Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Acer Inc., theworld’s number-four branded personal computer (PC) vendor, todayannounced a multi-year strategic partnership to distribute a co-brandedtoolbar and start page and to set Yahoo! as the default search engineon all Acer PCs sold globally. The agreement gives Yahoo! primeplacement on one of the PC industry’s fastest-growing vendors:according to Gartner Dataquest, in Q2 2006 Acer was the number threenotebook vendor worldwide, number one in EMEA (Europe, Middle East,Africa), number three in Asia Pacific, and had the largestyear-over-year growth in the U.S. The partnership will give millions ofAcer customers around the world easy access to trusted and vitalservices, such as Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, and Yahoo!Finance, from one of the Internet’s most trafficked sites.

“Acer’s commitment to customer satisfaction and its burgeoningglobal growth make it a key strategic partner for us,” said DanRosensweig, Chief Operating Officer, Yahoo! Inc. “Building on ourstrategy to partner with leading global brands, this relationship givesYahoo! the ability to offer our services to Acer’s global customeraudience, giving users one-click access to Yahoo! and helping to expandour community of more than 500 million users worldwide.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Acer will preload aco-branded Yahoo! and Acer toolbar and start page on Acer PCs shippedworldwide. The co-branded start page will automatically appear when anAcer customer opens a Web browser on a new laptop or desktop computerand will offer: Yahoo! content, such as news; links to Yahoo! servicessuch as Yahoo! Music and Yahoo! Sports; the Yahoo! Personal Assistant,as seen on Yahoo!’s new home page, for quick access to Yahoo! Mail,Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Local information; direct links to specificAcer customer services; and an Acer module for up-to-the-minuteinformation on Acer news and products. The start page will reflect thelook and feel of the new Yahoo! home page in order to provide Acercustomers with the best and most innovative portal experience. Theco-branded Yahoo! and Acer toolbar will give consumers immediate accessto any of Yahoo!’s products and services from any touch point on theWeb. Additionally, with the upcoming launch of Microsoft’s InternetExplorer 7, Acer will also set Yahoo! as the default search engine forIE7 on all of its computers.

“Yahoo!’s world-class services and proven ability to buildsuccessful relationships make them the right choice for ourpartnership. What’s more, their global coverage with strong localengagement perfectly match Acer’s company strategy,” said GianfrancoLanci, president of Acer Inc. “As Acer continues to enhance the livesof the world’s PC users, the addition of Yahoo!’s services underscoresour dedication to our customers and presents a further catalyst for ourglobal growth.”

Availability
Acer will begin shipment of its PCs featuring the co-branded toolbarand co-branded start page on October 1, 2006 in: Asia Pacific, Europe,North America and South America. Yahoo! and Acer will be jointlydeveloping localized, country-specific toolbars and start pages inBrazil, Canada (English and French), France, Germany, Hong Kong, India,Italy, Korea, Mexico, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the UnitedStates (English and Spanish).

Comments are closed.