Acer’s Emmanuel Fromont on the brand’s strategy to stay ahead

As Acer approaches its 50th anniversary, the tech giant is poised to further enhance its fully indirect channel business model to meet the evolving demands of the technology market.

With a renewed focus on customer-centric innovation, AI integration, and sustainability, Acer aims to solidify its leadership in the competitive PC landscape while exploring new growth opportunities across diverse sectors, says Emmanuel Fromont, corporate vice president, EMEA Operations, Acer, in a discussion with Gulf Business. Here are excerpts from the conversation.

Acer has maintained a consistent strategy over the years, particularly through a fully indirect channel business model. How has this strategy evolved to meet the changing demands of the technology market, and what do you foresee as the next steps for Acer as it approaches its 50^th anniversary?

Our indirect channel business model has evolved to better support our partners, who play a critical role in meeting customer needs and supporting their digital transformation.

They offer industry-leading expertise to help customers make the right choice when selecting their solutions, supporting them every step of the way as their business needs evolve. By leveraging their expertise and insight, we are also able to target specific niche markets more effectively, such as healthcare, education, and digital signage.

At the same time, we embrace innovation and artificial intelligence representing a new cycle for PCs. The PC market has fluctuated with demand, partly due to a lack of innovation in recent years. However, AI brings new uses for PCs, requiring hardware upgrades and making PCs exciting again. We aim to be the first movers to embrace new market waves, demonstrating our flexibility and speed.

We have never lost our ambition to make technology accessible and immediate for everyone, focusing on innovation as the answer to the challenges introduced by social and environmental changes. Today, we intend to continue this mission by listening to our customers and designing products that meet their needs. That’s our priority.

The IT landscape has changed significantly, and we now focus on developing technologies based on customer feedback rather than dictating their needs. We are also expanding our business beyond PCs and our Service Support is a great example. We have recently founded Enfinitec to offer white-label repairs on numerous products, extending our range of services beyond IT.

Enfinitec is set to be a transformative force in the after-sales service sector, focusing on sustainability and responsibility, to expand into new markets and serve other sectors looking for recognised expertise in sustainable after-sales services

How has Acer’s performance varied between the consumer and business segments in recent years? Which segment has shown the most growth, and what factors are driving this trend?

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw remarkable growth both in consumer and business segments. In recent years, the market has faced some obstacles. Intense competition and fluctuating demand have changed the landscape. However, despite these challenges, Acer remains a prominent PC manufacturer, especially in regions such as EMET (Europe, Middle East, and Turkey), where our PC business continues to dominate.

Today, our consumer business is growing more than commercial, because the refresh time is shorter, but we expect strong growth in the business segment in 2025, due to AI adoption and the natural PC refresh that usually happens after four to five years.

How does Acer’s strategy differ in the Gulf region compared to other global markets? What unique opportunities or challenges does the Gulf market present?

Our strategy of embracing local culture and teams is crucial in building relationships and understanding the markets. In this way, we can manage any challenges or opportunities that come from diverse markets with more agility because of our expertise in the field.

We see great opportunities for growth and expansion in the Middle East and Africa and over the next two to three years, we will focus our efforts on this region. This means increasing sales, and resources, acquiring more partners, and building business relationships with government institutions.

In terms of production capacity, we are adequately equipped to meet demand, so winning tenders or securing contracts does not pose logistical challenges.

AI is transforming businesses across industries. How is Acer leveraging AI in its product offerings, particularly in the TravelMate series? Can you share insights into how AI is enhancing productivity and personalisation in Acer’s devices?

We are currently at the dawn of AI. Despite significant success, the market for AI-powered computers is still relatively untapped. Acer introduced its first official AI PC about nine months ago, so sales are still modest. AI is gradually being integrated into various areas, including gaming, productivity tools, and ISVs.

When customers experience the benefits such as improved productivity and security of AI PCs, as included in our new TravelMate AI laptops, they may never want to go back to traditional PCs. These changes will greatly accelerate the development of computers and potentially revolutionise the PC industry.

Take the education market as an example. AI can help teachers in assessing students more rapidly and enabling them to provide immediate feedback while enhancing a personalised teaching and learning experience that helps grow their unique skills. Plus, by integrating AI technology, many administrative tasks can be automated, giving more time to educators to focus on teaching.

Empowered by our built-in Generative AI in our new TravelMate AI PCs and Chromebook Plus products, teachers can accomplish more, liberate valuable time, and provide greater protection.

Acer has introduced solutions like Acer as a Service and Acer Smart Financing. How do these offerings align with the growing demand for managed services, and what impact do you see them having on your customer base?

We live in an era where ownership is not the only option anymore. Most companies are used to managed services, such as the automotive and telecommunications industries.

In our industry, hardware, software and services can be easily rented as a package and have their cost spread over time. Our channel partners’ and customers’ interest is growing because of the immediate and multiple advantages that those services offer such as eliminating the need for large upfront costs and allowing them to preserve cash and contribute to the circular economy.

