Mr.Harish Kohli,President &Managing Director,Acer India
Acer India is one of the most renowned names in the field of technology and electronic gadgets. With promising products and innovation in technology, Acer needs no introduction. Acer has global footprints, and its popularity is rapidly growing with every passing year. Acer India was incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Acer Inc. on 9th September 1999. Acer's mission in India is to translate the Group's goal of making computer technology easier to use and more affordable - to everyone across the country.
With a focused customer-centric approach, Acer in India is offering an unmatched range of products and a vast network of service points to continuously lower the barriers that limit access to technology. Believing that stable leadership is a testimony of trust & consistency in ‘people management’ practices, Acer has successfully been certified as “Great Place to Work” by “Great Place to Work® Institute”, India in the year 2019 – 2020 and 2018 -19. Their work culture inspires people to grow and build a long-term association. Acer is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Acer is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or another legally protected status. Acer believes strongly in its employees and gives the best environment to work within.
About the Products
Acer has enormous setup, and it is well-established in the market. It has a wide range of products with responsive customer support. Acer always tries to give the best customer experience and keeps trying to add value to your technical requirements.
Acer's product offerings include PCs, laptops, gaming devices and accessories, displays, projectors, servers, tablets, and wearables. The company is also developing cloud solutions to bring together the Internet of Things. With a partner network of over 2500+ channel partners and 100+ exclusive stores in over 400+ cities and towns and a network of over 195 Acer Customer Service Centres present across India, Acer India aims to reach out to its customers across consumer categories in the most effective manner. Acer products are also available across all major technology multi-brand, Acer E-store, e-commerce sites across India.
‘To get going’ is a habit, not a task
Acer was one of the first few companies to realize the importance of transforming itself into a technology-first business. The basic premise of the company is to create meaningful innovations – beyond just creating new technologies and solutions which enable consumers and enterprises to do more, do better and do fast in a simple but powerful manner. Acer has moved beyond just being a computing-only brand. Acer is proud to be leading the smart technology innovations built to improve the world of business. It is no longer enough for a PC company to just make PCs. They have evolved beyond their capabilities that include our path-breaking products with innovative technologies like advanced cooling solutions, ergonomic design technology like Ezel hinge, MIL-Std tough PCs, complete display solutions, cloud, IoT, etc. For instance, their idea of ConceptD is a fresh approach to computing that overcomes the barriers between people and technology and enables creators to unleash their full potential. Apart from this, their strategy of ‘progressive design’ is constantly bringing to life bleeding-edge engineering and design powered by R&D that resonates with changing consumer behaviours. It is not merely about making things different, but about setting new benchmarks and breaking new ground. Acer believes that technology is changing the way millennials learn, so their offers are designed in a way that will help their customers buy, own, and enjoy working on a PC with user experience like never before.
The man who raised the bar- Harish Kohli
Harish Kohli is an Acer India veteran, with over 20 years in the company. He joined Acer as General Manager - Sales in July 1999 and later empowered with the leadership of the India Sales & Marketing function for the erstwhile Enterprise Product division, and successfully built Acer India’s portfolio in all market segments. Mr. Harish Kohli has been influential in building Acer’s consumer business, where he has been heading the Acer ‘Pan Asia Pacific (PAP) Regional Commercial Task Team’ which handles commercial strategy planning and implementation for the PAP region. A technology industry veteran with a proven track record in driving sustainable growth for organizations, Harish has rich experience in building and scaling businesses. He has been instrumental in charting Acer business growth by laying a strong foundation across Commercial and Consumer business over the last 20 years. He brings with him a go-to-market experience to ensure the continued growth momentum of Acer’s business across the region.
During his tenure, Harish led the expansion of Acer into a full-service technology brand, monitoring market Intelligence and formulating and implementing necessary policies. Under his leadership, Acer has built strong associations with its channel partners and customers to increase its brand presence across the length and breadth of the country.
Milestones are the results of a challenging journey with the changing world
In the last 20 years, Acer has achieved a strong presence in the consumer, SOHO, education, government, BFSI, and large corporates segment. The company is fast growing its presence in the SMB segment.
Acer has put in place a robust channel strategy to accelerate growth and strengthening its partnership as well as customer outreach program with intensive engagement programs. It has forged strong partnerships with all the large format retail stores, with an aim at increasing Acer's brand presence in Tier II and III locations. Acer has a robust distribution network comprising Acer Malls and Acer Points, Acer E-store, and is planning to expand it even further. Also, to keep pace with the dramatic changes in the IT landscape, Acer India has been investing significantly in training for their store sales team and easy-ownership schemes for customers.
Lately, gaming has been a huge focus area for the technology industry. Acer is reinventing gaming with the help of technology by launching a new range of Predator series gaming devices in India. They are also taking the lead in producing laptops for creators and have unveiled a completely new product line, aimed specifically for creative content creators- ConceptD. It is a must-have product with top-performing technology that undoubtedly fulfils and enhance the life's work of creators.
