ALKHOBAR — Hot on the heels of unveiling the TravelMate 611 in Dubai, Acer Computer Middle East’s Managing Director Eric Tien made his first visit to Saudi Arabia.
The TravelMate 611 TXC boasts the world’s first DVD/CD-RW combo drive in the 14-inch class, smart card security, and leading Intel-based performance, ensuring that Middle East users benefit from high-performance mobile computing technology, regardless of location.
The TM 611 built-in Smart Card enables users to lock the system against unauthorized access, as well as encrypt and decrypt files stored in the system. Users will find themselves at the forefront of the e-commerce revolution, as Smart Cards will offer convenience and protection for sensitive online operations, such as home banking and e-commerce applications.
“Our new notebook is the ideal productivity tool for the region’s managers and specialists wanting to stay on top of their work. Acer has always supported the region with best-of-breed, cutting-edge portable computing technology, and the new TM 611 best represents this aim,” said Tien.
Measuring just 24.5 mm in width and weighing as little as two kilograms, the TravelMate 611 is thin and light enough to be carried throughout a full day of business functions. The slim battery lasts 2.5 hours between charges, while an optional second battery module fitted into the AcerMedia Bay provides an outstanding five-hour mobile range.
The TravelMate 611’s integrated AcerMedia Bay offers great flexibility, supporting a range of hot swappable modules, including the built-in DVD/CD-RW combo drive, which allows a user to watch DVD movies and transfer data to a CD on the same drive. Furthermore, the large 20GB capacity hard drive provides generous internal storage, while a USB-connected floppy disk drive module is available for those who require its use.
Since connectivity is key for most business users, the TravelMate 611 packs features that enable communication in a range of environments. These include a state-of-the-art integrated wireless LAN, as well as an internal 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet connection. In addition, the built-in international data/fax modem means users can safely connect to a phone line from anywhere.
Users’ performance requirements are met with the latest Intel Mobile Pentium III 850 MHz processor, featuring Intel SpeedStep technology for extended battery life. And with the Intel 815EM chipset providing embedded video and audio, along with memory that’s upgradeable to 512MB, users have a system that powers all of today’s business applications, while providing future scalability.
What did Tien think of Saudi Arabia after his first visit? “Well, the common perception of Saudi Arabia is of a hot, arid, barren land with a few oases,” he explained. “Such ideas were quickly dispelled after I landed in Riyadh and found a huge and very modern country with positive energy and great potential. The only heat I experienced was of what this great market has to offer.”
Tien continued, “My visit to our channel partners as well as key corporate clients made me confident about the promising future this largest market in the Gulf holds, particularly the educational sector. The government support to this area is overwhelming which indicates a determined growth that will in turn produce next generation policymakers within the IT industry. Various government initiatives like the Watani project are a testimony to this fact.”
Tien’s visit was a prelude to the opening of Acer’s KSA office in the latter half of this year. The office was due to have opened already but the recent restructuring of Acer’s global operations resulted in a delay. According to Tien, the establishment and operation of the KSA office will now be in sync with Acer’s new corporate direction.
In this region, Acer achieved steady growth in the first quarter of 2001, with a targeted focus on notebooks and its core small-to-medium business focus. It is anticipated that this will continue to be the company’s main focus. The establishment of the Riyadh office will give Acer a direct presence in the Kingdom so their representatives will be in closer contact with their clients.
“This will enable us to deliver better services and solutions to this market and help us to better understand its needs as well,” said Tien. “Our strong growth rates reflect Acer’s keen efforts to meet the needs of small and medium enterprises (SME). Acer has empowered SME businesses throughout the region with innovative and affordable bundled technology solutions that enable these organizations to share and access information both internally and externally via the web. Acer’s strong growth rates in the region can equally be attributed to the company’s newly adopted strategic structural plans that have allowed us to rapidly adapt to changing markets and adopt a simplified, focused, and forward-looking approach to improved customer service in the Middle East and the GCC. In addition, Acer also renewed its focus on channel training in Q1 2001. The provision of advanced technical sales training programs — the Acer Certified Sales Professional (ACSP) and Acer Certified Sales Engineer (ACSE) — to its authorized resellers and distributors in the region, helped in establishing firm product knowledge to provide better customer support, which directly contributed to our success in this region’s PC market.”
How is the business climate for Acer internationally? Tien pointed out that the failure of dotcom initiatives and expected lower spending by consumers and corporates are affecting the PC markets in the US and Europe. “The United States is still the world’s largest consumer for many IT products,” Tien emphasized. “The current slowdown of this economy and depressed stock indexes worldwide definitely has had an impact on linked economies. This is also coming during a time when most Asia-Pacific economies are attempting to stage a recovery after the global financial crises. However, in the Middle East, the effect is low due to the recent surging oil prices and increasing investment by local governments and enterprises in adopting IT to be cost efficient. Further, Internet and e-commerce have a low penetration rate in the region and this means a lot of opportunity for IT vendors. Acer Computer ME Ltd has been registering substantial growth in our region. Acer, particularly in the Gulf region, reported over 54 percent growth in Q1 2001 as compared to the same period in 2000. Q2 should also turn in a healthy run rate.”
