Acer Group is set to re-enter the workstation market in India, which it had quietly exited a few years ago. It is sharpening its focus towards the vertical by setting up a separate entity named Altos India. 

The new entity will ensure that workstations as a product category remain a focus area. Altos was kick-started two to three months ago and is focused on server workstations and some of the smart market and smart meter solutions, which are not a part of the traditional PC market. 

Sudhir Goel, Chief Business Officer, Acer India, said, “The products are already in the market and the sales is picking up. We had a presence in this market, but we lost focus, even if we didn’t officially quit. From here on, we’ll continue with this.”

Altos India is a part of Altos Taiwan, owned by Acer Inc. The new entity has a dedicated set of people working only on the newly re-focused product category. 

India’s total branded workstation market was estimated at 98,088 units during the last quarter, according to the data by the International Data Corporation (IDC). With demand shifting to entry-level workstations due to components shortage, and continued work from home, the market for workstations is expected to remain strong for the remaining part of the year, according to an IDC analyst. 

Goel further said that although the sale is picking up, it is challenging to achieve growth as there are already larger brands in the market. “We are not aspiring to become number one, we want to make sure to be present in the customer verticals we know of,” he added. 

Exits peripherals category

Acer has re-entered the workstations category but has stopped its functions in the peripherals product category. “As peripherals weren’t one of our core strengths, we exited that category after a trial run of a few products,” Goel said. 

Peripherals are no longer a focus area in India, but the company globally has a presence in the category and is mainly focused on gaming peripherals.

In the Indian PC market, Acer holds the fourth position after HP, Dell and Lenovo. For the quarter ended March 2022, Acer Group had a market share of 9.8 per cent by shipping 4,21,000 units. Driven by strong demand for commercial desktops, it grew 75 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY), according to the latest IDC figures. 

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