newsbytes@clarinet.com (02/04/90)
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 25 (NB) -- Stan Shih, chairman of the largest PC manufacturer Acer in Taiwan, has visited Japan to announce an international strategic policy. Based on international product development and distribution VAPS (value- added product supply) network strategy, Acer will supply a combination of personal computers with peripherals and software to the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Acer expects the network to be in place in three to five years. Acer intends to earn about 5 billion yen ($35 million) from Acer Japan this fiscal year. The Japanese arm of Acer achieved sales of about 4 billion yen ($28 million) in its last fiscal year, but the 80 percent came from OEM (original equipment manufacturing) sales and only 2,000 units of personal computers under the Acer brand name were sold. Acer is now planning to lower PC prices for Acer Japan, which will, like last year, sell high-performance PCs such as the 32-bit class this year. Acer Japan will attempt to establish its own Japanese sales channels with the Acer brand name. Acer will start operation of a new factory in Pinang, Malaysia in June this year. Shih says his firm is also planning to construct a factory somewhere in West Germany at the end of 1991, but he does not have a schedule for production in Japan, where he has encountered several problems. He also vowed to launch Acer into the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, but had concerns about COCOM (Coordinating Committee for Export Control to Communist Area) restrictions and Taiwan government. (Ken Takahashi/19900201)