It’s not an easy time for the computer world: after the excellent (and in some ways surprising) results of the Covid two-year periodWith sales driven by growing demand for work-from-home, study-from-home and home-do-it-all needs, this year’s figures are expected to decline.
“The market is in very strong pain and we are suffering significant losses – he confirmed to us Diego Cavallari, country manager of Acer Italy – There was already an important decline in Q1 of 2023 compared to Q1 of 2022 (the first 3 months of the year, ed), which still benefited from the effects of the lockdowns”. And yet, “we are confident for the rest of the year, which should close with an overall -10%. Down, but not as down as initially feared.
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The reasons for the trust that Acer has they are the same ones on which Lenovo’s is based: the arrival of new products which, especially in the gaming sector, should give a greater boost to sales. In the second half of April, the Taiwanese manufacturer presented many new features, including notebooks dedicated to professionals, monitor, chromebook (What are?)5 computers designed for gamers and also his first electric bike and even an air purifier.
“We think they will do well on the Italian market – Cavallari told us again – which is no different from those of other European countries and the United States, except for one thing”. Meaning what? “And maybe the one where you most often see discounts and promotions and where you can see more consistent discounts. It happens above all for two reasons: because the Italian consumer needs a little incentive and because there are no other markets that have such a large number of retailers”. Not only that: “The large chain stores, online and offline, play a role in this, giving companies objectives to be respected on the number of pieces to sell, often asking them to exceed the previous year’s results – Cavallari told us – And the only way to reach them is to make discounts, lower the prices to increase the pieces”.
It is undoubtedly one a bit strange situation, especially in this economic moment, but Acer does not seem worried: “We are among the top 3 brands in the world in the computer sector, with a market share of around 13-14%”. The company is especially strong in desktops and in gaming, which are two niches that are following two opposite parables, one declining and one ascending: “Desktops were an inexplicable miracle in the two-year period 2020/2021 – Cavallari told us with a smile – In Italy we sold 3,000 a week during the pandemic, today we are around 1500. Compared to 2021, they lost 46% in 2022 and then again 50% at the beginning of 2023 compared to the beginning of 2022 “. Will they disappear? “No, but they will definitely downsize until they find their own space”.
That of the gaming instead it is a segment that goes in the opposite direction, with people’s interest always remaining relatively high: “For us it is an important area and one in which we want to be more and more present, both with laptops from the Nitro family, which is our entry range to a certain extent (starting under 2,000 euros, ed), both with i Predatorwhich are our products aimed at the most demanding gamers, with prices that can even exceed 4-5 thousand euros”.
For the companies that make them, i computer per videogiocare they are also important from an economic point of view, as Cavallari clearly explained to us: “They have higher prices, which translate into higher turnover. Maybe you sell less but they are more profitable”. For the people who buy them, they work because by now they can do much more than gaming: “Some are at the level of a professional workstation, thanks to the performance allowed by the CPU and GPU, so much so that we have many customers who buy them for this and not to play”.
Those who usually do not buy them are instead those who prefer to play video games on the latest generation consoles, such as Xbox X and PS5, which in fact “we do not consider as competitors, because they are aimed at a completely different clientele”. And yet, precisely to try to capture some of that clientele, perhaps aiming at who is undecided between a console and computer gaming or is curious but does not want to invest a large sum of money, “in early summer we will debut a new laptop with a more traditional design, with graphics performance comparable to that of a gamer’s PC but with a more affordable price”.
An ebike to find new ways
Accessible as all in all is the cost of the new one Ebii, Acer’s first ebike, which is perhaps the product that most intrigued us among those revealed by the oriental producer: expected in Italy from September, it has a price list that starts at 1999 euros. Which are not few but not even many, considering what the market offers.
Why did Acer decide to enter this sector? “In the so-called soft mobility, a bit what happened in the car world is happening: electrification has allowed and is allowing new manufacturers to enter, somehow democratizing the offer. And we think we can have our say, because we know how to do it with electronics”. Among other things, Ebii has immediately some interesting solutions, such as belt transmission and a certain use of artificial intelligence: “The person indicates the destination he must reach and our intelligent software chooses the path and manages the power autonomously , giving it or taking it away according to the slope, thus optimizing consumption”. This does not seem like an experiment, as one might legitimately think: “We will sell it all over the world, we believe a lot in these products and in 2024 mountain bikes and electric scooters will also arrive under the Acer brand”, Cavallari anticipated us, also telling us that the company has a European and an Italian team dedicated specifically to this.
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Sustainability, “perhaps with the help of the state”
Acer believes in it because “these products are green and sustainable” and because “our commitment to sustainability has been constant for years, even throughout the supply chain: it is useless for you to produce with zero emissions if then those who deliver your products, by ship or by van, end up polluting”. And so what? “And so, we’ve been looking at all the steps for some time to correct and possibly change these things and we already have changed some suppliers of services for precisely these reasons”.
The Taiwanese manufacturer is currently practically the only one to have a line of computers made of recycled materials: it’s called Vero and it doesn’t work as well as Acer would have hoped. Above all in Italy: “People are concerned about these issues, they are interested, they talk about them – Cavallari reminded us – But when the time comes to spend a little more to buy products that are kinder to the environment, they are rarely willing to do so” . A solution could paradoxically go from competition: “If others followed us, the final price of the products would go down”. Another is somehow in the hands of the state: “As in France, laws would be needed to encourage green purchases, especially in the case of large orders made by large companies”.
@capoema