The last thing a PC manufacturer does these days is manufacture a PC

ACER UK MD David Drummond is sitting pretty right now. "You can't talk to someone in the automotive industry and complain that times are tough when we've seen 35 per cent growth in laptops in the first half of the year," he jokes, as we touch on the banking fiasco in our wide-ranging chat here on the banks of the Danube in Budapest.

"So far, the PC industry has proved pretty recession proof," he says. And he doesn't see the market for gadgetry drying up this side of Christmas. " Materials are maxed out, freight is maxed out and we're really busy going into Q4."

And Q4 is looking good for Acer in the UK. "We have had a very, very good year in terms of volume growth, says Drummond. "We'll be vying for the top spot in Q4."

Number One spot in terms of volume is what Acer is aiming at in all its markets. The firm is enjoying phenomenal growth, largely because it happens to be focused on the right product – laptops.

In most of the territories in which it operates, the firm bubbles around the top three, battling the likes of Dell and HP. And Acer is slowly overhauling its rivals and its aggressive approach and focus on building its brand profile seems to be paying off.

Dell's recent woes are easily explained by Drummond. "It's next to impossible to run both a direct and indirect business," he says.

Acer itself is 100 per cent channel focused although, since it now does more than 80 per cent of its UK business through retail outlets, its channels have evolved somewhat over recent years. "No one has factories any more," says Drummond. "The last thing a PC manufacturer does these days is manufacture a PC. "

Drummond took on the job of managing director of Acer UK in January, drafted in from the firm's South African operation. He takes over the reigns from Gianpierro Morbello, who ran the UK business from Italy with country manager Semmy 'conductor' Levit based in London. Morbello has moved up to take charge of marketing at Acer Inc worldwide and the success of the UK operation have given Semmy a leg-up into the heady world of Acer's professional division in Emea.

The change reflects Acer's desire to install local personnel to run individual country businesses, while each follows the strategy mapped out by Acer central. That strategy is to "segment the market around the user rather than technology, like processor, screen size or price."

For more on Acer's multi-brand approach go here.

The way the notebook market works these days is that the likes of Acer, Dell and HP design the products they want to flog and then get these made at the best possible price in China. All three firms' laptops could be made in the same factory and stuck on a slow boat from China. "Five years ago, 20 per cent was shipped by sea. Today it's around 80 per cent. It's a consequence of the cost of fuel becoming greater than the cost of money," said Drummond.

It takes 28 days for the boat to make the journey from China to the UK.

With its proximity to manfacturers in the far east, having its design centre in Taiwan, Acer has always proved itself well placed to mount a challenge to both HP and Dell in terms of cost of delivering to market. It's focus now is on marketing and brand building and the firm has a set of goals mapped out in a strategy that aims to have it as the "Number One" computer-seller in terms of volume by 2011.

And if you look at the firm's progress over the past few years, it would be a foolish man indeed who would bet against it. µ