Acer in touch

Electronic News Bulletin from Acer India (Pvt.) Limited Apr 2000 Volume ! Issue "
Acer India enters pact wit# $i%ma &nline
'o offer customers an e(perience of t#e wonders of t#e Internet
Ban%alore) April ) 2000
Acer India today announced a tie-up with Sigma Online, one of India's fastest growing private
Internet Service Providers (ISP) !he tie-up will initially offer every Acer customer value-added
Internet hours, and ultimately this alliance would evolve into a strategic relationship to harness
the emerging opportunities in the Internet arena and provide many more value-added offerings to
customers
!he offer will "e made availa"le in the cities of #elhi, $um"ai, %angalore, &hennai, 'ydera"ad,
Ahmeda"ad and Pune with immediate effect and shall "e e(tended to another )* cities "y +une
end
Sigma Online is the first Internet Service Provider to receive a private Internet gateway license
from the ,overnment of India It is in the process of setting up - gateways in .ey locations in the
country Sigma Online is a /ational Internet Service Provider (&ategory A)
0ith Acer on the threshold of ma.ing a 1uantum leap in ma.ing life revolve around the Internet
medium, the scope to wor. with Sigma Online offers limitless opportunities
"The tie-up is part of Acer India's commitment to being a services company offering products. At
a time when Internet usage is increasing, a large part of the experience lies in the vivid imagery
and experience of the www, purely on superior computing technology. e are ensuring that our
customers are able to en!oy that experience," said S 2a3endran, ,eneral $anager-$ar.eting,
Acer India
40e feel that through this tie-up we have "een a"le to find a technology partner who understands
the indispensa"ility of the Internet in today's age and the role technology plays in ena"ling that,4
said $r 5ota 2amesh, #irector, Sigma Online
India*s most admired compan+ prefers Acer
4Infosys is the clear winner, rated first on the five most important attri"utes that drive admiration
in the top performers6 maintaining healthy profita"ility, enhancing shareholder value, responsive
to customer needs, delivering products and services of high 1uality, and the a"ility to thrive in a
competitive environment4 "ource #The $conomic Times "urvey
Infosys !echnologies 7td (/AS#A86 I/9:) is a pu"licly held company and a world leader in
providing I! consulting to 9ortune ;*** and growing dot-com companies Infosys offers services
including consulting, architecture, application development, e-&ommerce and Internet consulting
and software maintenance !he company employs more than <*** people worldwide and is ISO
=**; and S>I-&$$ 7evel < certified ith its development centers spread all over India and
overseas Infosys is truly a global company in the true sense of the term.
%y using a ,lo"al #elivery $odel, Infosys leverages talent and infrastructure in different parts of
the world to provide high 1uality, rapid time to mar.et solutions /ot only is Infosys a trendsetter
in its services "ut also in its a"ility to solicit the "est products and services through an e(tremely
stringent and comprehensive set of standards
,ase -ac.%round!
I!7 Infosys is a dedicated procuring arm of the company with specific e(pertise in 9acilities
management and ?endor management It is the single point contact that interfaces with it@s
internal customers (software engineers et al), source products and also service their post sales
re1uirements li.e maintenance service etc through a 'elpdes.
0ith a uni1ue "uying process, Infosys has set new "enchmar.s in Indian Industry %ecause the
prestige and the Stature that the vendor gains "y virtue of their association with Infosys translates
into "etter "usiness than !he "rief to the vendors is clear when the tenders for re1uirements are
floated and whoever offers the "est priceAperformance value will "e awarded the contract
Acer India*s strate%+!
>ven "efore the tender "id was su"mitted, Acer had analyBed e(tensively the trends "y collating
prices 1uoted "y all vendors of earlier en1uiries After identifying the price differences of various
vendors li.e I%$, &ompa1, #ell, and 'P, a mapping was done vis- a- vis each of the company@s
strengths !raditionally #ell was strong on delivery, &ompa1 on prices and I%$ on service
support (on the respective machine platforms li.e ASAC**)
D0e put together a proposal that contained each of the positive points that the other vendors
were pro3ecting and offered a highly competitive pac.ageE said /itin Sa(ena - %usiness
#evelopment $anager
,#allen%es t#at needed to -e overcome!
