Foxconn might get Acer contract

MANUFACTURERS HAVE BEEN SURPRISED to hear that Acer is chatting to Foxconn about making some of its laptops.

Of Acer's notebook orders for 2010, Compal Electronics is expected to secure 40 per cent of the total, followed by Wistron and Quanta Computer with 20 to 30 per cent each while Inventec will receive any remaining orders.

However Acer bosses have apparently opened talks with Foxconn even though it has previously said that its R&D is still a lot weaker than that of the first-tier boxmakers.

The announcement that talks have started has thrown a lot of analysts into a tiz. Some are saying that there is no way that Foxconn could get any orders from Acer in the short term.

Acer has been doing some strange manoeuvring lately. Many expected it to dump Samsung Electronics as the main supplier of its LCD panels. Samsung has become a rival to Acer in the netbook market.

However recently Acer said that it will continue to purchase display panels from Samsung due to its strong technologies and large capacity.

Samsung apparently has been listening to Acer's pleas to spin-off its production and brand businesses. It has assured Acer that it will make an appropriate separation in the medium term, and Acer is apparently happy with this.

Acer expects that its revenues will grow 15 per cent year on year and its netbook shipments will account for 30 to 40 per cent of the forecasted global shipments of 40 million units. µ