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HistoryAcer was founded by Stan Shih (), his wife Carolyn Yeh, and a group of five others as Multitech in 1976, headquartered in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. The company was renamed Acer in 1987. It began with eleven employees and US$25,000 in capital. Initially, it was primarily a distributor of electronic parts and a consultant in the use of microprocessor technologies, but over time it emerged as a PC manufacturer. Acer began its foray into laptops with the purchase of Texas Instruments' mobile PC division in 1997.In 2000, Acer spun off its manufacturing operations as Wistron Corporation, to focus on marketing of their core brand. Acer increased worldwide sales while simultaneously reducing its labor force by identifying and using marketing strategies that best utilized their existing distribution channels. By 2005, Acer employed a scant 7,800 people worldwide. Revenues rose from US$4.9 billion in 2003 to US$11.31 billion in 2006. Acer's North American market share has slipped over the past few years, while in contrast, the company's European market share has risen.On 27 August 2007, Acer announced plans to acquire its US-based rival Gateway Inc. for US$710 million. Acer's chairman, J.T. Wang, stated that the acquisition "completes Acer's global footprint, by strengthening our United States presence." In January 2008, Acer announced that it had acquired a controlling interest of 75% of Packard Bell.In 2009 Acer acquired: Eten (aziend), eMachines and 29.9% of Olidata. Operations AustraliaThe Australian subsidiary of Acer is Acer Computer Australia (ACA). The subsidiary was established in 1990, and is currently Australia's third largest personal computer vendor, behind Hewlett-Packard Australia and Dell Australia and New Zealand. Acer Computer Australia has Australia's highest overall market share in notebook PC and tablet PC sales. The company is also Australia's leading PC vendor in government and education markets. Acer Computer Australia has 48 0 employees as of 2006. IndiaAcer's subsidiary in India is Acer India (Pvt) Limited, and was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Acer Computer International, Ltd. in 1999. It is a notable vendor in key segments such as education, desktop computers and low profile notebooks for education purposes. Its headquarters are in Bangalore, India. Europe, Middle East and AfricaAcer sells laptops in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. North AmericaAcer America Corporation, headquartered in San Jose, California, is a member of the Acer Group. Acer's R&D, engineering, manufacturing and marketing operations in the United States and Canada are handled by Acer America. In September 1990, Acer acquired Altos Computer Systems, one of the top manufacturers of multi-user and networked UNIX computer systems for commercial markets. In February 1997, Acer acquired Texas Instruments Mobile Computing business, including the award-winning TravelMate and Extensa notebook lines, making Acer the fourth-leading notebook manufacturer in the United States. Acer America's Canadian office, in Mississauga, Ontario, handles repair of Acer, Gateway, and E-Machine Notebooks and Desktop PCs for Eastern Canada. The repair facility in Temple, Texas handles many service oriented functions for North America. Acer owns Gateway, eMachines and Packard Bell brands in North America. Acer and LinuxAcer has stated that it will be pushing Linux aggressively on its new laptops and notebooks. They are already heavily promoting Linux for its low cost netbook range put out in late 2008, but senior staff have said that Acer will also push Linux on its laptops as well. Acer has already started selling Linux in its Media PC business. Linux support for older Acer laptops is still variable due to the use of a variety of unsupported chipsets.[citation needed] ProductsAcer Aspire 5600 NotebookAcer Aspire 3610 NotebookAcer Aspire 5520 NotebookAcer Aspire 4520 NotebookAcer Aspire OneD esktopsAcer Aspire seriesAcer Predator seriesAcer Veriton seriesNotebooksAcer TravelMate seriesAcer Gemstone seriesTablet PC seriesAcer Aspire seriesAcer Aspire Timeline seriesAcer Extensa seriesAcer Ferrari series (CPUs: Mobile AMD Turion 64)NetbookAspire OneFerrari OneNettopAspireRevoPersonal digital assistantsS Series of Palm OS PDAsAcer N SeriesAutomotive navigation systemsAcer e300 series Travel Companion, with Destinator and NAVTEQ maps.Servers and storageAcer Altos seriesWorkstationsAcer PICAComputer displaysDLP ProjectorsMobile phonesAcer LiquidAcer NeoTouchOtherDigital camerasLCD TVs BrandsAcereMachinesGatewayPackard BellE-TEN Sports AdvertisingAcer sponsored the BAR-Honda Formula One racing