End customers can benefit from Acer’s resellers maintaining control over the relationship, contractual arrangements, and the management of future technology refresh. This means that software and delivered professional services can also be financed, which most banks can’t do. In addition, as Acer as a Service and Acer Smart Financing are an Acer solution, we can invest in a higher residual value. This makes our offer financially attractive for business.

Not only that, small businesses or professionals do not have easy access to financial solutions. That’s why Acer Smart Financing contracts start at EUR1,000 excluding taxes.

Acer has made significant strides in sustainability, from using recycled materials to offering a trade-in platform. How do these initiatives align with Acer’s broader environmental goals, and what future sustainability efforts are on the horizon?

We are fully committed to this cause and have been working towards sustainability for more than a decade. Our goal is to use 100% renewable energy by 2035 and net zero by 2050. In 2023 we have reached already 48 per cent renewable energy consumption in our operations.

Recognizing the broader scope of sustainability, we emphasise that achieving it involves not only our operations, but also encompasses the entire supply chain, spanning production, transportation, and processing stages. That’s why we implemented initiatives like Earthion, that align with the whole supply chain towards the same goal from product design, packaging, manufacturing and logistics.

We are proud to stand as industry leaders in sustainability and our commitment is evident in our products, which incorporate recycled materials, with some devices containing up to 60-70% recycled plastic content. Recognising that sustainability is vital for long-term business viability, our focus remains on battery optimization and energy-reduction practices in product development.

The Vero line-up emphasises sustainability with features like recyclable materials and toxic-free printing. How has the market responded to these eco-friendly products, and do you see a growing demand for such offerings in the coming years?

With our Vero line-up, we have stretched the eco-friendly features of a PC to the limit. Today, most of our devices incorporate recycled materials, are shipped in 100% recyclable packaging with toxic-free printing, and are compliant with the world’s leading eco-labels, EPEAT and TCO certified.

Today, tenders require multiple green certifications so it’s a must to offer devices which are in line or even greener than local regulations requirements.

Thanks to the upgradable design – that’s easy to disassemble, simplifying repairs, upgrades, and end-of-life recycling – we are also at the forefront of the EU’s Right to Repair Directive that aims to encourage more sustainable consumption, by making it easier to repair defective goods, reducing waste and ensuring long-term use of products.

The laptop market continues to evolve rapidly. What trends do you see shaping the future of the laptop sector, and how is Acer positioning itself to lead in this space?

With the introduction of AI PC or Copilot + PCs, AI will continue to reshape our customers’ expectations for PCs across gaming, content creation, professional, and everyday use. We believe that the future of technology lies in harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to create smarter and more efficient solutions that improve the way we live and work.

Expanding the application of our SpatialLabs 3D technology to the portfolio for education, gamers, and creators, we strive to create immersive experiences to support creators and gamers with advanced technology.

Acer’s ecosystem of channel partners plays a critical role in meeting customer needs. How does Acer ensure its partners are equipped to support digital transformation, and what benefits do the various certification levels offer?

We are proud to say that Acer is channel-only not channel-first. This is what differentiates Acer from our competitors that try to mix and match.

We want to leave the deeper business relationships with our channel partners. After all, business comes down to people and their mutual trust, and we believe that our channel partners are the best people to build those long-term relationships.

The Synergy Partner Program comprises three certification levels: Authorized, Gold and Synergy Platinum Partners that are customised to meet the scale in execution and support the requirements of multiple market segments while adapting to different performance, volumes and abilities.

Amongst the numerous benefits we offer are a complete portfolio of solutions, services, training and sales tools – but the most important one is our capability to listen and share experiences. That’s why we have introduced the Premium Partner label, with a scope to create a ‘limited edition’ community, primarily addressing vertical markets, to encourage business partnerships across countries and exchange best practices.

Acer has introduced specialised certifications for vertical markets like education and cloud services. How have these initiatives contributed to Acer’s success in these specific sectors?

Leveraging the specific know-how and background in different environments, those partners act as a link between Acer and the vertical markets we address.

Acer for Education partners bring innovative technology to schools, assisting them in evolving learning and teaching to prepare the students for future jobs, while Acer Cloud Partners offer their in-depth knowledge of Acer hardware and ChromeOS solutions to support the migration to this environment.

Without deep knowledge, it would be impossible to approach these specific sectors.

As Acer approaches its 50^th anniversary, what is your vision for the company’s future? How do you plan to continue delivering value to your customers while staying ahead of industry trends?

We’ll keep a strong commitment in both professional and consumer segments, approaching vertical markets: education, healthcare, digital signage, AI and gaming. We expect AIPC to create significant opportunities for the company’s development. At the same time, we see huge potential in emerging markets. By utilising these markets, we can maintain our growth trajectory and capitalise on untapped opportunities.

Finally, we will keep investing in lifestyle and mobility products to diversify our business and enter new market segments.

We believe that by effectively implementing new strategies and accelerating technology adoption, Acer has a bright future. Our resilience in difficult times indicates that we’re on the path to sustainable development.