Asus, Acer Hint at Possible Merger Talk
China Times reports that a possible merger between Acer and Asus, the "double A" in the Asian press, could happen in the future. The news arrives by way of Asus Chairman Johnny Shih who answered a question about a merger of the two companies, stating that while the industry is going through a transition period, companies should keep "an open mind" about these possibilities.
Mergers and acquisitions are the latest fashion trend in the electronics industry as of late, with Google scooping up Motorola Mobility and Microsoft buying Nokia's Devices and Services division. Typically, the Asus Chairman talks about organic growth within the company, but now he may feel more compelled to reach outside the box for ways to bolster the company's portfolio of products.
Acer founder Stan Shih also chimed in on the question, stressing that for any acquisition/merger to happen, both parties must examine the deal thoroughly. The deal must provide maximum benefits to all relevant stakeholders for both companies, including employees and shareholders. The companies must also determine how a merger/acquisition will affect the industry and consumers. If such a move will create a greater value in Acer, the company would agree. If not, then Acer would reject the offer and continue on as usual.
What's interesting here is that both Shihs are not dismissing questions in the typical "we don't comment on speculation" executive manner, but are openly talking about the possibility. That said, where would Acer's lineup of hardware and devices fit within the Asus portfolio? Acer seemingly focuses on the more mainstream consumer market with tablets, desktops, AIOs and notebooks, whereas Asus is more on the high-end market while also offering motherboards, graphics cards, sound cards and more.
If anything, the merger/acquisition could mean Acer would have access to premium hardware manufactured by Asus, whereas Asus would have access to Acer's highly popular Chromebook line. Of course, all this is mere jabber at this point, but shareholders are reportedly interested in such a transaction, as Asus shares rose 1.69 percent and Acer shares rose 0.5 percent after the China Times article was published.
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Oddly enough I turned to Asrock (I know ironic) and they've been great
Acer used to be very good, they've gone way downhill since I had my first Acer laptop in 2008, and I am on my second laptop -- I have owned a Lenovo IdeaPad, as well as an ASUS laptop too; but my main computer is my desktop -- and posting questions on Acer's community forums go unanswered unless the people who are paid to answer questions like you, and they only seem to answer certain people now. I may get an ASUS laptop again and sell this Acer one.
I've had similar troubles with Asus at times.
I also had a similar issue with a DFI Lanparty NF4 board... I ended up replacing it with a less expensive Epox NF4 board - and it was absolutely rock solid. With the DFI I went through several BIOS updates (including beta ones) it was never completely stable at stock speeds. Crashed at least once a day whether under a load or not. The Epox board is still functional in a secondary machine, still works great and has been rock solid for its long career.
Asus and Lenovo? Lenovo is the same junk as Acer or worse at times, their low-end offerings disgust me, the ONLY good thing about Lenovo are their ThinkPad keyboards and *nothing* else. I wish that they, along with HP, Acer, Gateway, eMachines and all other low-quality brands would crumble to dust - sadly, that would severely reduce the competition and mess up the market. But at least don't have any of them merge with Asus! There is NOTHING Asus would get from that deal! Acer has no production lines, no [significant] IP, no significant product series (their junk gets phased out in favor of newer junk quicker than you learn all of their horrible naming conventions). Asus has their own production, ought to have some interesting IP AND a ton of significant products - their motherboards, their networking, their ROG laptops...
If Asus knows what's good for them, they won't do it. They are JUST starting to become well-known (it's their own fault for not advertising enough for so long) and they can NOT afford to taint their brand name with low quality of Acer. Buy their stock, do some other stuff, but DO NOT MERGE.