!he primary criteria that needed to "e esta"lished with the client was a high threshold of comfort
in terms of After Sales Support "y assuring unmatched uptimes and faster turnaround time
cycles, through a continuous presence of the channel partner on site
An aggressive delivery of = wor.ing days was committed and that "old stance coupled with a
good priceAperformance mi( and a three-year international travelers warranty (I!0) for
/ote"oo.s had truly inspired the confidence of the customer !he last feature "eing the only
e(ception made to an Indian &ustomer
!he challenging delivery times and e(cellent price points wouldn@t have "een possi"le without the
unrelenting support of the Product $anagement team at the 'ead1uarters on this account
'#e #ead+ outcome!
!he customer has chosen Acer to supply <** des.tops, <* note"oo.s and F< servers !his order,
coming within F months after inception of Acer India 7imited was a shot in the arm D!oday we
have in Infosys a solid reference client D gleefully adds /itin D I can thin. of at least a couple of
other new customers li.e I!!I where prospect customers have gone to Infosys for a referral and
"ased on the e(tremely positive feed"ac. "ought Acer machines
Infos+s! A reference point of deli%#t
!oday there is an all-pervasive happy state of "eing at Infosys, stemming from product
performance and solid service support A total of 2/00 des.tops "/0 note-oo.s and "/0
servers #ave 0uietl+ wor.ed t#eir wa+ into t#e #earts of t#e users.
'#e future 1 wa+ forward
!he pervasive presence of Acer is diluted with some competition machines - the attempt would "e
to get these replaced at a suita"le 3uncture !he e(istence of competing "rands such as &ompa1
and #ell also led to some deep learnings at Acer If one vendor taught us cut throat pricing,
another taught us fast forward delivery schedules %ut the .ey learning has "een that on
prestigious accounts Acer ought to have direct interface with the customer !his helps in
pro3ecting Acer's prowess and at the same time provides tips from competitive offerings in
meeting the customer's re1uirements
To offer better prices and faster response times and in turn have the Customer glowing
with delight.
$ummar+ of $uccess
&ountry6 India
Acer family $em"er6 Acer India 7imited
&ustomer6 Infosys !echnologies 7imited
Acer Product Profile6 #es.top P&@s /ote"oo.s and Servers
Scope of Solution6 ;=== G <** Acer Power #es.tops <* Acer !ravel $ate note"oo.s and F< Acer
Altos servers
!otal machines till date6 F<** des.tops ;<* note"oo.s and ;<* servers

Acer set to ma.e e2life a realit+ wit# its IAs
3 $u-raman+am
'#e Economic 'imes
'AIPEI "2 AP3IL
!'> H-<-"illion Acer ,roup showed off on 0ednesday, a range of Internet appliances (IAs) to
ma.e e-life a reality !he non-P& products leveraging the latest advances in Internet technology
that Acer displayed ranged from personal handheld devices to media-rich entertainment
appliances
%esides the Acer I-Station, a porta"le device which allows users to watch digital video dis., surf
the internet and listen to &#s, Acer showcased its &y"er !? I a set top "o( that has interactive
internet capa"ilities integrated into a televisionJ 0e" phone I a touch screen activated device
which functions as a telephone and provides internet accessJ Slim$ate P#A a mini device that
functions as a handheld assistant and also allows other capa"ilities such as e-mail access and
0e" surfing
Other products of Acer included a 0e" Pad a wireless device that can "e used around the home
or office to surf the Internet, chat online and send e-mails and Smart Phone I an integrated
mo"ile phone and P&
D0e are creating a new impression a"out Acer and we call it the e-Acer,E said $r Stan Shih,
chairman and chief e(ecutive, Acer ,roup Acer@s foray into the IA space, however, does not
mean that it will get out of the P& "usiness, he said
