Acer, the Taiwanese PC giant that grew through purchases and its commitment to laptops

The incredible progress in the world of technology in recent decades has allowed for several incredible stories, with companies that were born in garages and with small investments that today are among the most valuable in the world, as happened to Apple.

One of them began in 1976 as a small computer company created by a Taiwanese businessman and his wife with an investment of $25,000, but today it has become one of the largest companies in its sector.

It is the case of Acer, one of the largest manufacturers of technological devices in the worldespecially known for being one of the leading laptop and desktop brands for decades.

I will tell you below everything you need to know about Acer:

What is Acer, where is it from and how much does it sell?

Acer is a technology multinational that is among the largest device manufacturers in the world and currently operates in 160 countries and has 7,700 employees.

The company has its Headquarters in Taipei, the capital of Taiwanthe same country from which other computer manufacturers such as Asus come. It is a hyperindustrialized region since the end of the 20th century that also dominates other sectors such as semiconductors, with TSMC.

Acer has been one of the main brands in computer sales worldwide for three decades. Currently, It is between fifth and sixth positionin which it competes with the also Taiwanese Asus.

Although in the total count of 2023 it was sixth, in the second quarter of 2024 Acer was fifth in sales, with 4.4 million computer units sold worldwide, which represents 6.8% of the total market, according to the data from IDC analyst.

Acer lags behind the four leading brands today: Lenovo, H.P., Dell and Apple. It has come to occupy higher positions, since in 2009 it became the second PC brand in volume, only behind Lenovo.

Acer History

Acer was born in 1976 in Taiwan. Its founder is electronic engineer Shih Chen Jung, or Stan Shih according to its westernized name. In total, he started with a team of 11 workers that included Shih and his wife, and started with an investment of $25,000.

The company was initially called Multitech and was initially dedicated to the distribution of electronic components until 1981 when it decided on hardware and launched its first product, the Micro-Professor MPF-I, which was used to teach computer language. This product was so successful that IBM decided to collaborate on subsequent versions.

In 1987, the company adopted the name Acer, which means maple in Latin.. Its board wanted to choose a name that would be understandable to all educated people in the world, since the maple is one of the trees that is present in the most different regions of the world.

Acer began manufacturing its devices directly in this first stage, because it also controlled the manufacturing process. Until 2000, after a restructuring in which its business was divided into five different companies, Acer divested itself of its manufacturing unit—which continues to operate under the Winstrom name—and focused on the design and sales of its products.

The company’s growth strategy has been based above all on two pillars: it was one of the companies that benefited most from the growth of the laptop computer category since the beginning of the 19th century and He bought other companies that helped him expand his business.

Among the main acquisitions in Acer’s history are: the Texas Instruments laptop division, in 1998; that of the American brand specialized in desktop computers Gateway, in 2007; and the Dutch Packard Bell, specialized in laptops and owned by Acer since 2008.

All Acer computer models

Acer has a wide catalog of computers that covers all ranges and is also aimed at all types of users, both in laptop and desktop PC formats.

One of Acer’s large product families is predatorits series of gaming computers, which was born in 2008 and focuses on providing the highest possible performance in video games. Initially, it only had desktop computers, but it has evolved to add laptops, tablets and accessories.

Another of Acer’s main PC families is Nitroalso gaming computers and more aimed at providing good performance in video games at a lower cost than Predator. It has both laptops and desktop PCs.

In the more general user market, Acer has the Aspire familywhich was born in 1999 and seeks to convince users who want a practical computer for everyday use. Acer Aspire has both desktop computers and all-in-one models that incorporate a screen, as well as laptops.

Within a generalist approach, the Taiwanese brand also has the Swift seriescomposed of laptops with ultralight format to do things quickly, with chips Intel, amd or Snapdragon with Copilot+.

Acer also has computers for professionals. Within your family TravelMateoffers lightweight, durable laptops designed to adapt to hybrid work and learning. Another series for professional use are laptops Extensivedesigned for small businesses, while the family Enduro It is made up of rugged laptops with military resistance.

The Taiwanese brand also has the ConceptD familyone of the most recent, with computers that are aimed especially at creative professionals and that includes both laptops and desktops. To this is added Acer Veroa product line focused on sustainability, with post-consumer recycled plastic among other functions.

In addition, Acer also sells: Veriton series desktop computers; computers Chromebookwith Chrome OS operating system from Google, which include both laptops and desktops — called Chromebox—.

Other Acer products

In addition to computers, Acer offers a variety of products that it also sells under its brand.

An example are the projectorswith several different models within the Acer brand and its Predator gaming sub-brand, as well as the monitorswith a wide range that covers families such as classics, gaming, for creatives, professionals and even the sustainable Vero.

The Taiwanese brand also sells computer accessories such as mice, keyboards, adapters, cables, bags and cases, as well as components including graphics cards. amd either Nvidia.

In addition, Acer manufactures electric scooters and bicycles to further complete its already extensive product catalog.

How to take screenshots on Acer

If you like take a screenshot on an Acer computerthe procedure is practically the same as in the rest of the brands, but just in case I tell you about it below.

In computer models in which the key Print Screen, or ImpSantthe process is much simpler:

• If you just press ImpSant, the content of the entire screen will be saved to the clipboard, so you can later paste it directly wherever you want, just like in Paint.
• To directly obtain a file with the screenshot, press the keys of Windows and ImpPant. It will be saved to the screenshots folder on your computer, located in This PC > Pictures.

However, there are some computer models, especially Acer laptops with a more ultralight format, that do not have the Print Screen key on their keyboards. But don’t worry, because there are other ways to take screenshots on these devices.

The simplest is using the Windows Snipping Toolwhich you can find in the Windows search box. Once in the app, select the type of screenshot you want to take: rectangular crop, freeform crop, window crop, or full screen crop.

In some of these cases you can select the area of ​​the screen you want to capture. Then, save the capture by exporting or copying it with Ctrl + V in Paint or other applications.

How to format an Acer PC

There are some situations in which the computer has many critical errors, takes a long time to boot, and antivirus or cleaners are not able to solve the problem. In all these cases, format hard drive from the computer may be advisable.

The first thing you should always do is save the information that you have saved on the hard drive and that you want to keep, making an external backup or in the cloud. You can also copy the browser’s favorites, which store a lot of useful information for everyday life, as well as documents and files.

Make sure your Acer computer is charged to prevent it from turning off, as formatting uses a lot of battery, or if possible keep it connected to the power.

Look for the Acer eRecovery Management applicationpre-installed on the brand’s equipment. This program allows you to restore the operating system to factory settings or perform a restore in which the data is saved to C:/Backup. However, persistent viruses and malicious software will not be removed.

If you cannot find Acer eRecovery Management, you can do the same process by restarting the computer, and when the Acer logo is displayed when it turns on again, press the Alt and F10 keys at the same time until the screen appears.

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