Acer is also providing customers with a hands-on experience of their devices designed to help people get more done, have fun, play hard, get smart and stay in touch with others – effortlessly, within the context of the essential aspects of life which the products seek to improve: Productivity, Entertainment, Gaming, and Education.
Quality holds the Crown
When asked about the importance of quality standards, Acer India said,” With so many alternatives available to customers, you may be unsure whether or not quality still matters. The answer is a definite “yes,” and quality isn’t just about offering a product or service that surpasses the standard, but also about the reputation you gain for consistently delivering a customer experience that is “above and beyond.” Managing quality is crucial for a business like ours. Acer is focused on satisfying our customers and stakeholders by providing superior quality products, services, and solutions. Our dedication to quality is essential to fulfilling that promise and a basic component of our company culture.”
Acer leaders are accountable for establishing measurable objectives and drive continuous improvement actions across our customer-centric quality and business processes. Acer has become synonymous with making bold and unconventional bets, often charting the course of the broader technology ecosystem. Acer’s passion for innovation and customer-centricity has taken the company to unprecedented levels, and the company is well poised to change growth orbits and venture into new horizons.
Business Strategy as per current scenario (COVID-19)
Acer India says, “As a leading PC brand, our top priority is supporting our customers and channel partners. In these rare situations, we have put in the time, learned what we needed to, and pushed ourselves to transform and navigate the disruption and thrive in the new normal. Acer wants to ensure our customers continue to have access to our services and the products they need to carry on with their work, study, or keep in touch with their loved ones. Acer remains watchful to the world economic situation and ready to adjust its operating strategies to changing circumstances. We have also witnessed a surge in e-learning or Learning from home. To cater to this rising demand, we have associated with leading educational service providers in the country to ensure that teachers and students can pursue their online learning through our wide range of laptops and tablets. As a leading technology brand, we want to play a critical role in the digital transformation of our customers”.
Having enormous popularity and being a senior brand in the market adds to the expectations from Acer to overcome the challenges of this pandemic. Acer with its years of experience is well-equipped with the strategy to provide the best technologies to everyone in need. Acer has products that make ‘work from home’ easy for every individual in this situation. And not limiting to this, Acer is on the continuous wheel of innovation, to serve you the best.
A peek into the future
A quote from Abraham Lincoln states, “The best way to predict your future is to create it”. And that is what Acer India is good at, to create a future that is full of innovations. Acer India has a lot to do than to say about their futuristic plans.
When asked about their future series- ConceptD, Acer India said,” We always believe in innovating ourselves at every step. We are certain that FY 2020 is going to be a big year for us. Having established in India as a market for gaming, we are venturing out and have identified the next big market for creators through our ConceptD series. This product primarily targets the Designers, Engineers, Developers, and Artists; who often look for technological breakthroughs. We continue to dominate the Gaming and lifestyle segment with our Thin & Light Series that will help us achieve our business goals.”
When asked about their future proceedings, they added, “We are establishing the bar high and projecting a slew of innovations in our product line, especially in the enterprise considering the changing business strategies. Looking at the rising demand for WFH and Online learning space during this pandemic, we are noticing a need for IT products to rearrange the requirements in this space. To address the immediate task of keeping the workforce functional with minimum losses in productivity, Acer India has launched a few products like Veriton N and Acer One 14 laptop and desktop. While Veriton N is designed especially for Small-Medium Businesses and Enterprises to assist in the digital transformation that fits behind a monitor easily, saving space and giving a clean work desk. Acer One 14 is an affordable commercial laptop that designed especially for Educational Institutes and Enterprises. These products will not only help to upgrade IT infrastructure at an affordable cost but also will help to deliver a smoother, more responsive, and fast computing experience. Also, we are planning to bundle PCs with our range of computer servers to boost sales, as well as focus on monitors and projectors. Acer Altos servers harness the power and reliability of Intel® Xeon® processors to deliver maximum performance in a form factor that is perfect for every enterprise's needs. We will continue to innovate products keeping in mind enterprise requirements to support industry predictions for the upcoming months. Amidst all this, our key focus is to continue to strengthen our gaming vertical since the current Indian gaming industry is booming, and this segment is a growth driver for us. Our Predator series of PCs for professional gamers, Nitro series of PCs for everyday gamers, and Aspire series of PCs for casual gamers will help us ride the demand wave & lead our unit sales to grow upward direction. We will be continuing to launch products that are unique to the market. Also, we are looking at adding more partners across India who can help and support us in our journey to become the top technology brand. We have always relied deeply on our channel partners for engaging with our potential and already existing customers.”
Acer has always been a technology player that has introduced the world to newer technology and will identify micro-trends in technology that has the potential to open up a blue ocean of opportunities.
