14 DAY TRIAL // Acer may soon get a new notebook supplier if the first volume test production run returns positive results. According to a report by Digitimes, Acer and Foxconn have been discussing the possibility of a cooperation on notebooks and it adds that, by the time the year is over, it will have been decided whether such a pact will come to pass. Such a development would widen Foxconn's already noteworthy customer base, which includes top players like Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Dell and ASUS.
With the world economy on the rebound, sales are starting to increase on all levels of the market. This, naturally, includes the notebook segment, and Acer expects its total shipments to rise by 40 million over the course of this year (compared to 30 million in 2009). As such, it makes sense for the PC maker to consider a new manufacturing partner, especially one that makes systems for its greatest rivals. That said, Foxconn itself has supposedly decided on completing its Chongching, China production base by May, instead of September, as it was initially scheduled.
“Acer and Foxconn have been in talks about possible notebook cooperation, said company chairman JT Wang. If price, quality and shipment schedules are suitable, Acer could source from Foxconn, but there are no detailed order plans as yet,” Digitimes reports.
According to the same report, Acer outsources based on the so-called “3+1” model, which essentially means that Acer notebooks are made by Quanta Computer, Wistron and Compal Electronics, as well as a lower tier maker. Currently, that fourth position is held by Inventec, though the orders it received, thus far, have been limited. Quanta and Wistron meet about 95% of Acer's total orders, which makes their position as manufacturing partners quite solid. If Foxconn does become the newest partner (which is possible, considering that it collaborated with Acer on desktops and smartphones in the past), Inventec may be quite strongly affected.