An advertisement for Acer Inc at the company's pavilion at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The PC maker expects sales revenue to reach $2.5 billion this year. [Photo / Bloomberg]

BEIJING - Acer Inc, the world's second-largest PC maker by market share, will begin selling its first tablet PC in the Chinese market in mid-May.

The launch is a part of Acer's global strategy to stimulate sales revenue following the departure of its Chief Executive, Gianfranco Lanci, two weeks ago.

The company's new 25.4 centimeter touch-screen tablet PC is called Iconia Tab A500, and is equipped with Google Inc's latest Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system.

"Our sales goal in the Chinese market is 80,000 units in the first two months after launching," said Oliver Ahrens, president of Acer China.

He said that the company cannot be considered a late starter in the tablet PC market. As the first PC company to use the Android 3.0 system in a tablet PC, Ahrens said more Acer tablets will hit the stores this year and in 2012, and will include updated system support.

To compete with other tablets, especially the industry giant Apple Inc's iPad, Acer's tablet incorporates functions such as USB slots, which are not included in the iPad. With a price tag of 3,299 yuan ($504) for the 16 gigabyte WiFi-enabled version, Acer's tablet costs less than a similarly equipped iPad 2.

Acer will use its existing sales channels, and those of Founder Technology Group Corp with which it merged last year, to stimulate sales of the tablet PC.

Last year, Acer signed a cooperation contract with Founder to use its brand name and distribution channels to increase sales and channels. Following the merger, Acer's market share in China doubled to around 8 percent, surpassed only by the PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd.

In an exclusive interview previously published in China Daily, Ahrens said that China - as Acer's second-largest market by sales - is expected to increase its contribution to global sales from the current figure of 5 percent to 10 percent within three years. The company expects sales revenue to reach $2.5 billion this year from $1.5 billion in 2010.

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"Acer China achieved its largest and most successful sales figures in China in the first quarter of 2011," said Ahrens.

He said that, compared with other markets, the company's performance in China has maintained a high rate of growth.

According to the US-based research company IDC, global PC shipments dropped 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2011. China will overtake the United States to become the world's largest PC market within two years, according to IDC China. PC shipments in the Chinese market reached 15.73 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010, a 4.2 percent year-on-year increase, IDC said.

"Acer will benefit if it can use its traditional PC sales channel to sell its tablet PCs," said Wang Jiping, a senior analyst at IDC China. He added that having strong sales channels will provide a huge competitive advantage for the big players as more than 20 electronics manufacturers will launch tablet PCs in China this year.