team in the year 2000. In 2001, Acer provided sponsorship to the Prost Grand Prix Formula One team, and the team's Ferrari engines were badged as Acers.Acer currently sponsors the Ferrari Formula 1 team. In 2003 Acer signed a Gold Partner sponsorship deal with FC Internazionale Milano (Inter Milan) Football Club. From January 2007, Acer has become Official Supplier of FC Barcelona. On 19 March 2007, Acer announced that they will sponsor the Factory Fiat Yamaha Team for the 2007 MotoGP World Championship season. From 2009, Packard Bell (a subsidiary of Acer) will be the sponsor of Fiat Yamaha MotoGP.Acer will be listed among the Worldwide TOP Partners for both the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and for the London 2012 Summer Olympics. Other AdvertisingAcer Arena, at Sydney Olympic Park, NSW, is the largest indoor live entertainment and sporting arena in Australia. It was formerly named the Sydney Superdome.Designed and constructed by Abigroup Ltd in conjunction with Obayashi Corporation, the venue is acknowledged by experts as equal to the finest indoor arenas in the world today.One of the major venues for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Acer Arena hosted artistic gymnastics, trampoline, the basketball finals and wheelchair basket ball.The $200 millon complex was designed and constructed to set new benchmarks in urban design, access for people with disabilities, spectator comfort, operation efficiency and Olympic serviceability.The project comprises three subsites:Acer Arena, a 21,000 seat fully enclosed arena built under a 'Build, Own, Operate & Transfer' (B.O.O.T.) contract: $190 millon3400 space car park designed for high volume traffice entry and egress under a design and construct contract: $25 millionPlaza and external works covering over 32,000m2 under a management contract then converted to a lump sum: $25 millionAcer Arena was designed and constructed with very high environmental values and was awarded the prestigious national Banksia Award for Construction Practices in 1999.Officially opened by the former Premier of NSW, Bob Carr, in November 1999 with a gala performance by Luciano Pavarotti, Acer Arena has hosted events including Supercross, tennis, rock concerts, arena musicals, religious services, school spectaculars and banquets. See alsoMicroprofessor I Acer's first productBenQ formerly Acer CMALi formerly Acer Laboratories IncorporatedAOpen formerly AcerOpenACC (computer company)List of computer system manufacturersList of companies in TaiwaneMachinesGatewayPackard BellE-TENETEN operation systemLinpus Linux References^ "Acer, second largest PC manufacturer in the World". Gartner. January 13, 2010. /it/page.jsp?id=1279215. Retrieved 26 November 2009.^ "About Acer Milestones". Acer. /about/milestones.htm. Retrieved 7 July 2007.^ "Gianfranco Lanci is appointed President of Acer Inc., effective January 2005" (PDF). Acer. 1 September 2004. /press/New_President.pdf. Retrieved 27 April 2007.^ "PC market surged in 2005, will settle in 2006". cnet. 18 January 2006. /PC+market+surged+in+2005,+will+settle+in+2006/2100-1003_3-6028454.html. Retrieved 7 July 2007.^ 6:00 p.m. ET (27 August 2007). "Taiwan's Acer to buy PC maker Gateway - World business - MSNBC.com". MSNB C. /id/20458321/. Retrieved 7 April 2009.^ "Acer Buys 75 Percent of Packard Bell making it the 2nd largest computer maker in the world". Washington Post. /wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013101390.html. Retrieved 7 April 2009.^ "Acer bets big on Linux". Vnunet. 4 June 2008. /vnunet/news/2218172/acer-pushes-linux-hard. Retrieved 31 July 2008.^ /timeline/home.html^ Products & Services PDA[dead link]^ About Acer News Release[dead link]^ About Acer News Release[dead link]^ "02.02.2009 Packard Bell sponsor of Yamaha Factory Racing Team: Changeover of sponsorship from Acer" (PDF). /NR/rdonlyres/841AAED9-A03E-43F4-812F-0B76FE4F387D/1061/pb_yamaha_sponsorship.pdf. Retrieved 7 April 2009. External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to: Acer computersCompanies portalOfficial websiteGatewayPackard BelleMachinesGlofiishE-TENLinpus Linux Categories: Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange | Companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange | Acer Incorporated | Companies established in 1976 | Computer hardware companies | Electronics companies of Taiwan | Portable audio player manufacturers | Taiwan brands | Display technology companiesHidden categories: All articles with dead external links | Articles with dead external links from April 2009 | Articles containing traditional Chinese language text | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from November 2008 | Portal:Companies/Total | Netbook manufacturers