Acer targets booming Indian smartphone market with white-label strategy

Acer made a bold move by partnering with India-based Indkal Technologies to re-enter the smartphone market. Acer's strategic focus is on harnessing India's potential rather than solely concentrating on the highly competitive smartphone market.

Under the leadership of Victor Chien, Acer's corporate president, the company has expanded sales using strategies like white-labeling, with promising results in the US notebook market. It is now aiming to tap into India's smartphone market.

According to DIGITIMES Research, the smartphone market peaked at 1.4 billion units in 2017 and has been downward since then. However, there has been a slight recovery in 2024, with growth reaching just 3.75%, totaling 1.168 billion units.

In the meantime, India has shown resilience despite the plateauing demand in the global smartphone market. Canalys data shows that smartphone shipments in India grew by 15% in the first quarter, outpacing the global growth rate of 10% during the same period.

Acer CEO Jason Chen has consistently highlighted India, a country with a population of 1.4 billion, as a pivotal market for the company. He strongly believes in India's vast growth potential and notable administrative advancements. With the ongoing global supply chain reorganization, India's development trajectory appears unstoppable.

In response to the Make in India initiative, Acer already has a PC production line there. Its subsidiary Acerpure and Dixon Technologies have signed a memorandum of understanding for selling Indian-made appliances.

Now, Acer is coming back by collaborating with India's consumer electronics startup, Indkal Technologies, which will design, manufacture, and sell smartphones under the Acer brand.

Acer has applied this model to sell notebooks in various markets, achieving substantial sales growth. DIGITIMES Research senior analyst Jim Hsiao recently pointed out that Acer's white-labeling strategy has begun to bear fruit.

He noted that thanks largely to the successful implementation of the white-labeling strategy launched in 2024, Acer is witnessing the best growth rate among the top five notebook vendors by achieving a 27% year-on-year growth in May. Outsourcing design, development, and manufacturing to manufacturers helps Acer reduce development and service costs. Furthermore, the strategy requires fewer resources to expand into markets like the Middle East, South America, and Africa.

Sources pointed out that Acer is adopting a similar strategy for the Indian market, using more flexible approaches to allocate resources to explore high-potential markets precisely. Smartphones are just the beginning, and Acer is expected to launch more products in India to boost growth momentum.

Source: DIGITIMES Asia, July 2024