Acer eyes No 2 slot in India PC market within three quarters on AI push

Acer aims to overtake Lenovo in India's PC market by FY25-end, banking on AI-powered PCs, retail expansion in smaller towns, and new domestic manufacturing

As it completed 25 years in the Indian market in FY25, Taiwanese major Acer is eyeing to achieve the number two position in the personal computers (PC) domain and overtake its rival Lenovo within the next three quarters.

 

The growth will be driven by demand for AI-powered PCs and expansion of retail footprint to Tier-III and -IV cities.

 

“In the last two years, our market share has grown in leaps and bounds by acquiring the share of other brands. We are quite optimistic that sooner we should be in the position of number two within the next two to three quarters. We are around 15 per cent now, and would like to be between 18-20 per cent to be number two,” Sudhir Goel, chief business officer, Acer India, told Business Standard.

 

Of the 14-15 million PC market annually, HP leads with around 30 per cent share, followed by Lenovo with 19.9 per cent, and Acer with 15.35 per cent at this point. The company said that the other two players in the top five are Dell with 10.4 per cent, and Asus with 8 per cent. The PC market in India includes around 4 million desktops, 4 million notebooks, and 6 million laptops.

 

Acer partnered with Plumage Solutions to expand domestic manufacturing of IT hardware with a new, state-of-the-art facility in Puducherry. With its launch, which includes the production of computer monitors, all-in-one (AIO) desktops, servers, workstations, and power adapters, Acer wants to scale its operations in India. 

 

“Our focus remains providing value to the Indian customer. We will continue to stay committed towards introducing more products, expanding manufacturing capacity, and developing an overall ecosystem,” Goel said.

 

According to Goel, the value of the PC market in India is approximately ₹40,000-₹50,000 crore per annum, and it is expected to grow at a rate of 5-6 per cent per annum for the next five to six years.

 

The company is betting big on AI-powered PCs for its future growth. “One of the areas of growth and where we have the potential to grow faster is the laptop market, both for the consumers and for the enterprise. AI is going to gain momentum. As we move forward, more customers would like to adopt AI for their fresh and replacement purchases. Our strategy is adoption of the right value proposition, right specification, and fresh technology solutions at a faster pace,” he added.

 

“Penetration of PCs in smaller cities is very low. We are increasing our retail footprint, which will allow us to reach potential buyers in Tier-III and -IV towns,” he added.

 

The company is reportedly targeting around $1 billion revenue in the Indian market by the end of this year. It is also adding to the Make in India initiative to avoid future supply-chain bottlenecks. Established under the aegis of the Government of India’s production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT Hardware, the Puducherry unit marks a significant milestone in Acer’s commitment to the ‘Make in India’ mission, he said.