Acer to buy Packard Bell?

 

Gallery

By Barry Collins

Posted on 24 Jul 2007 at 10:03

Taiwanese PC maker is set to continue its rapid expansion with the purchase of Packard Bell, according to reports.

Acer, currently the world's fourth biggest PC maker and one of the fastest growing companies in the market, is close to tying up a deal for the European PC maker, according to reports in the Taipei Times.

"We can't offer comments on the matter," Henry Wang, senior public relations director at Acer, told the Times. "There may be some changes going on in the deal. We can't guarantee when exactly we will be able to announce the details."

If completed, the deal would give Acer a stronger presence in the UK consumer market, with Packard Bell a familiar name in high-street chains across the country.

The proposed deal comes a day after Acer's president, Gianfrano Lanci, launched a scathing attack on Windows Vista. "The whole industry is disappointed with Windows Vista," he told the Financial Times Deutschland, claiming that many Acer customers had requested XP rather than Vista when buying new PCs.