula 1 racing team. The result has been a line of premium laptop products and LCD displays carrying the Ferrari brand name. Football team FC Barcelona’s official supplier is now Acer. Acer has also recently decided to promote Linux aggressively on their laptop line as an alternative to Windows.
