Acer arms partners with reliability pledge

Expectations of a decent 2025 on the hardware front have been fuelled by forecasts from analysts, already seen in shipment numbers, with vendors lining up a number of products users can choose from.

This year should also see large numbers of users move away from Windows 10 machines and take the plunge with an AI (artificial intelligence) capable PC. On top of that, the high-profile tariffs being introduced by the US government are causing users to make the leap to a fresh machine before prices change.

In a move designed to arm its channel with something else to talk about, Acer is running its Make IT Acer campaign to drive users towards its partners. The campaign puts an emphasis on both performance and on the wisdom of choosing its hardware, with a “100% reliable or 100% refunded” pledge.

“The Make IT Acer campaign is built on understanding and addressing the real-world needs of businesses and our channel partners,” said Ellie Robinson, head of UK channel sales for Acer UK. “Our ongoing Reliability Promise is a powerful expression of this philosophy. It gives partners a definitive answer when customers ask ‘Why Acer?’ – because we stand firmly behind the reliability essential for their success.”

Acer is expecting the campaign to aid channel conversations with customers, giving an opportunity to talk about TCO, continuity and risk mitigation from opting for reliability.

The refund pledge is also expected to help its channel differentiate from competitors and to spark further thoughts about trust and partnership.

The vendor’s campaign covers a number of the firm’s TravelMate notebooks, Veriton desktops and Chromebook Enterprise models. For it to be honoured, a customer must make a purchase before the end of the year and register within 30 days.

Earlier this month, Canalys – now part of Omdia – indicated that total shipments of desktops, notebooks and workstations grew 9.4% to 62.7 million units in Q1 2025. Notebook volumes improved to 49.4 million units, up 10% year on year, and desktops improved by 8% to 13.3 million units.

“PC shipments experienced a surge in Q1 2025, driven by vendors accelerating deliveries to the US in anticipation of initial tariff announcements,” said Ishan Dutt, principal analyst at Canalys. “This pre-emptive strategy allowed manufacturers and the channel to stock up ahead of potential cost increases, boosting sell-in shipments despite otherwise stable end-user demand.”

Canalys indicated that there was still work to be done by the channel around the end of Windows 10 support later this year. The focus on tariffs, and fears of riding hardware prices, has been highly publicised, but the end-of-life support seems to be less discussed.

“A Canalys March poll of channel partners who are familiar with SME PC refresh plans revealed that 14% say their customers are not aware of Windows 10 end of support, and a further 21% say their customers are aware but have no plans to upgrade,” said Dutt.

“For customers in these situations, the delay in planning means they are likely to face a higher cost environment when the time comes to refresh their PC fleets.”