Acer, one of the world’s leading technology brands known for PCs, gaming solutions, and smart devices, continues to expand its footprint in India through innovation and strategic growth. In an exclusive interaction with DT, Sanjeev Mehtani, Chief Sales Officer, Acer India, shares insights into the company's strong performance, product roadmap, channel-first growth strategy and much more. He also highlights how innovation, partnerships, and localization are shaping Acer’s next phase of growth.
Q: Please tell us about your overall business performance in 2025. What have been the most significant factors driving the company’s growth?
A: In 2025, we delivered strong, well-balanced growth driven by focused execution and strategic expansion. A key highlight has been our accelerated retail expansion, strengthening our presence across key markets and deepening customer engagement through exclusive stores and stronger channel partnerships.
Product expansion has also played a critical role. We broadened our portfolio across mainstream, gaming, and creator segments while making significant progress in AI PCs, responding to rising demand for smarter, productivity-driven computing experiences. These AI-powered devices are positioning us well for the next wave of innovation.
Additionally, the continued growth of Acerpure has helped us diversify beyond core IT hardware, expanding into lifestyle and consumer appliance categories. Together, retail scale, product innovation, AI leadership, and business diversification have been the key drivers of our performance in 2025.
The trust of Channel Partners in the Brand has been one of the major strengths that helps in driving this growth.
Q: With AI becoming central to innovation, what does your 2026 product roadmap look like, particularly in terms of AI-powered advancements?
A: As we look ahead to 2026, AI will be at the core of our innovation strategy at Acer. Our product roadmap is centred around expanding our AI PC portfolio across mainstream, gaming, and commercial segments, ensuring that intelligent computing becomes accessible to a wider range of users. We are focused on delivering devices with enhanced on-device AI capabilities that improve productivity, personalization, security, and power efficiency.
In 2026, we will further optimize hardware-software integration to unlock real-time AI experiences. We also see strong potential in enterprise-focused AI solutions, where intelligent device management, predictive maintenance, and enhanced data security will play a bigger role.
Beyond PCs, AI will extend into our broader ecosystem, including smart lifestyle products under Acerpure, enabling more connected and intuitive user experiences. Overall, 2026 will be about scaling AI meaningfully, not just as a feature, but as a foundational layer across our entire product portfolio.
Q: What concrete steps are you taking to further strengthen partner engagement and long-term channel collaboration?
A: Strengthening partner engagement remains a top priority for us, as we firmly believe that long-term growth is built on strong channel relationships. In 2026, we are deepening collaboration through more structured partner programs that focus on profitability, capability building, and shared business planning.
We are investing in regular training initiatives to equip our partners with stronger knowledge around AI PCs, gaming portfolios, and emerging categories, enabling them to confidently position next-generation solutions. At the same time, we are enhancing incentive frameworks and reward programs to ensure sustained motivation and mutual growth. Another key step is improving supply chain visibility and faster turnaround times, supported by our expanded local manufacturing footprint. We are also leveraging data-driven insights to help partners with demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and localized marketing initiatives.
Ultimately, our approach is centered on transparency, consistent communication, and long-term value creation, ensuring that our partners grow alongside us as we expand into new technologies and markets.
We have created two main Channel Engagement events, “Pinnacle” and “True Green,” apart from the regular partner engagements, where partners across the country can engage with senior management to give their suggestions.
Q: How is your organization supporting the Make in India initiative, and what role does localization play in your future growth plans?
A: India has long been a key manufacturing hub for us, and our commitment to the Make in India initiative is both strategic and longstanding. We have been manufacturing in India for several years across desktops, all-in-one PCs, monitors, and laptops, steadily increasing local production in line with government initiatives.
A recent milestone in this journey is the expansion of our manufacturing capabilities in Puducherry in partnership with Plumage Technology under the PLI scheme for IT hardware. This strengthens our domestic production capacity, enhances supply chain agility, and reduces time-to-market. We are going one step further to ensure the supply chain by starting the manufacturing capability at different locations.
For us, localization goes beyond assembly; it includes increasing local value addition, deepening supplier partnerships, and tailoring products to Indian consumers and enterprises. As India continues to be a critical growth market, expanding local manufacturing and building a resilient ecosystem will remain central to our long-term strategy.
Q: What are your top strategic priorities for 2026 across revenue, expansion, and market positioning?
A: Our priorities for 2026 are centered on profitable growth, deeper market penetration, and strengthening our position as a future-ready technology brand. From a revenue standpoint, our focus is on driving higher value through premiumization, expanding our AI PC portfolio, and accelerating growth in gaming and commercial segments. We aim to balance volume growth with healthier margins by strengthening our product mix and operational efficiency.
Expansion will remain a key pillar. We plan to further scale our retail footprint across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities while deepening enterprise and government engagement. At the same time, we will continue strengthening local manufacturing capabilities in India to enhance agility and competitiveness. For us, the key is to have consistent engagement with the channel, getting the share from the existing channel that is engaged with us.
From a market positioning perspective, 2026 will be about reinforcing Acer as an AI-led, innovation-driven brand. This includes expanding our ecosystem approach, spanning mainstream PCs, gaming portfolio, and lifestyle solutions through Acerpure, while delivering consistent value to customers and partners. Our overall objective is clear: sustainable, diversified growth with stronger brand equity across segments.
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