Acer aims for top spot with Asian Games

Taiwanese computer maker Acer is going for gold at the 13th Asian Games, currently taking place in Bangkok.

The world's eighth best selling computer brand has poured $10m into Asia's most prestigious sporting event. Acer is providing 2,000 computers and specially designed software for the games - which is being attended by 41 nations and 7,000 athletes. The games run until 20 December.

The company's chairman and founder, Stan Shih, claimed Acer's Asian Games sponsorship is a beacon for Asian technology. "It's a social obligation to demonstrate the power of Asia," he said in a recent interview with the Asian Wall Street Journal.

But standing in the spotlight carries risks too. Journalists and officials using Acer's computers at the Asian Games have already complained of slow Internet connections and system overloads. Acer is blaming shortcomings in Thailand's communications infrastructure for the problems.

In the US, Acer has less than 5 per cent of the market and losses in both America and Asia are fuelling forecasts of a 6 per cent slide in the company's profits this year.