Acer e(pects IAs to contri"ute to ;* per cent of revenues this year, going up to <*-)* per cent in
five years $r Simon 7in, president, Acer InfoSystems ,roup (AI,) said, D9urther reinforcing its
role as an internet ena"ler, Acer is leading the mar.et for IAs, afforda"le single purpose devices
that meet specific "usiness applications or consumer needs Acer is the first company to provide
a full range of IAsE In the ne(t few years Acer will continue to introduce more such IAs, he added
2eferring to Acer@s strengths in manufacturing, $r Shih said Acer has the cy"er world vision and
physical world deployment capa"ilities, which are the .ey to success in the Internet world
As mo"ile phones are e(pected to "e the device of choice for internet access in future, Acer will
"e a leading provider of mo"ile phones said 5 : 7ee, chief e(ecutive officer, Acer peripherals
group D0e are the largest manufacturer of mo"ile phones in !aiwan and our aim is to "e the
largest ma.er of mo"ile phones worldwide Acer will also "e a ma3or provider of wireless access
products,E he said
(The correspondent is in Taipei at the invitation of Acer India (Pvt) Ltd.)
Acer aims -i% in Internet appliances
B+ $at+a Pra.as# $in%#
'#e 'imes of India
Business 'imes Bureau
'AIPEI "2 April
As a result of a re-investing e(ercise that the company went through in the past two years, the
H-<-"illion !aiwanese computer giant Acer group has announced a strategic move to 3oin the
Internet appliances "andwagon
At the Acer e-life show, which was .ic.ed off on 0ednesday in !aipei, the company unveiled an
e(tensive range of Internet appliances (IAs) that will "ring the Internet into sharp focus and ma.e
e-life a reality
'owever, the world's third-largest computer ma.er will continue its P& "usiness Acer e(pects
that revenue coming from the Internet appliances "usiness will constitute around ;* per cent of
its total revenue for the first year and will scale up to the range "etween <* and )* per cent of the
computer giant's revenue in the ne(t five years
'aving recorded a revenue of H-< "illion last year, the company is gunning for a K*-C* per cent
growth in revenue for this year !he spectrum of non-P& Acer products leverages the latest
advances in Internet technology, ranging from personal handheld devices to media-rich
entertainment appliances
Addressing a press conference here, Acer group chairman and &>O Stan Shih said6 LL9oraying
into the Internet arena creates a new impression a"out Acer, we call it e-Acer'' Pointing out Acer's
inherent strengths in P& components, he said that the new move of the company, which is
powered "y the cy"er world vision with the physical world's deployment capa"ilities, would push it
to "ecome the glo"al leader in e-space LL2einforcing our role as an Internet ena"ler, Acer is
leading the mar.et for IAs, afforda"le single-purpose devices that meet specific "usiness
applications or consumer needs Acer is the first company to provide a full range of IAs, including
!?-centric &y"er!?, mo"ile IAs such as the P#A and smart phone, as well as stationary IAs such
as I- Station, video phone, Internet phone and 0e" Pad, said Simon 7in, president of the Acer
InfoSystems ,roup
Acer I-Station is a porta"le, all- in-one entertainment system ena"ling users to watch #?#s, surf
the /et or listen to &#s from any location in the home &y"er!? is an advanced set-top "o(
platform-providing full interactive Internet capa"ilities integrated into a !? environment It ena"les
users to shop or "an. online as it supports smart card features Acer 0e" Pad, a porta"le
Internet access with full-colour display and ma(imum wireless peripheral support, can "e used
anywhere around the home or office to surf the 0e", send e-mails and chat online Acer Smart
Phone, an integrated mo"ile phone with P& is targeted at "usiness users
(The correspondent is in Taipei at the invitation of Acer India (Pvt) Ltd.)