Acer foresees 100 percent growth in online sales in 2008

"The online evolution is much more aggressive, compared to the classic retail," Acer Romania's Sales Manager, Bogdan Ifemie, told Business Standard. The company sold some 14,000 notebooks online in 2007, of which 6,500 were sold through eMAG, the largest local online store.

According to portable computer importers in Romania, the growth in online sales is due to lower prices and the existence of increasingly more wireless internet areas. Plus, more companies have "mobile employees", who work at home, and for whom employers buy notebooks.

Furthermore, the number of companies that resort to e-commerce is increasing. "The focus on prices is higher and, as long as a company knows its needs and does not require further services, goes to online retailers," Iftemie said.

Some 70 percent of Acer's sales in Romania are made of notebooks, while 25 percent are made of LCD monitors and the remainder 5 percent, of projectors sales.

Specialists in the field estimate the notebook market will amount to €300 million in 2008 and some 500,000 units, double year-on-year.