1. What is the big area of focus for Acer today?
The Indian electronics industry has made rapid strides with technological advancements and introduction of digital revolution in the country. We are optimistic about the market in 2015. The focus will be on consolidating our traditional strengths of Banking, Financial services and Insurance (BFSI) and Government. Over the past few years the consumer electronics industry has seen the introduction of various innovative products and entry of many new players in the market.Driving growth is the central challenge for consumer products (CP) companies today. We will look at growth in consumer, corporate and small and medium sized business (SMB) verticals.
On the product end, the thrust will be beyond conventional products and on convertibles, servers, thin clients, tablets and other variants.
2. How do you look at the channel business scenario? They face big competition from online retailers. What is your opinion on this?
Acer has always followed indirect biz model. Our focus has always been to respect and strengthen traditional channel biz. E-commerce has come a long way since its inception and is only getting bigger. As e-commerce grows and the online beast becomes a reality, Acer will participate in it without disturbing the existing ecosystem. Acer believes in maintaining a level playing field and supports the co-existence of all players.
3. What kind of growth are you looking to achieve from India?
We expect the budget to providethe right direction and hope to achieve a double digit growth.
4. What are the key drivers for this growth?
India has emerged as a strong economy over the years. Strong growth can only be achieved through realization of full-growth potential of some key growth areas. We expect the growth to come in from – Consumer, SMB, Corporate, and Govt projects segments.
5. What are some of the big challenges that could lie ahead?
India has been hit by the global meltdown; it is clearly due to India’s rapid and growing integration into the global economy. Even though the domestic parameters are healthy, the global effects will be unanticipated. Due to the current emerging global situation, the challenges for India on the trade are many.
The Indian economy has shown negative impact of the recent global financial meltdown. The recession in Europe and exit of some EU countries in Europe can have a negative impact on Indian economy. Commodity/oil pricing will also play an important role along with the deflationary trends among BRIC countries.Also, the foreign exchange rate is expected to have an adverse effect due to the growth in US economy and the consequent strengthening of the US Dollar.