14 DAY TRIAL // Research & Development is the field where Acer is weakest, or so the company itself feels, if what we are reading is correct.
A report says that the IT player has chosen to drastically increase its R&D investment, to twice the level of 2012.
The PC segment will continue to be a major one, but phone-tablet hybrid devices and cloud services will have a great importance in 2013 and afterwards as well.
That said, in order to make good use of the R&D capital, Acer will increase the number of staff by 20-100%. To achieve that, it may transfer existing personnel or it could hire more people, or both.
For 2012, Acer has non-consolidated revenues of NT$359.89 billion (US$12.13 billion / 9.29 billion Euro). The research and development budget was of around NT$4 billion / $135 million / 103 million Euro, which means the sum is of NT$8 / $270 million / 206 million Euro, give or take.