Acer is eager to get rid of the budget branding and with its latest computer launches we have already seen signs of iths. Cheaper computers will instead be supplied through the subsidiary Packard Bell.
Acer acquired Packard Bell in 2008, but the two brands have been handled quite clumsy as they have been competing against each other in price. According to an Acer spokesperson Techradar has spoken to, the two brands will be more clearly defined in the future and not competing against each other.
“It can be a slightly conflicting message[…]Acer is moving away from the lower end. There is going to be a crossover but the key volume of the market is around the £400 mark. Acer will become more premium. We try to separate the two brands as far as possible, so the average consumer has no idea that the two brands are associated.”
The idea is that Packard Bell will cover the budget segments that sell in high quantities with low margins, while Acer will be the “premium brand” with notebooks for 500 to 600 and up, to better compete with companies like Dell, HP, ASUS and Apple. Acer hopes that the diversion from Packard Bell will be so clear that most consumers will not realize that they are in fact associated.
