Acer Emerges at Numero Uno Spot in the PC Monitor Market

02.12.2008
The aggressive business model to propel TFT monitors has resulted in Acer emerging as leader in the overall PC monitor market in India (Q3 2008), as per IDC report. Taiwan-based PC maker shipped over 3.3 lakh units in India market through Q3/2008. "Over the past three quarters, we were leaders in wide LCD monitor category in India. But this time, we managed to lead in overall (wide and non-wide) PC monitor market for JAS quarter," said S Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India. In the standalone monitor category, Acer shipped over 2.2 lakh units capturing over 15.8 percent of Indian monitor market for Q3/2008 as per IDC report. More than 90 percent of these numbers would be Wide LCD monitors which we have been selling well since start of 2008, he said "The majority of standalone sales arose from assembled market, CRT replacements and SMB segment," he said. For commercial and consumer segment, Acer sold an additional 1.1 lakh units of monitors as bundled items. "Out of these, almost 85 percent were LCD sales indicating a faster dip in CRT demand."

Acer LCD Wide 18.5 inch is fast emerging as our top selling model in India as it fast replacing 17 inch monitor, he said. Acer would continue to pursue its entry level 15 inch LCD for entry level and upcountry towns. "Although CRT monitors still infuse demand in large government projects and hinterland users buying their first PC, LCD monitor is growing at much faster rate," reasoned Ranjendran. Channel partners and end users are beginning to understand the benefits of LCD monitors which include lower power consumption, less space usage and aesthetic looks, he said.

The India distributors for Acer monitors includes Ingram Micro, Savex Computers, Salora and Supertron. The tier II channel base consist of over 3000 in numbers across India consisting of VARs, SIs, resellers and retailers. Over 60 percent of tier II channels are active partners billing at least once a month which amounts to over 1800-2000 partners selling ACER monitors. "We do not see adding new distributors in 2009 as of now .However, we would definitely enhance tier II channel strength mainly in C/D class cities in 2009," said Rajendran. These cities are potential buyers for their first desktop which is a huge market place for our partners dealing in LCD monitors. A constant challenge of service support across India is provided through Monitor Repair Vendors across 50 cities providing onsite support for end users apart from ASPs across 302 cities, he said.

Acer hopes to continue its dominance in massive growth in exploding LCD monitors market in India. 18.5 inch and 20.5 inch Wide LCD monitors will be the focused models for 2009, he said. With current recession across the globe, Rajendran said, "We are not dumping excess material with tier I partners and also reduced the slab sizes of our tier I/tier II channels. We are working on potential channel schemes to create more pull from end users and push from channels."