In addition to Acer’s optimism, there is other positive regional IT news. Arabia.com has announced that it raised over $20 million in its latest round of funding. The company secured the financing from new and existing investors. Among the investors are Commercial International Investment Company, eVC, Intel Capital, IT Investments, OM Juffali, Prince Alwaleed, SHUAA Capital as well as a number of other new and existing shareholders.
“We believe that our leadership position in the market combined with our strong team positions us very well to grow our business significantly,” said Ramzi Zeine, CEO, arabia.com. “Whether you are a dotcom or a traditional bricks-and-mortar company the same solid business principles apply. Most of the funds raised in this financing round will go directly to enhance and grow the services that we offer to our audience, allowing us to build on our position as the leading portal in the Arab world.”
Arabia.com was the first portal to be launched in the Arab world in 1995. With its headquarters in Dubai Internet City, the company offers services targeted at the Arab world and the broader international community interested in the Arab world. Arabia.com employs more than 80 people in its two offices in Dubai Internet City and in Amman, Jordan.
Thanks to the increased funding, the portal’s KSA users should look forward to new community features, mobile access, improved content and a richer experience at arabia.com than has been available to date. According to Zeine, Saudi Arabia contributes more than 40 percent of the portal’s users. He feels that as a portal, arabia.com is offering the most comprehensive services and interesting applications and all are bilingual and localized. He asserted that the speed of the site is at the top globally by any standard. In addition to using the new funds to improve its own services, arabia.com will also be working to promote increased use of the Internet across the Arab world through a variety of market development and training programs. It is for this reason that Intel Capital stepped forward with its investment.
“The number of Internet users in the Middle East is growing at over 30 percent annually. This has opened up tremendous potential for e-commerce in this region to continue doubling year on year, and businesses need to seize the opportunity,” said Gilbert Lacroix, General Manager, Middle East and Africa, Intel Corporation. “Intel Capital’s strategy is to support companies whose services and solutions enhance the value of the Internet and accelerate e-business. Our investment in arabia.com will speed the development of Internet infrastructure on Intel architecture in the Arabic speaking world.”
Another regional dotcom has announced an initiative to increase the number of businesses that are getting online. Maktoob.com plans to share its vast expertise in the Internet industry to encourage businesses in the Middle East to develop their own online web communities and help them to reach out to new international markets.
“Building their own online communities offers companies an unprecedented opportunity to facilitate their online marketing, sales and support effectiveness,” explained Marwan Ibrahim, Sales Manager of Maktoob.com. “Online communication can cost-effectively enhance customer acquisition, retention, gain valuable business insights and ultimately build and strengthen brand loyalty.”
Maktoob.com is bringing its years of research in designing online communities into the new venture. It plans to support its clients with complete e-consultations, including marketing and promotion of their services among its own huge Internet community, while monitoring online response. All tools are designed in-house by Maktoob.com and hence can be customized according to client requirements.
“Maktoob.com has shown that even small business initiatives can succeed if carried out with the right determination and endeavor,” explained Ahmed Nassef, Vice President, Sales and Marketing. “We are now pleased to diversify our approach and target not only consumers but also business entities. At the same time, the introduction of such ground-breaking solutions reinforces our commitment to contribute to the positive growth of businesses in the region.”
Maktoob.com’s wide-ranging community-building solutions have been successfully implemented by iHilal.com, a regulated, online distributor of Islamic financial products and services. “As a company that depends on a reliable communication system for its day-to-day operations, it is crucial that we employ the most sophisticated technology that is efficient and affordable,” explained Pervez Said, Head of Global Marketing, iHilal.com.
Ibrahim pointed out that media organizations around the world were also increasingly discovering the benefits of building their own online communities, with leading pan-Arab publication Asharq Al-Awsat among the first to incorporate Maktoob.com’s solutions in its Internet edition.
“As the Internet penetration increases in this region, media houses are increasingly finding it imperative to develop their own online communities besides circulating printed versions,” he said. “While providing them vital feedback from their markets, this system also allows their dedicated readership to stay in touch with the periodical from wherever they are in the world.”
Since its launch two years ago, Maktoob.com has played a crucial role in uniting Arabs worldwide by providing sophisticated and reliable web-based communications and community tools, including the Arab world’s first free bilingual web-based e-mail service. The site currently has a membership base of more than 1.2 million registered users worldwide.