Wistron, Acer Said to Jointly Set Up a NB PC Plant in Brazil

Taipei, Dec. 25, 2012 (CENS)-- Wistron Corp., one of the world’s biggest five contract manufacturers of notebook PCs by shipment, and Acer Inc., one of Taiwan’s top two brand vendors of PCs by market shares, will reportedly jointly set up a production plant of 14-inch laptops in Brazil, according to industry sources.

The plant is allegedly scheduled to become operational in May, 2013, and will make Wistron the fourth Taiwanese electronics manufacturer to operate a manufacturing base in Brazil, following Compal Electronics, Quanta Computer Inc. and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.

According to statistics compiled by International Data Corp., a global PC market research firm, Samsung sold 440,000 notebook PCs as the biggest brand in the Brazilian market in the third quarter of 2012, while Acer and a local brand, Positivo, tallied sales of 317,000 units and 147,000 units, respectively, to rank No. 2 and No. 3. HP, Dell and Asus were the remainder of IDC’s top 6 laptop brand rankings in order.

Market observers pointed out that construction of the plant will enable Wistron to help Acer, its major client, challenge Samsung’s leading status in the Brazilian market in the future, though the Taiwanese laptop manufacturer said that this plan is still pending.

IDC analysts believe that the penetration rate of PCs in Brazil will surge to 66% in the next three years from the current 30%, with overall sales in the country to reach 140 million units in 2014. Noteworthily, 14-inch laptops are the mainstream models in the market.

Coincidentally, the China-based brand, Lenovo, which has hired Acer’s ex-CEO, Gianfranco Lanci, with the aim to boost its global market shares, just announced this July a US$30 million investment in setting up a manufacturing plant coupled with a logistic center in Sao Paulo, which are scheduled to become operational in December.
(by Steve Chuang)