In 2007, Acer emerged as the third largest PC vendor surpassing its Asian rival, Lenovo. Acer recorded the highest growth among top five industry players. It had strategically strengthened its foothold in the US and European markets by acquiring Gateway and Packard Bell. However, in the wake of intense competition and commoditisation in the global PC industry, the market shares of global PC vendors had become highly vulnerable. While Acer was getting ready to challenge Dell, the second largest PC maker in the world, sustaining its very position as the third largest PC maker in the world raised questions in the industry.

In 2007, Acer emerged as the third largest Personal Computer (PC) maker in the world, surpassing its Asian rival, Lenovo. Acer had grown from being a microprocessor start-up to a global PC vendor in the world, producing a wide array of components and peripherals. As the global PC industry became highly competitive and commoditised, market shares of the industry players got highly vulnerable. While HP and Dell remained global leaders, Acer competed for the third position. The shift in Acer's global business strategy successfully extended a lead to Acer over Lenovo. In 2007, Acer observed 32.9% growth in its market share and experienced the strongest growth among the top five global leaders. Acer accounted for 8.9% of the global PC shipments. The acquisition of Gateway and Packard Bell strategically strengthened its foothold in the global PC market. Analysts, however, had concerns regarding the sustainability of Acer's high growth. While Acer was getting ready to challenge Dell, the second largest PC maker in the world, sustaining its very position as the third largest PC maker in the world, posed an uphill task.

The PC industry budded in 1940s when Remington Rand produced the world's first commercial computer - the UNIVAC. Over a period of time, firms like Unisys, IBM, Digital Enterprise Corporation (DEC) and many others entered the PC industry. In its nascent stage, IBM played a crucial role with its open and modular architecture that allowed the suppliers to develop standardized components and computer peripherals across various countries. During the 1970s, DEC which was later acquired by Compaq, emerged as a major player with the introduction of 16 bit PDP-11 and by the end of 1970s sold 2,50,000 units. This was the first computer to be used in factories, laboratories and industrial machines. Players like Dell and Gateway entered the industry during the mid-1980s. During the 1980s, IBM produced over 60% of the mainframe computers sold in the world and continued to lead the market till the late 1980s.

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