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Lenovo chief prefers ally with Acer

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-18 14:36
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Lenovo, the world's third largest PC manufacturer, may ally itself with Acer Co Ltd in the near future, Shanghai Morning Post reported today.

It's of Lenovo's the best interest to join hands with Acer, its third largest competitor and the alliance will help improve Lenovo's status among the four major PC makers - Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Acer, Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo's chairman, told reporters in Shanghai yesterday.

Acer, the world's fourth largest PC maker, entered the US market in 1995 and took over the laptop computer department of Texas Instrument in 1997, which is almost 10 years earlier than Lenovo.

Yang said the alliance may help European and American consumers get acquainted with Asian branded computer.

Though the two companies haven't officially joined together, Acer has shown interest in the proposal, the newspaper said.

Lenovo in February introduced its own-branded computers at lower prices outside China. Laptops start at 599 U.S. dollars and personal computers with flat-panel monitors sell for between 349 dollars and 499 dollars. Prices of Dell's notebook computers start at 549 dollars, according to the company's Website.

Lenovo is also fighting to keep its lead in China, where the world's top two computer makers, Dell and Hewlett-Packard Co, are cutting prices and increasing production. Dell said on August 18 it would be able to "lower costs" in China by expanding the use of Advanced Micro Devices Inc chips.

The Chinese company, which is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, also hired five executives from larger competitor Dell in the past eight months.

Lenovo's shares have declined 24 percent this year.

Lenovo, China's biggest PC maker with a 35.3 percent market share in China in the three months ended on June 30, had a 7.7 percent share of the global market, compared with Dell's 19.2 percent and Hewlett-Packard's 15.9 percent, according to IDC.