Acer Europe-in-chief: The PC lives again

Mr Fromont, what have you learned in the Corona-crisis?

Thiemo Heeg

editor in the economy.

Working from home can be very efficient. The will, in the future, a part of the normal organization of work. In the future there is still physical Meetings, but more will be virtual. We must adapt ourselves to, and we have done that as well. There is no return to the world before the crisis.

Is this really a long-term Trend or rather a short-term?

the home office is there to stay. There will be a Mix between a physical presence in the office and virtual Work from home. Many companies offer their employees now have more flexibility. And not only because of the pandemic.

This development would have to be in the business of computer numbers manufacturer like Acer felt.

Yes. In the first quarter, we had a sales decline of 10 percent, than the was interrupted the supply chain from China. We get almost all of the products from China. We have but recovered quickly. In April compared to the previous month, an increase of 40 per cent and in may by 20 percent. The second quarter is a very strong quarter for us, and the PC industry as a whole.

to What do you attribute the upturn?

In our business figures, we see mainly the effects of education and home office workers. The big winner in the area of Mobility, so laptops, including Chromebooks, in every country in Europe. The strong demand is continuing until today. This is not only a short-term boom, but a fundamental change.

"For some of the tasks you need PCs,"

How?

The people will know, you can't do everything on their Smartphones or Tablets. For some tasks you need a PC. Also, monitors are one of the winners. The people realize that it's not easy to look for a whole day on a relatively small screen with a 13 or 14 inch size. Overall, the PC has won industry significantly in thickness again. People see that It is useful to have a PC, with good camera, good Sound and good connectivity.

Acer is also strong in the area of active games. Has strengthened at-home Trend in this sector?

Absolutely, the people play at home a lot more. The products in this range have 40, 50 percent. There was a strong demand, as is the case with laptops too. Especially Acer has developed well, twice as well as the industry as a whole. With us, there were increases of up to 70 percent in the past few months, in the industry, a total of 35 percent.