An Acer Inc product on display in Beijing on Monday. The company expects 30 percent year-on-year growth in 2012. [Photo/China Daily]

The Taiwan-based personal computer maker Acer Inc will double its number of stores in lower-tier mainland cities to 3,000 within three years to compete with local PC giant Lenovo Group Ltd, and expects 30 percent year-on-year growth in 2012, Acer Group Vice-President Scott Lin said on Monday.

According to US-based IT research company IDC, Acer overtook its US competitors Hewlett-Packard Corp and Dell Inc by grabbing a 9.5 percent share of the mainland market in the first quarter of 2012, up from 3.3 percent in 2009.

In order to compete with Lenovo, the largest local PC company, Acer will open about 400 stores in the mainland's smaller cities annually, "and our target is to double the number from the current 1,600 within three years", said Lin.

Starting from this year, the company will place greater emphasis on the new generation ultrabook laptop and the mainland's large rural areas.

"Last year our sales revenue in China was $2.3 billion, compared with $790 million in 2009," said Lin.

In 2010, the company signed a cooperation contract with PC maker Founder Technology Group Corp, using the company's brand name and mainland distribution channels to increase Acer's sales and channels.

"The addition of Founder gives Acer very strong support to extend our business into the education and public PC segments, in which Acer had very little share compared with our consumer PC sector," said Lin.

However, the company's main rival Lenovo still leads in the mainland with a market share of around 35 percent.

"Our business will keep on growing in China and overseas markets," Milko Van Duijl, Lenovo's senior vice-president, said last week.

"Lenovo is expected to become the largest PC maker globally within one year," he added.

"In some rural areas, Lenovo has a more than 50 percent market share. Acer will use Founder's sales channels in those places to compete with it," said an Acer statement.

Both of the companies have invested heavily in ultrabook products.

"China accounts for about 45 percent of global ultrabook sales," Yang Yuanqing, CEO and president of Lenovo, said last week.

"Lenovo's ultrabook Yoga will be introduced to the Chinese market this year and its market share is expected to reach 30 percent by the end of this year."

Lin said that Acer will introduce more ultrabooks this year to cater to different customer groups.

Shipments of ultrabooks will hit 30 million units this year, said Kitty Fok, vice-president of IDC Asia-Pacific.

"It cannot replace traditional PCs and laptops, but will have a boost because of Microsoft Corp's new operating system Windows 8," she said.

Lenovo's global sales revenue last year was around $20 billion, while Acer's was $15.7 billion.

tuoyannan@chinadaily.com.cn